Sunday, June 30, 2013

Finding Health and Fitness on a Tight Time Budget

So, you want to get healthy.  You want nothing more than to shed those extra pounds, firm up those flabby buns, and to feel good about yourself.

You've done everything you can nutritionally.  You've stopped eating processed junk.  You've tried juicing, gone vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian.  You've tried the 17, 20, 30 and 60 day diets. You remember days when you could hit the gym for a few hours a day, or go out for a walk, run, bike ride or swim.

But life has happened friends, and you find yourself living in a time vacuum. You work 10-12 hour days, have a 4 hour daily commute, have to get your kids to dance, sports, church etc.  Then you come home to clean up and prepare for the next day.  Where has the time to focus on your health gone?  It's getting harder and harder to find time in your daily schedule to do anything for yourself!  You've heard Oprah say time and time again to find your spirit.... and the only thing you think when you hear that now is... Man... if I found my spirit there would be two of us to accomplish the things I have to do in a day's time!

The truth is that it just plain sucks! It isn't fair, and there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it short of quitting our jobs, selling our kids on the black market, and moving off with the preppers in the mountains of South Dakota (are there mountains in South Dakota?)

This has been my life over the past 10 weeks.  I've had limited time to make it to the gym, limited time to properly prep my meals, and I'm getting (at most) 4 hours of sleep a night.  This is NOT success in the making, or even healthy.  But it's the predicament that I find myself in.  I often feel sorry for myself, and make excuses when I mess up. But, there has to be a way to fix it...right? 

I honestly don't know.  I do know that many of us are in the same boat.  We are all suffering a little at the hands of many masters.  It's not that we don't WANT to do well, and do better.  It's that we are too exhausted to even make the time to heal, or to make good and healthy choices.

I've been through many periods in my life like this one.  I often backslide into fast food, and comfy time on the couch.  This time I refuse!  I am making the healthiest choices available at work and on the road, I am NOT participating in the daily donut/bagel routine in my office, and I refuse to fall victim to the terrible road munchies during a hellish commute.  Well, I fall victim to the munchies, but have placed convenient healthy and raw treats like almonds in the car for when desperate times call for desperate measures... No more convenience store stops!  And ONLY water!

The real trick is not finding time, or making time, but SCHEDULING time for your health and fitness.  I heard this in a great sermon at our church regarding prayer and spiritual time, and it applies to health and fitness just as much.  We need to prioritize our lives, and figure out what really is important to us.  Where can we cut the fat (pardon the pun... unless you really got a belly laugh out of that... in which case.... you are welcome for the pun).  What is it in our lives that is taking up valueable time, that we can cut? 

If 30 minutes a day can completely change our physiology.... where can that 30 minutes be found In our day?  We have DVR's and recorders now....  so don't tell me you can't find another time to watch Ellen, Dr. Phil, the Voice, or one of those "reality" shows where unlikely people live together and live even unhealthier lifestyles than we do! 

I've taken to keeping a gym bag packed in my car for when I can sneak away.  I keep my bike by the front door and ready to go for when I can run out the front door before the wife, boys, dog, cats, or telephone can grab my attention and set me on a destructive off course track! 

I write this as I am in the middle of chaos like you cannot imagine.  I have made less time for blogging, and more time for concentrating on work, family and fitness.  I'm writing today torn between home and gym... Today... You and the blog have won.  It's important for us all to hear this sometimes.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  Life is hard for all of us, and we have tough choices to make everyday!

Bounce Back!  Don't let it get you down, don't let it defeat you!  Plan for a time when you can get yourself back on track!  I know that in a few weeks my life will be mostly back to normal. I am looking forward to getting back to the gym, and back on the juice to make sure that I can find the proper balance again! But I also know that there are several of you out there with harder schedules than mine and no end in sight!  I urge you to reach out to friends, neighbors, anyone that can help you find some time in the day to find freedom from the treachery of daily life! 

Find your spirit and slap it around a bit for letting you get so far off track!  Take ownership and responsibility over your daily planner.  There is time, really! It's just a matter of figuring out what is more important, checking off another "TO DO", or finding time to be a better YOU!

One Day and a Lifetime to Go!!!!