Finding The Time to Exercise

Janice, a wife, mother, employee, runner, softball player, and internet addict has agreed to guest post for MomItForward. She is the owner of MomOnTheRun.net.

Before I had children I often worked out twice a day - I'd do a circuit strength training program over my lunch hour at the gym across the street from work, and then go for a run after work. Needless to say I was very, very fit!

But now that I have kids finding the time to exercise is far harder. OK, I admit it. Finding time is damn well near impossible! Those darn kids can't look after themselves. (Well they could, but then the CAS would be on my case). No wonder so many of us parents have gotten fat. Eating too much and exercising too little has a tendency to do that. Now that its the New Year and I've set all these amazing resolutions I've found that there are essentially 4 different times in the day I *could* exercise: before work, during lunch, after work, or after the kids go to bed. In an attempt to find the best time to exercise, I brainstormed my excuses for not exercising:

Before work:

• It's too hard to get up that early
• What happens if I wake up one of the kids while getting ready to workout/run? Is it fair to leave my hubby to tend to the child I woke up?
• What if hubby is away on business? (Hubby travels quite often). If one of the girls get woken up by me then I will have to look after her and won't be able to workout anyway. (It's just safer to stay in bed).
• When will I shower? The kids will want to join me in the shower or will beat the crap out of each other while I'm showering (for the record, I shower at night after the kids go to bed).

During Lunch:

• I'll get too sweaty and stinky
• When will I eat my lunch?
• Won't I be too hungry?
• When will I run errands?

After Work:

• Who will pick up the kids?
• Who will cook dinner for the kids?
• Will the kids miss me?

After the kids go to bed:

• I'm too tired
• There are too many other household chores to do
• When will I be able to relax (and blog)?

After reviewing my list of excuses, I came to the realization that my lunch time excuses were the easiest to overcome. I don't sit near anyone at work so who cares if I stink? Who cares if I get sweaty? A quick wipe of my face with a towel and a spray of perfume can fix that. My hair? Who cares! I wear it in a ponytail most of the time anyway! Hungry? I can eat a small snack before I run. Lunch? Who needs an hour to scarf down a sandwich and a few carrots? Errands? Those can be done after work, or even better, after the kids go to bed (The Wal-Mart near us is open 24 hrs and so is the grocery store!).

So for the past week I've run on my lunch. And you know what? I highly recommend it! I actually liked my lunchtime runs. After running I felt way more alert and productive. JOgging helped me to think problems from the morning through. It also helped me to stay on track with my eating. Much to my misfortune I found that I didn't have time to pick up an extremely fattening burger and fries - I only had enough time after my run to eat the healthy lunch that I brought - helping me even further to reach my goals. So if you're having a hard time finding the time to exercise, why don't you try exercising during your lunch hour?

Remember:

You can have either fitness or excuses
But not both!