Seven Costanza said:

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Figure out how many calories you burn in a day without extra exercise. Subtract 500 from that. Eat that amount of calories permanently. It's easier if you don't eat breakfast, then eat a very light lunch (<500 calories). Eat the rest at dinner. You'll adjust to it. It's not that you're "on a diet".; it's just how you eat from now until you die. Eating less does not require effort. It requires discipline. Commit to a lifestyle change if you want to lose weight.

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Unequivocally this. You can easily lose 20+ lbs. doing pretty much nothing as long as you're disciplined around what/how much you eat.

Yep. Lost 50 pounds from Jan 2017 to March 2018

The fist 20ish, I didn't exercise at all. Just tracked calories.

31 with an 9 week old.

Cycling mileage comes early morning starting at 5A. Still averaging around 150 miles a week. But mostly trainer miles now.

Lifting is lunch or nothing. More so nothing the past few months. Afternoons and evenings no longer belong to me.

#1 thing is to understand that taking time for yourself to stay in shape is not a selfish act. Being in shape allows you to be more present when you are with your family and to have the energy to enjoy being with them.

That being said, I struggle with this as well. I found my son (2yo) enjoys running around the living room with me for an hour while I do the ONNIT body weight videos haha. So maybe for some the answer is incorporating the kiddos into your workout/activity?

RThorp said:

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#1 thing is to understand that taking time for yourself to stay in shape is not a selfish act. Being in shape allows you to be more present when you are with your family and to have the energy to enjoy being with them.

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It also sets an example for the kids. Kids with single moms that have an endless string of dudes coming in and out of mom's life learn that as being normal and often repeat it as adults. Kids that are abused often become abusers. Kids that grow up with fat and lazy parents often become fat and lazy adults. Kids that see their parents healthy and active with good eating habits are more likely to carry that into adulthood.

It would help if Mexican food and BBQ didn't exist.

easttexasaggie04 said:

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It would help if Mexican food and BBQ didn't exist.

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BBQ isn't THAT bad...but mexican food...yeah.

44
2 kids, 2.5 & 5.5
The double jogging stroller, and before that, the single, have been key assets in my ability to continue running. It's getting near the end of the line for the oldest to ride in the stroller, and I am going to really miss that time when it's over. I'm essentially pushing 80lbs. of kids, stroller and baggage, so the hill work is really a good test.

100%. I hope I'm still this physically active when the kiddo gets old enough. He's already replicating everything I do and watches closely. That will be no different with physical activity.

Didn't read most of the thread, but it gets easier as they get older.

That's why in non elite big races the 36-45 age groups are easier to win.

Rudyjax said:

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Didn't read most of the thread, but it gets easier as they get older.

That's why in non elite big races the 36-45 age groups are easier to win.

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that's typically one of the fastest age ranges in triathlon. Or should I say "most competitive"

AggieOO said:

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Rudyjax said:

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Didn't read most of the thread, but it gets easier as they get older.

That's why in non elite big races the 36-45 age groups are easier to win.

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that's typically one of the fastest age ranges in triathlon. Or should I say "most competitive"

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If you look at the results for most small races the 45+ Is faster than 36-45.

I'm 39. 3 kids. Oldest is 8. Twins on the way (oops).

I get up at 4 and my gym time is 430-530. I come home and my wife goes from is 6-7.

That's the only way it works for us. It has to be done in the morning before the kids get up. Once they are up, everything switches to mom/dad/ work mode.

Too much stuff going on at night to even try.

Current stats: I will be 44 in a couple of weeks. I had my 4 year old at 39 and my 2 year old at 41 (and my 15 year old at 28). I work 40+ hours in a cube per week and travel for work every other month for 4-5 days. My husband runs a business and also holds a local political office. To say we are busy is an understatement.

I am super happy with my weight and fitness levels. I ran quite a bit from 34 to 43, with some marathons in there. Right now I do daily yoga, my Escogue moves, and have reintroduced some running when the urge hits me.

I put less food in my mouth, drink less booze, and focus on things I enjoy doing and have the best bang-for-the buck that I'm looking for. I do not want to sacrifice those precious moments. The giant teenager is a daily reminder that those years go by very quickly!! My husband helps balance things with the kids, but finding things to do at the office/at home are key!

Good luck! You are NOT alone!

TAT2DAG said:

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Current stats: I will be 44 in a couple of weeks. I had my 4 year old at 39 and my 2 year old at 41 (and my 15 year old at 28). I work 40+ hours in a cube per week and travel for work every other month for 4-5 days. My husband runs a business and also holds a local political office. To say we are busy is an understatement.

