Overcoming Excuses & How I Make Fitness Work for Me

I don't have a lot of free time. There, I've said it.

I'm first and foremost a mom and a wife. That keeps me pretty occupied.

I am away from the house 10 hours a day for the day job, including commuting time. That takes up the majority of my day.

I am left with 14 hours every day, seven or eight of which I'd like to get some sleep.

So, six hours. That's what I have to work with.

How do I fit it all in? I carve out chunks of time with dedicated activities.

5:00-6:00 AM - my quiet hour. My only perfectly quiet, uninterrupted time of the day to do whatever it is I want to do, coffee in hand. If I hit the snooze button and decide to sleep in, that's my fault for losing out. This is my "sacred time."

10 hour workday, including commute. That's a given every day.

5:30-7:00 PM - time for family: spending quality time with Peyton, preparing dinner, and eating together as a family. That's a non-negotiable.

7:00-8:00 PM - I squeeze in a quick workout while Denny gets Peyton ready for bed.

8:00-9:00 PM - time to relax, get settled, and put Peyton to bed. Sometimes I'll have team calls, webinars, and other trainings scheduled during this time. I try to adjust my schedule slightly around these types of activities. I'll do my workout earlier in the previous hour to allow time to prep.

9:00 PM-10:00 PM - I wrap up any loose ends, and wind down. I try to be in bed by 10 PM every night.

That's my day in a nutshell. It didn't always look like this, and sometimes it changes. But this is the schedule that works for me, and yes, I call it my "schedule". I keeps me from getting anxious over "what's next". If I break it into chunks of time, it feels much more manageable. I still provide flexbility for any last-minute changes in plans, but this is what works for me. 

Establishing routine is not only good for little ones, but it turns out it's good for me, too.

Before I started using at-home fitness programs, I swore I didn't have time. I joined a gym, drove 20 minutes to get there, spent an hour there, and then drove 20 minutes home. That's almost two hours! I was a new mom who was frazzled, stressed, exhausted, and anxious. I wanted to get in better shape, but carving out two hours of my day was intimidating. I recoiled. I wound up wasting over $500 on a gym membership I stopped using because I couldn't figure out how to work it into my daily routine.

It got to the point that I knew SOMETHING had to change, and it was up to me to find ways to make it work.

Now, that stress is gone. I work out from my living room and it takes an hour, tops, depending on what program I'm doing. During the holiday season, I keep my workouts short and sweet because life tends to be a bit crazier. I find what works with my life, find a way to fit it in, and schedule it into my day...every day. I have no excuses, because I know deep down that no excuse plausibly exists now.

My sacred hour every dayin the quiet of the morning and that hour I give myself at night to work out are things I do for ME. 

As women, we tend to be a bit selfless. Throughout the last year, I've learned how to make time for myself, and I know deep down I am a better wife and mother because of this.

Moral of the story: we can all make things work. It just takes time to find what works for us as individuals and doing just enough planning to incorporate it into your life as a permanent fixture. If you want it badly enough, you CAN and WILL find a way.

How do you overcome those little excuses that whisper in your head?