Fitting in Fitness for Moms

Fitness.

I think the mass majority of us want to stay physically fit, eat healthy, and keep our bodies in good shape. The idea of it sounds lovely. Implementation is the hard part.

Come January 1st the New Year's resolution to eat right and lose weight is everywhere. But I also think that for the mass majority of mom's we find fitting in fitness to be hard. Much our days (well at least mine anyway) are filled with so many other things that just going to the bathroom ALONE is a huge accomplishment. (And all the mom's who work from the home with little ones say AMEN!)

I didn't make fitness a priority until about 4 years ago. I worked from home full time, my daughter was in school full time, and I found myself pounding the coffee to stay awake in the afternoons just to finish out the day's tasks. I was sluggish, tired a LOT, and found myself sitting behind a desk the majority of the day working. The idea of going to a gym, paying a membership, and [feeling] like everyone around is looking at me use the equipment wrong was NOT my idea of fun. We even have an elliptical machine at home, but cardio doesn't create or tone muscles. Yes, it is good for the heart, but other than that, it wasn't doing much for me strength-wise. Plus, I was bored. I needed something more and something that didn't take up a lot of my time.

I researched a bunch of different programs and finally landed on p90x3, which is a 30 minute, 6 days a week program. The biggest selling factor was that it was only 30 minutes. I could do that. I could commit to that. So I took that plunge and haven't stopped. Not to mention, with the different levels of intensity, it still remains hard.

I had to modify a LOT at the beginning. My endurance was low and my strength was weak. But over time, I have seen more and more muscle growth and strength come back.

I have shared my fitness journey here and there on Instagram, wanting to encourage other moms who may feel as though they have no time for themselves and their physical fitness. Raising and rearing young children is hard work. I get it! Trust me. Balancing all of those things along with working can be an overload. Then add trying to workout on top of a laundry list of things to do, and it can feel impossible.

But once fitness becomes a HABIT, you begin to crave it. And this is ME time. Time for me to focus on staying healthy and strong for my kids. Time to make GOOD decisions for my physical fitness to keep up with an active almost 9 year old and fast 35lb 2 year old. 

Building a habit doesn't happen over night. Some say habits are formed in 21 days. Others say it takes over 60 days, which I would tend to agree with. For me, it took over 90 days to build a habit of WANTING to workout. This biggest hurdle was myself. The "I just want to lay down" self. The "I'll do it tomorrow" self. When I started saying that, I knew I HAD to workout.

You've got 30 minutes. It's a matter of making time and making fitness a priority. YOU CAN DO IT!!! And I am here to cheer you on! Comment below and let's do this journey together!