Do you find that when you start feeling the slightest bit disorganized things start to slip through the cracks? And once things start slipping through the cracks you feel like your life is a mess. I mean, obviously, things aren’t terrible, but I feel like I can’t get my act together.
I’m supposed to be planning for music camp and I’m supposed to be going to the gym at least four days a week. But lately, as in the past three weeks, I haven’t even gone to the gym once a week. I know, Amy, please don’t kill me. And my music camp plans aren’t completely finalized yet.
I have lots of excuses. And most of them are good excuses. We went to Dallas to help my mom and then came home and worked VBS. Then Hudson caught hand, foot, and mouth disease and had to be quarantined for a whole week. That’s really when things went downhill. Not leaving the house for a week was tough. I couldn’t go to the gym because he couldn’t go to the gym nursery and be around other kids.
And this week? There is no excuse except that I’m completely disorganized and can’t seem to map out a plan for my day.
I’m a huge planner and my life as a stay-at-home-mom works so much better if I plan each day out the way I did when I was working. I need a daily or weekly schedule. Each day can be similar in structure, but maybe Monday is laundry day and Wednesday is grocery shopping day.
But every day needs to be workout day. And I’m going to be getting up at the crickity-crack of dawn to do it. I’ve done this a few times and I love it. Hudson is still asleep. Todd gets to take his time in the morning. And I run off to the gym and do my thing and get back while Hudson is eating his breakfast. It’s so much easier to get it over with every day rather than take Hudson to the nursery at the gym.
Here’s the thing with gym nurseries: they make me nervous. The lady that works the nursery is very nice, but she always seems so overwhelmed. There are 15 kids, of all ages, in there and she is trying to keep them all entertained and happy. I feel so much pressure to rush through my workout so I can go rescue Hudson from the nursery. And when I get there to pick him up he’s always crying. It’s just not the best motivator to return to the gym. He hates the gym nursery, but loves the church nursery.
I told you I could come up with a hundred excuses.
So I’m done with excuses and my MomAgenda is getting itself a good workout, too. I’m planning out my days and putting “gym” at the very top at 6:30 a.m.
Are y’all going to hold me accountable?
What keeps you from the gym? Is it time or a general lack of motivation? Or maybe you’re like me and your kiddo hates the nursery.
I hate when the craziness of life makes things feel so outta control! I need to get motivated to go to the gym too, but there’s always something else to do. I heard if you do something 20 times it becomes habit. I have a long way to go to make working out a habit! We’ll get there!!
I have been making excuses like it’s going out of style. I don’t go to a gym, I do my workouts at home. My excuses are that I don’t have time. I somehow find time to blog, FB, and twitter all day long. Granted, my online time is spent in small chunks of time. 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, half a minute there.
Like you, it works best if I can get it done in the morning, but my kids get up before me, so that’s hard to do!
I have a sick baby this week too, no gym for us which is somehow throwing mt whole week off. Same situation at my house, I need some motivation too!!! Have a great weekend!!
It’s the trifecta for me! I don’t have the time. I don’t have the motivation. And the gym nursery seems terrifying.
i cancelled my gym membership last summer after learning that i had been accepted to a part-time law school program. i’m much more of a night person, so i knew that there was no way to get me up early to hit up the gym before putting in 8 hours at work and 3 hours at school with little to no time to eat in between. my huband bought me a treadmill last summer as a “gym substitute” but i’ve found that with school being out for the summer, and my evenings free, i find myself doing other things besides the treadmill. it’s so frustrating.
As yucky as it may seem, getting up to go to the gym at 5 or 6 a.m., in my opinion, is the best. That way, like you said, my baby does not have to go to the gym nursery (because daddy is home), and I get my workout over with before everyone gets up. And, I always feel like a new woman after my workout — it gives me energy to deal with the day. I have been getting up early to go to the gym since college, and allI can say is now it is such a habit that I do not have trouble waking up any more to go. I am motivated by how good I feel when I am heading home with renewed energy to take care of my family 🙂 Good luck!
I can’t even blame it on being a Momma (have no kids, ha)… But sadly just general lack of motivation on my part! Really hope I rectify this!!
Aaaah! It is the WORST to take your baby to the nursery knowing that they hate being there! My daughters are a bit older than H, so they can pretty much do their own thing, but when we first started going to our gym my youngest cried the WHOLE. TIME. we were there! I thought it would make it easier to go to this gym BECAUSE they have a nursery, but I guess it does no good if you glance at the nursery monitors and see your baby upset!
