This is the 5th question of my “Ask Aimee” blog series and today’s question is as follows:

Q: I just had a baby, and I have no time to exercise. I feel so overweight and disgusted with my body. I just want to lose all this weight and get my old body back, but I just don’t have the time. How do I find the time to exercise after having a baby?

A: Good question. First of all, don’t be so hard on yourself. You just had a baby, and that’s a HUGE accomplishment. I’ve been there. I know the feeling.

Don’t rush into working out right away. Getting your old body back can wait. In general, I always advise my clients who just had a baby to take at least the first six months to rest, heal and bond with their baby, before starting to work out again.

If you can’t wait, I can understand. One thing that you can do immediately that will help you lose some weight is to start changing your diet. Remember, the past nine months you’ve been eating for two people. So now, you have to change that and reprogram your body to start eating for one person again.

Once you’re eating for one person again, the next step is to start eating healthy. Remember, in the battle to lose weight, exercising is half the battle, the other half is eating right. I personally think that eating right is the most important step because that’s the step were you’re actually going to lose weight. Exercising is the step, that is going to help you keep the weight off and give you a strong and lean body.

Ok, for those of you who can’t wait, here we go. Right away, cut back on the following:

• sweets
• all types of sodas (if you can eliminate sodas from your diet, even better)
• snacks
• fried foods
• foods that are high in sugar and starch

Also, try to drink plenty of water and eat your vegetables. With that alone you will start noticing some changes in your weight, which will motivate you when you’re ready to start working out again.

I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WORK OUT.

Now back to the “I don’t have time to workout”, part of your question.

There’s always time to workout, believe it or not, even after you’d had a baby. I’m well aware that babies take a lot of time from your day. So if I know that, then how I’m I suppose to find time to workout, you might ask?

Well, the first thing you need to do is to change the way you view exercising. You see, we all have been conditioned to think that to lose weight and get in shape, you have to run for miles or spend hours training at the gym. Not true!

You can get a great workout that will help you get in shape and also help you lose weight by just working out for 12 to 15 minutes, 2-3 times a week. Yes, you heard me right 12 to 15 minutes! And you can do all this, right in the comfort of your home.

I’m sure your spouse, a family member or even a friend can take care of your baby while you workout in that short time. Or try to work out while the baby takes its nap.

HOW DO YOU GET RESULTS IN A 12 MINUTE WORKOUT?

 
To get results in a 12-minute workout, you have to challenge your body in that short time, and you do that through high-intensity workouts.

Basically, you do 4 to 5 different exercises, one after another with very short breaks in between. This is referred to as circuit or interval training. An example of this would be doing push-ups, lunges, burpees and squats one after another. And you do each exercise at maximum effort for 20 to 30 seconds with short rest periods lasting from 10 to 20 seconds (depending on your fitness level). You repeat all this, 4 to 5 times or until the 12 minutes are up. That’s it.

If done correct, a 12 minute, high-intensity workout will burn as many calories as running on the thread mill for 45 minutes.

There are many short high-intensity workout programs out there. Some of the most popular ones that you have probably seen advertised on TV or the internet are P90x, Insanity, Tabata, HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and, of course, Boot camps.

Challenge yourself and do these workouts for a least 21 days to see for yourself that they do work. What have you got to lose, but to get your old body back?

I suggest you go to YouTube and do a search for “short workouts” or “12-minute workouts” and you will get back hundreds of results.

Or below are three of my favorite women on YouTube who offer awesome, high-intensity interval training workouts for free:

Zuzka Light is from Czech Republic, but now resides in California. She has been around for a while and offers high-intensity workouts for women of all fitness level. She is also in great shape. Below is a video of one of her workouts and a link to her workout page:

See more workouts from Zuzka Light

Melissa Bender is also awesome. She is an occupational therapist. Her high-intensity workouts range from 10 to 30 minutes long. You’ll definitely get an excellent workout with her. Her personality is also very contagious. Below is a video of one of her workouts and a link to her workout web page:

Beginners HIIT workouts
Interval workouts

Julia Buckley is from England. Her specialty is HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) exercises, especially for beginners. All her exercises take place in her living room, which shows that you can workout at home. Below is video of one of her workouts and a link to her Youtube exercise page:

Julia’s Youtube video workouts

Also, there is a great free app for your phone called “7-minute workout” that you can download and follow. This app guides through a 7 minute workout of high-intensity exercises. This app is available for both Apple and Android phones. Go to your phone’s App Store and check it out.

And here’s one last tip. Most TV cable companies have an “On Demand” fitness channel that features many different types of exercise routines (example: core, cardio, strength, abs, legs) that you can follow. I have Xfinity at home and as part of my subscription, I can access an “On Demand” channel for free called Fitness, that features excellent cardio and core workouts, that last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes long. So check with your cable company and see what they have to offer.

So see, there are many things that you can do to get your body back that doesn’t require a lot of time. So get out there and start doing these high-intensity workouts, even if it’s only for 7 minutes.

Disclaimer: always consult with your physician first, especially if you just had a baby, to see if it’s okay for you to start working out.

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