We hear it all the time… “I just don’t have time to exercise!” The truth of the matter is that exercise is something that we have to prioritize, just like we prioritize a meeting or a doctor’s appointment or going to work 5 days a week, or anything else we have to do. I know we are all busy these days. Some of us are busier than others. Some of us have more responsibilities than others. I know there are some of you out there that work full-time jobs and have kids and spouses to take care of. I know there are some of you that are in school full-time and work, too! Some of you are single parents and have ALL.THE.RESPONSIBILITIES! Some of you have spouses that work away from home and you are left picking up the slack for long periods of time! Some of you are taking care of ill family members, as well as your own household. Some of you work two full time jobs….WE ARE A BUSY PEOPLE!
We are so busy that we end up not taking care of the most important person. YOU! Taking care of yourself should be the number one priority for you each day. You know when you get on a plane to fly somewhere the flight attendant does the spiel about “in case of emergency, if you need to use the oxygen mask to put it on yourself and then help others around you”? There’s a reason for that… If you aren’t able to function properly, how can you help others around you? You can’t help your son/daughter/mother/father/spouse/friend/neighbor/passenger sitting next to you if you can’t breathe, right? Help yourself then you can help others! The same applies to taking care of your physical health as well.
My suggestion is to put your workout on the calendar, like I have done for my 3-Day training walks! This way everyone in the family knows I will be busy during that time, so there’s not an issue with breakfast not being on the table when it normally would be.
Are you the type of person that has to workout first thing in the morning? Get up a bit earlier than normal so you can workout before your day gets started. (My husband gets up at 4:30 a.m. to workout so he can be the first one at the fitness center, workout and be back and ready to work by 8:00 a.m. when his clients are likely to expect him to answer the phone.) If you are a mid-day exerciser, schedule it! After work? Put it on the calendar! Whatever time works best for you to make sure it happens every time, put it on the calendar. Set up alarms, send reminders, treat it like an appointment that you can’t miss! You wouldn’t miss a meeting at work, or for one of your kids, would you? Treat exercising like that! Exercising for thirty minutes or an hour is the most important thing you can do for you and your family.
And I can hear y’all now (because I am the queen of excuses)….”But, that means I won’t get to sleep until x time!” It won’t kill you to sleep an hour less (and maybe you won’t need that much sleep). Or, “I will have to give up such-and-such activity!” Don’t worry, I’m sure you will find another way to do that activity, if it’s important to you. Or, “My kids/animals/spouse/parent/ needs me during that time!” Oh really?… Drag them with you to exercise too and you will all be healthier! Or, “I can’t afford to go to a gym.” You don’t need a gym to go for a walk, or do at-home workouts. Amazon Prime has free workouts available. So does Netflix, and so do a lot of the cable “on demand” options! Garage sales always have DVDs for sale! Find some new workouts and give them a whirl!
Yeah, I know sometimes we as grownups have to make tough decisions. Sometimes it’s HARD as women to put ourselves as a priority. Something always “seems” to be more important than taking care of yourself. But, who will take care of all those things if you aren’t healthy enough to take care of it because you have not exercised all these years? Bottom line is you are responsible for taking care of you because no one else can! (It’s back to the oxygen mask!)
One last thing in regards to making time to exercise… Make sure that nothing gets in the way of your workouts! This is your time! Nothing can take away from this time! Tell the family that this is important to you and it’s necessary for your health and sanity! If you need to reschedule your workout because of an emergency, then reschedule it for as soon as possible. If you are sick (like I am now), then rest, recover, and heal and get back on schedule as soon as you can! Don’t let life get in the way of taking care of you! There’s only one you and if that one you gets seriously ill then what happens?
Take care of YOU, so that you can take care of everything and everyone else!
***Special thanks goes to my husband who gave me the idea for this post and reminded me that scheduling some things is important!!
xoxoxo,
Ann
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