My previous quest for breaking a sweat has been halted by the 90+ temps and crazy humidity. I break a sweat walking out my front door, lol. Going to the gym used to be SUCH a stress reliever, but it seems as the weather has gotten warmer, my trips to the gym have become fewer and far between… Scheduling in gym time is the ONLY way to go. For me, it’s after work. I’ll pick up the girls, we’ll go have an hour, hour and a half at the gym, and then come home for dinner, baths, and bedtime. It makes for a long day, but if I don’t do it then, it doesn’t happen at all.
Before my wedding I was an ace at going to the gym here in my work building after I was done for the day. Then I had the wedding and went on the honeymoon… and then… and then… I ran out of excuses 14 MONTHS ago and still haven’t been back. Maybe I’ll hop back on the WiiFit?
We are in the same boat. Ben hates the gym nursery…their hours are awful and fall right during his naptime. I’m thinking that when he gets a little older it might work out better. So…we got a treadmill. It’s getting some use 🙂 I try to squeeze in a workout at home during his naptime. But there are so many other things to do….aaahhh…excuses!
Oh, I have a million of them. Let’s see…work, school, church, homework, youth group work, youth events, dinner with friends, working late, catching up on sleep…you name it and those are my excuses. In the Fall I did a boot camp program for 90 days and we worked out at 7:30 at night. It was actually PERFECT for my schedule, but since that class is no longer available, I don’t go very much to the gym. Ugh. We did rent Jillian’s 30-Day-Shred from Netflix and she ain’t kidding in her 27 minute workouts…girl doesn’t play.
Oh, and maybe you should check out another gym…just a thought. Have you tried BodyFit on Rosewood…the nursery is limited to like 8 kids and they always have at least one staff person in there and one that floats if two aren’t in there. Great gym, excellent workouts, and a good nursery, too!
My gym markets themselves as a workout “boutique.” Which means no childcare. I like that it’s smaller and not crowded, but no childcare makes it harder for me to go. My sis keeps Amelia twice a week, but the other 3 days that I’m supposed to go – not happening. I’m having to workout at home.
I can totally relate to feeling disorganized, as of late.
going first thing is the best way for me to stay consistent, I love coming home and everyone else is still asleep. I’m also a lot less resentful (that sounds so evil) the rest of the day, because I put myself at the top of the list, so if we don’t leave the house the rest of the day I don’t mind! Good luck!
I am beyond petrified to take my son (who just turned one) to the gym nursery. I am sure it would be fine but when I go it always looks so crazy in there. I started this week actually going to the gym on my lunch break at work. My goal is to also work out 4 times a week but sometimes that is just hard! I love your blog. It is so nice to be able to relate to another Mom that has a son the same age. Good Luck with scheduling and motivation!
going to the gym just stinks! even on a good day i think. but, my husband and i have been trying to go every other morning. we have to go at 5:15am bc of work. YUK. but as he tells me every morning when i plead for us to skip it- you never regret it after you go. it’s totally true.. i have never gone to the gym and been like, oh, i wish i hadn’t worked out today! but, it is such a hassle most days!
I can TOTALLLY relate to this post. I used to never miss the gym (Before Brody). Now, I find excuse after excuse to skip. Some days it’s just to hard to drive 10-15 minutes across town. The childcare is only open certain hours and so some days that doesn’t fit into our schedule. There are days Brody is still asleep or napping during childcare time. Then there are days when I feel like I have more than enough to do at home and to get it all done I need to skip the gym. Seriously, the list goes on and on. I remember thinking when I started staying home I would be so fit and go workout everyday. Ummm not so much. 🙂
I’ve felt the same way the past two weeks! I don’t work out at a gym, but I do run and exercise at home. I finally got up yesterday to work out before work, and then overslept today. I now have it written down that I MUST work out this evening. I think mine started out as a lack of time, then a lack of motivation, and now it’s a combination of the two.
Good luck with your morning workouts!
I have a total lack of motivation! My church has a gym and the nursery is available at certain times in the summer on weekdays…perfect combo for moms!
