18 weeks...

You know when you feel like you are fighting to get through each day? Maybe you are fatigued, stressed out from work, just overbooked yourself or have too many things that demand your attention. It’s hard enough when that feeling lasts for a day, but it’s crazy when you feel that way for a week!

That was my week in a nutshell. I seemed to have booked every meeting, class, church responsibility, etc. into this week and I am just tired. I was getting up at 4:30am and didn’t get home until after 9pm for 5 days straight. Weeks like this can throw off even the best planners and the most positive people LOL I pride myself in the ability to handle and juggle many responsibilities at once but honestly, I hit a wall.

The important thing was what I did BEFORE I hit the wall! Instead of being completely consumed with everything on my “to-do” list, I made the decision that I was going to find time in there for me! I looked at my crazy week before it started and set appointments for my lifts and cardio. I knew what days I had to bring my gym bag with me to work so I could go straight there and knew what days I had to pack extra food in my lunch bag so I wouldn’t be tempted to go grab junk. I knew what days I would be home really late and I arranged my strength training workouts so I would get everything in, without having to be at the gym at 5am if I fell asleep after 11pm. Honestly, I didn’t get every single one in this week but 5 out of 6 days isn’t bad at all.

Now that it’s Saturday and the madness is over, I realized a few things
1. I am never too busy to fit in time for my health- Guess what? You are not too busy either. We always make time for our top priorities. If your schedule is filled with everything but things that would benefit your health and fitness, I challenge you to be honest about and then re-evaluate your priorities. I am not saying that you need to exercise for 2 hours a day or that you must spend 1 hour a day in the kitchen preparing perfect meals. What I am saying is that if you are not taking time to take care of you, you will never be at your best. If you are not at your best, you will never reach your full potential.
2. Treating my workouts like appointments help me stay on track- I wouldn’t miss a work meeting and I can bet that you wouldn’t either! So why are so many quick to drop their personal training session or cardio time at the gym? Place a high value on your gym time! When you start to see it as necessary for your success, you will be surprised how you begin to find pockets of time to get effective workouts in. Be creative and determined to make it happen.
3. I feel AMAZING about myself when I handle my business schedule and get my workouts in- There is such a sense of pride and a feeling of confidence when I know I’m getting things done! It doesn’t even matter if I am seeing huge changes in the mirror or not. When I know I gave it my all at work and in the gym and with my eating, I just feel GREAT. I challenge you to try it! I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Remember, we are all on this journey together. It never really gets easy, YOU just get committed! Stick with it and remember each day is a brand new chance to get it right.