I want to be a fit mom, but how?

As a full-time mother of two, I keep myself busy cleaning, only to turn around and find all of the pots and pans on the floor, changing diapers, only to turn around and find the other child also needs changing, and cooking, only to turn around and find what I just cooked is all over the floor under my toddler's highchair — and yet, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love that I get to be a mother to two beautiful kids. I don't see it as a job but as gift that I have been given. I love that I get to play around with kids all day long. Somedays it does get hard, but overall, the rewards far outweigh any crayon written on the wall or broken window blinds.

While it hasn't been that long since I had my last baby, I would love to say I have lost most of my baby weight, but I haven't. It's difficult to find the time to exercise, and, let's be honest, it is even harder to find the motivation!

As much as I would like to wake up before the rooster crows and finish my exercises before my children wake up, I find this less than appealing, especially if I have been up several times in the night before. So that leaves me with the options of exercising with the children awake or waiting until nap time to work out (which means I am not showering until about 1 p.m.).

When I finally do find the time, and the motivation, I usually end up in our basement with a cheesy workout video. Or I walk on the treadmill and probably sound like a crazy, lunatic mom, yelling at my toddler to “get away from the treadmill!” This is because I don't want him to get hurt by the moving track. As soon as I start to get a nice sweat going, my baby usually starts to cry. So I run over to him to put a pacifier in (all the while feeling guilty that I am shoving in a pacifier to calm him down, but, come on, I just got a good sweat going.) Then I start back up, but soon enough there is an evil smell coming from my toddler's diaper. Stopping again to do a record-breaking quick diaper change, I resume my workout, only to start the cycle over again. How am I to stay motivated to get fit when I can barely make it past the warmup?

One thing I have found that works for me is going for walks with my kids in a jogging stroller. They love to get outside and see the world, and I am getting a great workout as well. But I haven't been able to be very consistent so far, as this spring has been so wet and cold. However, it seems to be something that might work for me really well this summer. How am I to become a mother who is healthy and fit for herself and her children when it takes such an effort to do even the shortest of workouts?

I don't think that I am the only one who has this issue. I would like to think that there are other mothers out there who would like to know how to find the time, motivation and good exercises to become fit moms. And then once we find all this, we need to learn to stay motivated!

So I am asking you mothers, fit or otherwise, to share your tips. What works for you and your children? How do you find the time? How do you find the motivation? What exercises work the best in order to shed that baby weight?

Chelsea Sloan is a wife and a full-time mother of two. She loves to write and spend time with her family.