On the Verge

L

lifesweat

New member
I have been out of "exercise mode" for a while now. And I hate it. I hate how I feel. I miss the way I feel when I am in the habit of regularly exercising.

I think life is finally starting to settle down. Although I'm not sure if I should dare to even think something like that, because there always seems to be something.

I think that's the key right there. Accepting the fact that there will always be something. I guess I find myself waiting for things to slow down a bit so that I can figure out a "routine." But instead of waiting for things to slow down, I just need to figure out a routine that will work with all the craziness.

Can I really fit in one more thing? As it is, I get up every morning at 4:30, shower, and then work until 8:00. Then I fold a load of laundry (one load a day keeps the piles away!) and get my kids up and fed and out the door for school, at which point I work on my "housewife" stuff. I'm either cleaning the house or making bread or planning someone's birthday party or rushing off to play group--something. And even if I had nothing else to do but exercise, I have three younger kids who would absolutely not have it. As soon as I tried they'd be all over me.

I thought about joining the gym. But with three kids, the membership fee would go from $20 a month to $70. Can't do that. I could wait for my kindergartener to get on the bus for school, but by that time the childcare at the gym is closed until 4 p.m.

And then there's night time, when my husband comes home. At that point, it's kids' homework, dinner, family scripture study and bed. And then it's me time to finally catch a break and unwind, before an early bed time for me so I can get up super early and do it all over again.

But I still hate this not exercising thing. I know that you people out there who are the current rock stars of the fitness world would have no tolerance for that. You'd probably say something like "Just get in 30 minutes when the kids go to bed. It's not much, but at least you'd be doing something." See, that's what I've been telling myself lately, too. I need to make peace with night time exercise. Which do I hate more, the thought of giving up some of my precious unwind time, or how physically horrible I feel without exercise?

I wish it always came easy to me. I just have to keep reminding myself how I crave it when I'm in the habit. And that there isn't anything to be scared of--once I start it will all come back to me (even though it will take some time to get back to my previous level of awesomeness).

I'm contemplating joining the gym that's close to my home. $20 a month. And going at nights when I can, and on Saturdays. Maybe in November? It's an issue of money, but I know $20 isn't THAT much. With the limited time I have, I really should go to the gym and tackle the cardio machines. Sometimes I wonder if I really can add another single thing into my already crammed full schedule, but I really don't see that I have much choice.
 
Really empathize with you. My wife is at home too and I know what an enormous task, home can be and that too with managing the lives of 3 children. I have only one!


I just wanted to give an example of my wife. She too keeps busy and cannot get down to exercise. She is mostly fit with the amount of work she does at home and having a super high metabolism, but just that does not lend one a toned body and she misses that.


She joined yoga for a while and she used to go when my son had left for school, but in sometime that did not match with certain other home schedules and that fell through.


On the other hand, I wake up every morning at 6 and am off on my bicycle religiously. After cycling for 45 minutes, I used to stop at a place and do a few free hand exercises and stretches. So on few occasions, I stopped doing the latter outside and decided to do this at home, with my wife. That really worked. It was exercise worth 15 mins, but it was exercise all the same. I must admit, I tend to not do this regularly..but will try to. Similarly on Sundays, I have stopped cycling and we both go out for a walk uphill.


A family exercise like this seems to work well with her and it fits into her busy schedule smoothly. Exercise is no more a task then, for which time has to be set aside, but it is a routine social activity. In a strange way this seems to work.


Why dont you try that. Go out/ exercise with your husband or a close friend, because then it turns out like a social thing and you will find time for it more easily. I do not know how old your children are, but they too can participate.


Dont know if I made much sense but just saw the similarity in the situations and decided to comment
 
Those are some great suggestions, Hulk. Getting the family involved in exercise and doing exercise together is both motivational and time-efficient! It definitely beats all the extra time spent going to and from the gym!
 
Any chance you can get in some exercise when your kids are doing their homework? I don't know the ages, so it's hard to say how involved you need to be. Or how about folding laundry every other day, and go for a walk or do something on your off-days?


During the day, you might want to consider "forcing" exercise into your routine, and maybe some other things will have to fall out or get rearranged. I know it's not as easy as that, but the only way it works for me is that it becomes a necessity. I have a weekly routine, I've arranged it to be as easy on our shared life as possible, but I still have a late dinner every Tuesday night, because I can't do my indoor rowing on a full stomach. So we put the kid to bed, and I go downstairs, and I row. My wife isn't crazy about it, but she understands.


So maybe you lay out a schedule that works best for you, and you let everyone know that this is a mostly non-negotiable schedule (I say "mostly" because I understand realism). And after a few weeks, you can tweak the schedule to suit the rest of your life's needs, but it really does take commitment.
 
These are some awesome thoughts, thanks to all of you! I think I am working it out. I have started putting in 45 minutes in before I work in the morning, and so far so good. Although it means trying to fit in some time during the day to make up the missed work, it's a lot easier to do that during the daylight hours than it is to exercise with everyone in my house awake. My kids are 11, 9, 5, 3 and 2, and it is pretty much turbo speed all day long until they're in bed.


So we'll keep going with this and see how it works. I feel better, that's for sure! However, I absolutely hate how much my exercise level has dropped since I haven't been doing it. I must remember always that it is never worth it to get out of practice! =)
 
45 minutes is good time and we are all so happy that you are able to work it out. Remember, as with all schedules, there are bound to be disruptions and that is part of life. The trick is to take that in one's stride and work out a recovery programme as soon as that happens, or just ignore the disruption and look forward to the next day.


Must say you have got your hands full but I am a firm believer in the human ability to adapt and we can see that you already are.


Keep it up and keep us posted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top