Can I Lose Weight When My Kids Wake Me Up?

Yes, you can. Broken sleep makes everything harder, and a lot of the moms we coach are up at night too. On a rough morning, your strength workout comes first and the optional one can wait. A shorter workout still counts. And your coach adjusts the plan to the night you actually had.

You don't need eight perfect hours to start.

You need a plan that knows about 3am.

First, when should you talk to your doctor?

We coach. We don't diagnose.

Little kids are a very good reason to be tired. They aren't always the only reason.

Please talk to your doctor if:

You're exhausted even on the nights they sleep through.
You snore, or someone has heard you gasping in your sleep.
Night sweats wake you up or soak your sheets.
Your mood has been low or flat for a while, or you feel like you're barely coping.

If it's your child's sleep that worries you, from night terrors to a toddler who won't settle, that's a question for their doctor. We coach you.

Decisions about sleep medication or HRT are between you and your doctor. We'll never tell you to start, stop or change either one.

Had a baby in the last year? Get cleared by your doctor first, then read how we coach fat loss postpartum and while breastfeeding.

Why does broken sleep make fat loss feel so hard?

Here's the thing.

Sleep is one of the pillars of how we coach, right next to training and food. It affects how you recover from your workouts, your motivation, your strength and your cravings for junk food.

So after a broken night, a lot of the moms we coach notice it the next day:

Cravings get louder. Especially for whatever's in the kids' snack drawer.
Workouts feel heavier, or don't happen at all.
Patience runs short. With your kids, your partner and yourself.

That last one comes up a lot. Tired moms tell us they feel short with their kids, and then guilty about it.

Right?

You haven't done anything wrong. You're tired.

Most women come to us wanting to lose weight. What they actually want to lose is fat. In our experience, you can still do that on broken sleep, as long as the plan is built around your nights instead of someone else's.

What should I do with my workout after a bad night?

This is the question we hear most from moms.

Here's what our coaches tell them:

Strength comes first. In the Reset, you have 5 workouts a week: 3 strength and 2 conditioning, and one of the conditioning workouts is optional. On a rough week, the optional one goes first. Strength stays.
Shorter still counts. A full workout is about 50 minutes, follow-along video at home. If you only have 15 minutes before someone needs you, do the 15 minutes.
A walk counts, too. If the morning was a write-off, a walk later in the day keeps you moving. Stroller included.
Tell your coach. Chris asks every woman for one thing: "All we want from you is communication." A quick message after a bad night, and she adjusts your week with you.

One rough night doesn't undo anything.

The weeks are what add up.

What about food on the tired days?

Tired days are when food tends to fall apart.

Coffee for breakfast. The kids' crusts for lunch. Whatever's fastest at 4 p.m.

Here's what helps:

Protein at breakfast, even when the morning is chaos. Eggs, last night's leftovers, something you can eat standing up.
Regular meals. Running on coffee all day tends to mean catching up at night.
Water through the day. Easy to forget when you're running on fumes.
Easy food ready to go. Prep a few things on a calmer day, so the tired day doesn't decide for you.

No counting. Your coach builds your plan around a palm-sized portion of protein at each meal and real food your family can eat too.

If you've been running on coffee and skipped meals for a long time, read why under-fuelling can leave you exhausted all the time.

How can I get more rest when the kids won't cooperate?

You can't control the 3am wake-up.

You can protect the rest of your sleep.

Here's what we coach:

Go to bed earlier. Some nights, that means going to bed when your little one does. The dishes can wait.
Rest during the day when you can. If your day allows a short rest, take it.
Keep caffeine to earlier in the day. Enjoy your morning coffee. A late-afternoon one tends to show up at night.
Finish your last drink 3 hours before bed. The same guardrail we use on wine nights.
Give yourself a wind-down. Lights down and the phone away, even if it's only for a few minutes.

Waking at 2am on the nights nobody calls for you, too? Here's what helps when you wake at 2am in perimenopause.

I've been there, too

In my early 30s, I was raising my daughter mostly on my own.

Late nights. Early mornings. My workouts were the first thing to go, and I felt weak and defeated.

What changed was admitting I couldn't do it alone. I hired Chris, and he taught me how to fuel my body, how to train and how to recover.

That's what we teach the moms we coach now.

How does a coach help when your nights are a mess?

Knowing all this is one thing.

Doing it on four interrupted nights in a row is another.

That's where your coach comes in:

She's been there. Every coach is a woman over 40 who has done the Reset herself.
She checks in every two weeks, and you can reach her between check-ins.
She adjusts the plan to your real week. On the hardest weeks, shorter workouts and simpler meals. On the better weeks, you build.
Your workouts happen at home. Follow-along video, so you can train before the kids are up or during nap time, with no drive to the gym.

We've helped 1,000+ women lose 10 to 20 lbs of fat in 8 weeks. A lot of them had little ones waking them up at night, too.

Tired and not feeling like working out at all lately? Here's why your motivation to work out can disappear in your 40s.

Ready for a plan that fits your nights?

You've been running on empty for a while.

You don't have to wait for the kids to sleep through.

Start with the short video on our homepage at fortyfwd.com. It walks through why your body stopped responding after 40 and the method we use to change that.

If it sounds like you, apply for a call with Chris.

He reads every application himself. On the call, tell him how your nights are going, and he'll tell you straight whether the program is the right fit right now. If it is, he walks you through the investment then, once you both know it's a fit.

The kids will sleep through one day.

Let's start before they do.

Frequently asked questions

Can I lose weight if my kids keep waking me up at night?

Yes. Broken sleep makes it harder, and in our experience a plan built around your real nights still works: strength first, shorter workouts that count, and a coach who adjusts your week with you.

Should I work out if I barely slept?

Often, yes, with an adjustment. Keep your strength workouts, let the optional conditioning workout go on a rough week, and remember that a shorter workout or a walk still counts. If you feel unwell, rest and tell your coach.

Does a bad night of sleep make cravings worse?

A lot of the moms we coach notice louder cravings after a broken night. Protein at breakfast, regular meals and easy food ready to go help a tired day stay on track.

How can I get more sleep with young kids?

Go to bed earlier some nights, rest during the day when you can, keep caffeine early, finish your last drink 3 hours before bed and give yourself a short wind-down. Your child's sleep itself is a question for their doctor.

When should I see a doctor about being this tired?

If you're exhausted even on nights the kids sleep through, if you snore or someone has heard you gasping, if night sweats wake you up, or if your mood has been low for a while. Decisions about sleep medication or HRT belong with you and your doctor.

My kids still wake me up at night. Can I lose fat on broken sleep?