How do I get motivated to exercise and lose weight after having my 3rd child?

I am a 22 year old mother of 3 boys.  Ages 4, 3, and 2 1/2 months.  I lost about 8 lbs after having the baby then gained 5 back!! I am at my most unhappy point with myself right now and I need some help.  How can I motivate myself?  I stay at home with the 3 boys and don't really do anything but sit around the house, clean, do laundry, and do what I need to do to tend to the kids.  I need to get out and exercise, I know!! its just so hard when I have to get 3 kids ready, myself ready, to the car, and find somewhere I can exercise and watch my kids play.

what do I do?

Hello, I have a couple suggestions to help you out. It's so hard to even begin to think about it with kids. I've only had one child but gained my share of baby weight. Lol. I would firstly recommend Dr.Oz. Books/Lectures. realage.com Due to his lectures/books I lost all my baby weight by my baby's first birthday! I was 113lbs pre-baby, I bounced up to 186lbs just in the last couple months of pregnancy. Due to water retention. (They couldn't give me anything for it because it would've caused birth complications. I was emitted to the hospital and put on complete bedrest. We had an induced labor to control things. They were afraid I'd go into preeclampsia otherwise.) His knowledge made losing my baby weight so doable. I'm 5'2 small frame maintaining 103-105lbs since April 07'. It didn't melt off. I worked it off. I would suggest that you walk, walk, walk. Along with committing to a eight minute workout daily. That's what I did until I could additional add more and rightfully commit to it. I did Taebo every single day the eight minute workout. Sometimes twice! I also became a walker! Before having my daughter I loved jogging. I just couldn't after she was born I was in such blah shape. There was no amount of time I walked or distance. I would walk, walk, walk until I broke a good sweat daily. That's doable! You can even do it by  walking on a treadmill. There's no reason you have to go anywhere.  Or: Walking with your kids on trails in the park.  I would grab the stroller and set out through the neighborhood! Or to the park to walk trails depending on the day. Billy Blanks is my fitness hero. Taebo is a huge reason I was able to stay motivated to get back in shape. Taebo is my favorite workout routine out there. It's so upbeat that time flies by when you're working out. The moves are also quality over quanity. You don't have to be doing a million different things, just a handful of exercises correctly to execute the proper muscles. Plus: It's something I could do while my baby was napping. I would pop in my Taebo DvD for my workout. ( I received some mean feedback about this. I was even called a bad mommy by mother in law. She didn't find it acceptable that I worked out while the baby slept. She thought I shouldn't put her down for a nap at all. Babies should fall asleep whenever they're ready. w/e I just kept right on with my tactic. My daughter still naps while I workout. Still yet!  That's ' my time ' to invest in my routine. If that makes me a bad mommy. Phft.)

Start with a small routine that you can rightfully commit to doing daily. That's smart. You can add onto your routine as you're more capable physically. The walks will turn into power walks.... eventually jogging. Ect. The eight minute workout could be twice a day. OR: Up'ed to 20 minute workout Or: Even more as you advance... Ect. Just start with something that you can rightfully say is doable. For you. For me that was eight minutes. Lol! That you can easily fit into your life without an excuse. That way... You stick with it long enough to see actual results.

 Eight minutes workout DvD daily/ Walking till you break a sweat Daily/ In addition to heathly food of course.

( Eating healthy just wasn't enough for me by itself. I've heard a lot of people say their baby weight melted off. NOT MINE. It was hard work but it's doable with consistency. People aren't consistent with extreme routine/plan/diets that just aren't doable. Whatever you do.. Make sure that you stick with a routine that's totally doable. No excuses. It's something you can rightfully say " Yes, I can do that daily. " It's a lifestyle change that way which makes it easier. )

Best of Luck! :)

As stated above, exercise does not have to be done in one huge chunk. It can be broken up into three, 10-minute long sessions. I have a 4-year-old and a 6-month-old. I have two times when I'll work out. I'll either sit my daughter down with some craft stuff after we get home (before my husband and son get home) or I'll work out in the morning after my son wakes up (before my daughter wakes up) while he's playing on his gym or in his swing. I work out for 20 minutes.

I'll also use my kids as weights and do some lifting after I work out. They love it! The baby loves "flying" while I do some "bench presses" with him. My daughter sits on my feet while I'm laying down and I'll do leg lifts with her.

Any physical activity is better than none. Just not allowing yourself to sit around makes a big difference. Do some lunges while hanging up clothes. Run around with your kids in the yard. Take walks. Just be active.

Half of  my work out is following my kids around all day picking up after them, sounds like I am kidding but think of all the bending and walking around you do. I get alittle weight training in 3 times a week a half hour at a time or so usually late at night or really early in the morning. Other than that I take them to the park and try to keep up. Mine are 8, 5 and 4 so if I can keep up with them for 30 minutes or so I feel like I did something. When were all home like yours it was really hard to find the time to do much other than feed them and change diapers but once they were more mobile so was I.

I am surprised the 3 BOYS under 5 isn't a sure fire work out!  lol!  You are one brave mama!

I would suggest lunges while you walk around the house doing chores...putting away laundry, toys.  You can even make a game out of it with your boys...follow mommy around and do this silly walk.  Now raise your bottles of water in the air for weights! When you come home from the grocery store do reps while lifting  the bags into the house.  Another thing is learn the Wiggles dance moves and have the kids do them with you.  That HAS to be some major cardio!!  Taking the boys out for walks is another way to work out while you have them.  Just make sure to find a hill somewhere or designate a block or two to "super-fast" walking to bring up that heart rate.

If you want to work out alone you r best bet is to wait until the kids are asleep.  Good luck!