Fitting It Into My Life
Struggling with loads of laundry, clutter in the kitchen and chaos in your life? Stress can easily steal our joy. Trish Berg reminds us to simplify the small stuff and find Joy in the Journey.Why is it that exercise always sounds great in my head and yet I never seem to find a way to fit it into my life?
I have had seasons in my life when I faithfully made it to step aerobics class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, and lost some weight. Mainly because my best friend was the teacher and the guilt killed me whenever I missed. And, Carla was always a great encourager, bless her slim-as-a-model-and-cheerful-as-a-smile-with-feet heart.
I played sports in high school, and when I was in college, I would get up every morning, strap on my Walkman (which dates me), and run three or four miles. My weight seemed more manageable, and I seemed to have more energy.
Then I became a mom, went through four separate pregnancies and gained forty pounds each time, never quite losing it all when the baby was born. Now I am forty-two years old and my youngest “baby” is eight years old. Guess I can’t use the excuse of my pregnancy weight still lagging on my hips and belly.
Well, you can't blame a gal for trying.
My schedule keeps on changing. Kids are in school, then out of school. I work mornings, then afternoons. MWF, then T Th. Then if and when I get an exercise routine going, one or more of my children comes down with Strep or the flu and I end up locked in the house with the ill for days on end, and voila, end of exercise routine.
I have even tried a 20 minute Pilates DVD in the mornings. And low and behold, it actually worked, I went down a size in my jeans and felt great. Then sleeping in for 20 extra minutes became more important to me than exercising.
I have friends who have lost weight, and they look great! I would like to say I am happy for them, but really I am just jealous of them.
And depressed. Why can't I do that! It seems daunting at best.
But my husband, bless his little athletic-heart, is a runner. I can’t run any longer because of knee issues. But I can bike, and I try to, but not consistently enough to make a big enough difference.
When I try to exercise with Mike, our first discussion was around our departure time. He is a morning person. I am not.
So negotiations began. His 5 am request met my 8 am demand. I just can’t get up at 5 am on a Saturday.
The he said 6 am and I countered with 7 am. So we settled on 6:30. Yikes, that is early for a mom who loves sleeping in.
But when the alarm went off, I started contemplating all my excuses. I could do it later. It’s early. It’s rainy. It’s foggy. It’s too hot. It’s too cool. I found any reason not to get up and exercise.
I think I need a better system of priorities. Maybe I could give up watching TV and do some sit ups. Or maybe I could skip dinner. Or give up chocolate. Or take up marathons.
Who am I kidding. I can’t give up chocolate. And as for marathons, ouch!
Why is it that exercise always sounds great in my head and yet I never seem to find a way to fit it into my life?
Maybe the key is to stop planning so many exercise routines, and just start walking.
It’s worth a try.