The 5 Biggest Obstacles for Busy Moms

I have had the pleasure of personally working with hundreds of busy mothers over the course of my fitness career. Over the years, I have found them to be the stronger and more determined force in and outside the gym, whereas if they stop, then the world stops. This is one reason why I personally have a deep respect for the opposite sex, particularly women.

Mother’s are, without a doubt, the most selfless clients I have ever worked with – almost to a fault. Needless to say though, I wish they would just be a little more selfish sometime and give their personal, physical and mental health a bit more attention and priority.

Many great mothers miss the boat and just don’t get it when it comes to their fitness. In general, they have a tendency to think it’s okay to put all of their personal ambitions aside for the good of their family and friends. But in reality, moms are not as effective as they could be in their everyday obligatins when deviating from a healthy lifestyle.

After all, a mother who doesn’t workout and eat the right foods at the right times will not be running on all cylinders. I constantly have to remind my clients that they won’t be busy for too long if they keep neglecting their fitness priorities. Your fitness is vital in order to continue to do the things that you find are so important!

So, I have identified the 5 anchors that tend to hold most mothers, in general, back from getting the better body they so desperately are seeking. Make sure to post a comment to add other problems you may face so we all can tackle these obstacles once and for all. Here they are, in no particular order:

Obstacle#1- Too Many Missed Meals- Especially Breakfast!

Many mothers are simply on a roller coaster ride from dawn until dusk, dealing with the stresses of parenting and/or challenging careers. Mornings can be especially difficult since there is often the need to feverishly multi-task to get the kids and the husband fed and off to school. Not to mention the fact that many busy moms today have to deal with their own demanding, high-stress jobs.

Set that alarm 5 minutes earlier and make it a point NEVER to miss breakfast!

Missing breakfast often leads to a host of other missed meals and snacks throughout the day. In turn, this can lead to a chain of events that deprive your physique of lean, toned and sculpted muscle while simultaneously staging your body to overeat junk food throughout the day while storing unwanted fat. In addition, this starvation protocol creates low levels of blood sugar which depletes your energy and leaves you feeling irritated, lethargic and craving sugar all day long.

People crave sweets when blood sugar is low. Eat breakfast and the rest of your meals consistently.

There are no excuses – there’s always room for breakfast; you just need to make the time! Better yet, plan and prepare a breakfast high in lean protein and fiber in advance the night before to best ensure you stay the course.

One solution that’s worked really well for my clients is called PROGRADE LEAN. It’s a tasty meal replacement shake that contains a whopping 35 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. What’s the best part about it? It leaves NO room for excuses! All you need to do is put 2 scoops in water, mix, and enjoy.

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Obstacle#2- Failing To Make The Daily Workout Appointment

This one is simple, but still powerful. Think about it — mothers never miss an appointment for their children, right? Why? Yeah, it’s because they love them, but more importantly, it’s because they love their kids enough to religiously schedule their appointments!

Schedule your workouts and visciously stick to them.

If you are a busy Mom who is serious about your fitness, then you definately need to take the same approach with your workouts.

In addition, you need to be sure that you schedule in your daily workouts when you are most likely to do them rather than when you prefer to do them. For example, I prefer to workout in the afternoon, but with my very busy work schedule it’s best for me to get my workout done first thing in the morning. This way my heavy work load never get in the way of my fitness.

In my experience, most mothers work best when doing their workouts either first thing in the morning while the kids are still sleeping, right after they drop their kids off from school, or just before they go pick them up. Too many unexpected obstacles come in the way of an afternoon or evening workout for the typical mother. But, regardless of when the best time may be, just schedule it in and stick to it like it’s a family commitment!

Obstacle#3- Too Much Mindless Spending In The Kitchen During The Day

This one is for the stay at home mother. I can’t tell you how many times I have had a Mom who has “been following my meal plan” with limited success only later find out there were some extra eats and treats in the mix. It wasn’t that they were being dishonest about it. Rather, most people don’t really comprehend how much they actually put in their mouth every day, let alone calories they drink.

Think about it- how many times do you see most people just mindlessly eat something during the day? All of us do it and trust me, it can add up very fast!

Many moms spend LOTS of time in the kitchen around tasty food all day– and they eat a lot more than they realize!

Yeah I know – you “have to sample the goods” right? But, understand that the occasional taste test can sabotage your fat loss goals.

Furthermore, mothers get in trouble with the frequent snacking practices of their children. We all know it’s not easy to pass on food when it’s always in your face. A french fry here, an animal cracker there… A couple of goldfish here, a couple of goldfish there. Before you know it, you just knocked down the whole friggin bag!

My advice is to guard your mouth with lock and key. Ask yourself every time you bring something close to your lips the following question: “Will this help me burn fat and build muscle?”

If NO- put it down and go read a damn book or something.

Obstacle#4- Too Much Cardio While Pushing a Stroller

Did you know that interval training burns nine times more body fat than long, slow, boring cardio. Aerobic training burns calories. But, it simply doesn’t increase your metabolism like interval training. Also, the true power of interval training comes from the intensity of each work period.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love to see moms being active. It’s great to get outside and move with your kids! However, we need to be honest about the fact that it’s not really feasible to train with intensity while pushing a stroller. Fast arm movement is the key to getting your wheels moving during sprints, so if you are pushing a stroller you’re losing out on some much needed speed to maximize your results.

Honestly, how much intensity can your cardio workouts have when you are pushing a stroller?

I don’t think it’s safe to perform sprints while pushing a stroller. I know that I certainly wouldn’t trust my clumsy-self doing intervals with a baby’s safety in my hands. So, get out and push a stroller, maybe even jog a little, but don’t think that you are getting anywhere close to the same kind of benefit that you can get hands-free and in open space with high-intensity intervals.

Obstacle#5- Too Many Glasses Of Wine In The Evening

Nobody wants to hear that a glass or two of wine at night is going to stop your fitness goals in its tracks. But the reality of the matter is that alcohol has the double-edged sword of both paralyzing the fat-burning process while simultaneously creating fat within the body. Plus alcohol tends to lower inhibitions leading to the consumption of other junk food–Not good!

A couple glasses of wine per day is a your one-way ticket to cellulite city… sorry!

So I say “zip it” to all of those idiots who tell you: “consuming several glasses of wine a day is healthy because it has anti-oxidants and keeps you from getting sick.” This is just a bunch of babble from drunk doctors who are trying to convince themselves that it’s okay to drink regularly and be healthy- but it’s not! Multi-vitamins are rich in anti-oxidants and keep you from getting sick. If you are drinking wine for health reasons (which people are probably not), switch to a multi.

Fruit and veggies also have more anti-oxidants and tons of other health benefits. So, we just need to cut the BS that wine is an integral part of a healthy diet.

Now, I want to be sensitive to those busy, hard-working moms who have a glass of wine at the end of the day to unwind and take some of the load off of their shoulders because I can understand. But, I also know there are other healthier ways to de-stress that don’t have such a negative effect on your body composition. Such activities are stretching, foam rolling, taking a bath, reading a book, etc.

So please remember- if you booze, you WON’T lose!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Committed to your fitness and success,

Damon Reio

PS- Please forward this info to anybody you know who can benefit from it If you are a busy Mom looking for killer 10-20 minute workouts that you can do in the comfort of your home, or with your child, check this out:

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PPS- If you are a busy Mom and have any questions that I can help with, please post a comment to this blog post and I’ll be sure to help you out to the best of my ability.