I am super happy with my weight and fitness levels. I ran quite a bit from 34 to 43, with some marathons in there. Right now I do daily yoga, my Escogue moves, and have reintroduced some running when the urge hits me.

I put less food in my mouth, drink less booze, and focus on things I enjoy doing and have the best bang-for-the buck that I'm looking for. I do not want to sacrifice those precious moments. The giant teenager is a daily reminder that those years go by very quickly!! My husband helps balance things with the kids, but finding things to do at the office/at home are key!

Good luck! You are NOT alone!

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38 with 4yo and 6yo

Long commute (32mi each way, and have to pass downtown Houston)
Wife gets kids ready and takes them to school.
I wake up at 430am, hit the gym, then go to the office.

Mostly family time/rest/honey-dos on the weekends and don't exercise at all then, but workout all five weekdays.

Thought I'd bump this thread to give an update:

I spoke at a conference in late August and saw myself in some company emails afterward and was not happy with my appearance. I'm 5-10 and weighed 220 (*ding) at the time. My wife had been talking to a coworker about the latest fad diet (Keto) and we both decided to give it a shot (reluctantly). In addition, I made a commitment to start working out in some fashion. I don't have the time to go to a gym and also to do some 5 day a week 1.5hour P90X videos so I decided that I will make my own regiment of 8 exercises that I do every other day. I'm changing things up every 2 weeks so I don't get bored. I've dusted the cobwebs off my pullup bar and bought $25 gymnast rings on Amazon.

Today I'm weighing in at 190.2 lbs and my physique has toned up substantially! My size 36 pants are now in a corner as I've had to upgrade to size 33's. When I started this, my goal was just to get to 200 and now I'm aiming for 180.

Here's the cool thing about this workout regiment, my kids enjoy doing it with me. Between my sets a kid will jump on the rings and try to do some of the things I'm doing or they'll join me for wall squats. I'll tell you the gymnast rings are really fun for an almost 40 year old to learn. I'm definitely working out lots of muscles at once with each exercise I do on them. This weeks set is:

Ring holds for 15sec 3 sets (bonuses for rotating hands out)
Skin the cat x's 3 3 sets (focus on doing them slow and everything controlled)
Ring rear lever, hold for 15sec 5 sets (I'm doing a progression here as actually doing a full rear lever is way beyond my abilities now)
Ring push ups 15x's 3 sets
Ring triceps extensions 12x's 3 sets
Ring back row 12x's 3 sets
Ring supported leg raises 12x's 3 sets
Ring assisted pistol squats 10x's each leg 3 sets

As you can tell from this routine, my pull up bar isn't doing much more than holding my ring straps. I've decided that if I can do an exercise on the rings, I'll prefer that. My endurance has jumped up dramatically in the 8 weeks I've been slowing incorporating them.

Part 2 of this new kick is to set some long term habits and not let the weight creep back.

Well done

That's great to hear! Glad you are seeing positive results and getting good family time.

I'm also in favor of some sort of home gym setup. I'm 39 with a 7, 5, 3 and almost 2 year old. My wife is a runner so she wakes up early and gets a run in while the kids are asleep. Then we usually workout together from home with the kids around playing. Some days we cannot workout together if the littlest one is needing a lot of attention. I squeeze in workouts when I can here and there. There are times when working out is not possible, but we don't worry about a few missed workouts. Our big motivation for getting fit is to be healthy and able to play with and enjoy family.

Good story, OP.

Lots of blah blah on this thread. We all know the answer is pretty simple.

CAFFEINE

39, just the one kid. Wife goes to the gym in the mornings, I go in the evening. I'd prefer to do morning because I'm way more productive in the gym when it's early...but the wife pretty much won't go if she doesn't go in the morning. I do a mix of strength training and cardio, cardio in the way of circuit training...I have hated running outside the playing of a sport for my entire life, but circuit training gets your heart pumping and it's not boring. I can work up a sweat much better doing circuit training than getting on any piece of cardio equipment at the gym, and you can build in a ton of variety.

To us the biggest thing is having an agreed upon schedule, you each know when you go, and your responsibilities while the other is working out. I have a decent setup in the house, but I prefer to get out of the house to workout, change in scenery is good.

Regarding taking weight off, and keeping it off, no one can out run or out lift a bad diet. To me the best thing is to just start getting rid of the junk gradually. If you get rid of sugar and other simple carbohydrates your physique will improve. As an adult I definitely understand it isn't fat in your diet that's the enemy, it's simple carbohydrates.

Max Power said:

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Regarding taking weight off, and keeping it off, no one can out run or out lift a bad diet.

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No one, eh?