5 Items Every Busy Mom Needs in Her Car

Whether it’s getting your daughter to dance, picking your son up from soccer, taking your kids to play dates, getting supper, going to visit family, making it to a hair appointment, or going to work as busy moms we are constantly on the go.  Even if we have good intentions our day seems to disappear right before our eyes.  We leave for work in the morning and before we know it we are trying to figure out what we can make for supper the quickest. 

You are probably wondering when you are ever going to get that workout in that you promised yourself.  After all, you know that you made that resolution at the beginning of the year to lose weight.

Are you sitting there smirking, nodding your head in agreement?

I have some great tips that will help you get that exercise in no matter what kind of schedule you have.  I found keeping some of the simplest things in my car really helped with my weight loss. Do you want to know what they are?

The 5 items that every busy mom should keep in her car are as follows:

1.    Clean pair of socks inside tennis/walking/running shoes  

You can throw these on during your lunch break, while you are waiting for your child to finish practice, or when you take your kids to a playdate.  You can sneak in a little exercise and walk around while you wait, maybe even go for a little sprint depending on the amount of time you have.  Keeping them in your car will provide you with what you need when the opportunity arises without giving you an excuse not to go for a quick 5-10 minute walk.

 

2.    Bottle of water

Keeping a bottle of water in your car helps make sure that you get the water you need.  Your body needs about 8 cups a day and one water bottle is around 2 cups.  I found that this really helped as a reminder that I needed to drink my water.  Drinking water really helps aid in weight loss.

 

3.    Stress ball

Keep this next to your seat.  A great way to get in some sneaky arm exercises is to use squeeze your stress ball while sitting and waiting in your car.  Whether you are at a stop light or waiting on your child, you can squeeze the ball.  Squeeze for 3 counts, release slowly, and then repeat 5-10 times for each hand.

 

4.    Resistance band

I found this to be really helpful when I ended up somewhere for an extended period of time.  It provided great resistance for stretching, or I could even sit and use it to exercise my arms and shoulders.  All you have to do is pull on the resistance band to give yourself a great short workout.  Hold it in both hand and pull for 3 counts, release, and then repeat 5-10 times.  You should really feel this one in your shoulders.

 

5.    List of 5 exercises

You may be wondering what in the world the 5 exercises are that you should have a list of in your car.  That’s okay because I’m going to tell you.  Make sure you write these down and put them in your car, as you can complete them sitting a stop lights or waiting on your children without anyone ever noticing.

• Shoulder rolls – roll your shoulders 5 times both forwards and backwards
• Neck rolls – roll you neck left and right 5 times each way
• Ab Crunch – tighten your stomach muscles as tight as you can and hold while you count to 5, then release and repeat at least 5 times
• Butt Squeeze – squeeze your butt cheeks together, count to 5, release, and repeat at least 5 times
• Thigh Squeeze & Knee Raise – squeeze your thighs together, then raise your knees with them still squeezed, lower, then release and repeat at least 5 times. 

Adding all 5 of these items will give you a great weight loss arsenal in your car.  You will have everything you need to squeeze in some great exercises in the short breaks you have throughout your day.  You should no longer have an excuse for not getting any exercise completed.  Remember, it all adds up even if you just do 1 minute here and 2 there.  5 stop lights can give you 5 minutes of exercise.