How I'm Balancing My Fitness Goals And Motherhood
Hey friends!
Wow... I know, it's been a minute since I've written a blog post. To be honest, I have been so incredibly busy and can only give so much of myself to Fit+Fearless these days. My priorities are my family, my health, and my current clients. Extra pieces of content like blogs and instagram have absolutely been on the backburner, but it doesn't mean I don't still love what I do. I just seem to have less time to devote to everything!
So that's why I wanted to hop on here and talk about that.... time. Time management. Lack of time. Vanishing time. Too much time. All the talk about time!
When I became a mom (and in my case, I view this as the moment those babies are growing inside me), I don't think I realized how much time fleets fast. I thought with the help of daycare, I'd be able to give 100% during the day to 10+ clients a day, write blogs, keep up with instagram, continue on-going relationships with my partners, and continue to build my buisness (which, is lofty just by itself). The moment my kids are home from daycare, I could switch into mom-mode, and feed, nutrure, play and take care of my babies. This was the fake reality I created in my head.
And truth is, there is no "on and off" switch of mothering. There isn't. Not even when the kids are away. There is laundry piling up, need for formula and diapers, sick phone calls, pediatirican appointments, cleaning up toys, and meal prepping so dinner is made before they get home. Not to mention most first time moms are doing all of this on zero sleep. I can't do these things with twin babies home (iykyk), so I have to wait until they're at daycare. But then, when do I work? Or heck... when do I get to do what I love most, run or workout?
This is the battle of mothers. And I am fortunate to control my own schedule and work from home. For all the moms who do the 9-5 in an office or work place, come home and have the kids with the list of things yet to still be done, I don't know how you all do it. Especially the exhausted mothers who come to me wanting to lose weight, on zero sleep, with all of these responsibilities and zero extra time. I admire YOU and YOU are not alone.
I am not an expert at time management, but I am now 12 months into this mothering thing and I've learned a lot this year. If you're a first time mom, with aspirations and a desire to get your health and fitness back, I have some advice that has worked for me.
My top tips for working out and meal prepping as a mom:
Communicate with your partner and agree upon 60 minutes for YOU.
This is the #1 piece of advice I have to give you. Long before I got pregnant, I told my husband I will commit to being the best wife and mother if I can have at least 60 minutes a day for myself. Yes... 60 minutes. I say this because I know very well that most days, I'll only get in 30 minutes. So ask for the higher end; because you know that if you agree to 30 minutes, you'll have many days that turn into 15. Now those minutes aren't always alluded to working out... trust me. Sometimes it's the extra hour of sleep I needed. Sometimes it's meal prepping. Sometimes it's "quiet time" and my bible study. I need 60 minutes for me, somewhere in the day, and I can give the other 23 hours to all of you. If you discuss this with your partner and agree upon how you can achieve this for yourself, you have no excuse but to have those 60 minutes for whatever you need to do. And if you're reading this blog post, you probably will want to spend it on working out.
Create a schedule that is realistic.
I love a good lofty goal but in this phase of life, it's not the time for goals that are hard to reach. Make your schedule and workout programming achievable. For instance, frequency could play a factor. How many times per week can you realistically workout and sustain forever? Yes, think in terms of forever; this will ensure you are choosing a frequency that is extremely achievable. For me, strength training 2x/week was achievable. When I added a third day, I noticed I skipped it alot and the programming felt incomplete. Another factor to think about is your actual programming. Are you in a place to lift super heavy 5x5 weights, or is your lack of sleep going to hinder your progress? Sticking to something lower in volume might be more realistic when you desire real results.
Invest in your home gym.
I didn't want any points today to be monetarily influenced, but I can't help this one. Mothers.... now more than ever, you will use a home gym. Investing in your home gym will save so much of your 60 minute time (and money) on driving to the gym & a gym membership. I would much rather have 60 minutes devoted to myself and my workout than to spend time in traffic and the locker room. Your home gym doesn't have to be fancy; a few dumbbells and a physioball will provide you with a great workout. And if you are unsure of what to do.... talk to a professional. You can have tons of effective exercises and workouts with just a few things.
Sunday nap time = meal prep time
This one may sound specific because I don't know everyone's nap schedule. But I can tell you, that every Sunday we take the boys to church then let them fall asleep in the car while I grocery shop (don't worry, my husband stays with them). When we get home, I'll start meal prepping while my husband does bottles or lets them sleep longer. It's a divide and conquer situation but what works out really well here is a) going to the grocery store alone so I can focus and b) meal prepping immediately after so I don't skip or get side-tracked. If you're kids are old enough, you can always assign them tasks in the kitchen, like washing fruit or helping to season the vegetables before roasting them. It's a great opportunity to talk about nutriton and what orange vegetables do for the body or meats' impact on muscle. They may not be super interested but its the vocabulary they hear that will stick and help them make informed decisions later in life.
These steps are in order from most important to least; meal prepping may be a luxury for some but if you can carve out the time, I find that it's a time-saver the rest of the week! Investing in a gym and programming are important but won't always be perfect. But communicating with your support system about needing some time each day for you, I find to be so valuable. It''s valuable because you get to pour into yourself but you also get to communicate the importance of this to your significant other, who will also learn how this time is important to you. Again, it won't always be perfect. And rarely will you actually get the full 60 minutes. But planning for this each night before your next morning, will often workout better than the lack of planning and conversation.
As my kids approach toddler years, I am sure my time management and health goals will change too. I might not be able to run two half marathons a year. Or heck, maybe I will! I will keep you updated with how these seasons in life affect my goals and how I will try my best to stick to what's important to me.
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