Finding Time to Exercise

I've written about the workouts I've been doing since I embarked upon Operation Lose the Baby Weight (side note: can someone tell me whether or not Elizabeth Hasselbeck had her belly surgically sucked concave by a Dyson vacuum, or something? Because she claims she got her flat belly back post-baby by "doing ab work two times a week", and I call BEE ESS on that); today I thought I'd talk about finding the TIME to work out.

I disagree with the sentiment that the key to success is making a workout schedule and committing to it, because while that might work for lots of situations it isn't always feasible when, say, you've got two small children to care for. I go to the gym twice a week for a specific class, so on those evenings I ask my husband to be home in time to watch the kids and I commit to that timeframe -- but otherwise I've got to find time when I can, and that often requires being flexible. Are both kids napping? Okay, jump into workout gear and put on a DVD, stat. No time all day long for exercise? Okay, then I need to do it after the kids go to bed, even if I'd rather be watching 30 Rock.

I work in an office three days a week, and those are the hardest days to fit in exercise. I could get up super early in the morning, but ahh . . . that's never worked for me in the past. My body is just too stiff when I first get up, my energy is too low, I feel like crap throughout my entire workout. So I usually shoot for evenings -- 8 PM or later -- which means I have to get all my other work done beforehand: pick up the house, get my freelance writing out of the way, etc. While playing with the kids, making dinner, and doing laundry, of course.

If I'm alone with the kids during the day, I work out when they're napping, or when the toddler is napping and the baby is content to sit in his bouncy chair and watch me leaping around the living room like a dork. Otherwise, my husband takes over the parental duties (after he gets home from work or during the weekends) so I can escape to the gym or run around our neighborhood.

The REAL key is making it a priority. If it's important to you, you will find the time. I know this firsthand, that no matter how busy life is, you make room for the things that are meaningful to you. Sometimes you have to jettison something as a result -- honestly, I don't read nearly as many books as I used to -- and it can be an ongoing struggle, but I know from experience it can be done, even under difficult circumstances.

It's easy to come up with reasons why you can't pursue a challenging goal, but once you truly embrace that goal, those reasons tend to be revealed as what they really are: excuses. I struggle with it every day, finding myself thinking how much I'd rather be doing [insert sedentary activity here], but I'll tell you what -- I have often regretted NOT working out, but I have never regretted the time I invested once I actually CHOSE to work out. I wonder why that's always so hard for me to remember?

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