I posted this on Facebook yesterday when I got back from the gym:
And within a few minutes, someone had commented, "I don't know how you find the time to do this all!"
Funny thing is, I had just had a post-workout conversation with Dan about this very subject, about being fortunate enought to have both the time as well as the financial resources to go to a gym and exercise.
Time is something that on any given day, we all have roughly the same amount to work with: 24 hours. In that 24 hours, certain things have to happen. Sleep, work, cooking, cleaning, child rearing, pet rearing, Facebook posting and perusing, etc. Some things are always going to take up more of our time, leaving less for things we deem optional. (I'm talking directly to YOU Facebook.)
Since February 2009, I've been back in the world of self-employment. The great thing about my set up is that I can make the time to run, and hit the gym, and prepare somewhat healthier meals for me and my family. I am fully aware of how fortunate I am to have the time to do these things.
But I'll be honest with you, I only have made the time since January, when I started moving more and eating less. There were a whole 10 months after I got laid off from Simple Scrapbooks magazine in 2009 where I had all the time in the world, technically, but did nothing other than move less and eat more.
Then there was that time in 1997, after Aidan was born and I went back to work full-time when she was 4 months old. Back then, I also decided to move more and eat less. I woke up every day at 5 a.m. to do step aerobics with Cher (on video, mind you, she didn't come to my house every day in person) and her trainer, Kelly Roberts. Every. Single. Day. For a solid year.
That was an example where I truly had to make the time. I didn't have the money for a gym membership nor did I have spare hours in my day with a new baby. I had to take some extreme measures to make more time. And by making that time, I dropped the majority of the baby weight I was trying to lose.
My fitness binges have come on gone. At some points it's been hard to find time to conveniently make it happen. Pair that with a lack of motivation, and fitness falls off the map of my day with lightning speed.
Right now, I'm in a fortunate place where I have both the time and the motivation. I'm also striving to make fitness non-negotiable. Watching "Oprah"? Negotiable. Running 3 to 4 days a week, non-negotiable.
Where are you at? Do you have time but no motivation? Do you have the motivation but no time? Do you find time despite the fact that your life is already too busy? Or are you like I was for most of my adult life: fitness? What the hell is that?
Inquiring minds want to know.

