I totally get into those “funks” where if I’ve let my workouts fall by the wayside, I have trouble getting motivated to get back on track! Once I’ve let a week go by without going to the gym or to my regular kickboxing class, I’m a mess with getting back on track. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I truly need the momentum of going regularly, without fail, for weeks to stay motivated! And, ummmm, that’s a bit of an oxymoron huh?
i don’t have kids, but i totally have dog guilt for leaving him inside at home for another 90 minutes while i work out. i had to pay for a gym membership and sign up for a class i truly love. i’m also one of those people who really cares what other people think (not good, but oh well), but that totally keeps me accountable and going back to the class two days a week. the rest of the days i take him running with me, so that’s helped 🙂
The fact that gym is not physically in my house prevents me from working out! There are so many days that I just can’t bring myself to have to make the trip down there….no matter how close to home it is! We actually purchased a stationary trainer for our bikes, so at least I can work out without having to leave my house!
Training for something, whether it be a triathlon or half marathon, always keeps me motivated to work out. I like to keep weights at my house so I don’t ever have to go to the gym! I also have a treadmill at home for days when its too hot,cold, or rainy to run outside. But definitely having some kind of training plan is key for me!
Erin – I haven’t been to the gym in, oh, probably 12 years??? But I do get a good workout most weeks. We spend a lot of time doing yard work, playing outside, etc. I can’t imagine leaving Gavin at the gym nursery. I used to work in the nursery at the YMCA and after that experience, I don’t think I’d be comfortable leaving my baby there. I think you should trust your instincts and go early while Todd is still home if you can. But that said, major kudos to you for having a plan each day. I never have a plan and I usually don’t accomplish what I hoped to! Maybe I need to start planning my day!
Oh there are a million excuses, and I’ve probably used every single one of them! Some days I would honestly rather scrub my toilet than go to the gym. As much as I hate waking up early, I keep coming back to the fact that if I don’t go first thing in the morning (during the work week anyway), it’s just not going to happen. So that’s what I do, and once I get a few weeks of going several days a week in the morning under my belt, it really does become routine.
Oh how I needed to read this post this morning. Yesterday I read Mojito Maven’s post about getting back on the fit train–which is exactly what I need to do. I need to see that someone my size can lose the 12 lbs. I’ve been wanting to lose and that it’s not just an unreachable goal I’ve set for myself. But then, I wake up, and come up with a million excuses on why I can’t/don’t want to go to the gym. I thought it was just me, but somehow I feel better knowing I’m not the only one who falls off the track somtimes. I want to lose the weight but I don’t want to make the sacrifices to do it. I often find myself coming up with the craziest of excuses–and I know it’s going to get harder when I have a kid. Waking up and working out the in morning works best for me, too. But sometimes I love my snooze button more. And yes–accountability is KEY!
It’s sure hard to get out to do errands when the baby is asleep for at least two long naps a day. I end up trying to get at least one errand in per day so that I don’t go completely stir crazy, but I also don’t overdo it and try to run all over town with poor baby Kate in tow. I like your idea of designating days of the week to be for certain errands. I might even designate days to clean certain areas of the house. Good luck with getting to the gym in the mornings! I need to make that a priority, too.
i have no baby yet, so it’s hard to say how things will change when that comes. As of this moment… I go to a really large, national chain gym and it actually makes me crazy to go there. In the evenings it is so packed that you have to wait and fight people to get the equipment. Then there are always these super fit people that, whether they are or arent, I perceive to be judging me – judging what I’m wearing, judging the excersises I’m doing, judging my wide hips… all of it. It makes me not want to go. But I really like working out. I feel great after it and like the results. So I finally figured I just needed to suck it up. In Feb I decided I wanted to do a triathlon at the end of the summer, so I started going to spinning class at 5:45am two days a week and then just working out in the am two other days. It was tough getting up that early the first few weeks… but once I got in the habit it was alot easier. Plus knowing the husband would push me to get out of bed and the spinning instructor keeps note when I’m not there and is sure to harrass me for missing class the next time he sees me…. that has been enough accountability to keep me getting out of the bed.
Now that it’s summer i’ve been doing almost all outdoor training for the triathlon, so i hope it wont be too hard to get back into my AM groove when the weather no longer cooperates for outdoor activities.
btw – you have me sold on ‘my plate’ website. That also keeps me accountable! I think if you can make a habit out of the morning routine – you’ll be happy with getting the gym out of the way first thing. Keep us posted on how it goes!
We are very lucky, and only had to pay a little bit of money to get a hand-me-down treadmill (that had barely been used and is super fancy) from my father-in-law. We keep it in one of the tiny rooms in our basement, along with an old TV and a set of stacking weights and a weight bench. As a result, I really have NO excuse to not work out. If I don’t work out I am the laziest person in the world as the gym is IN MY BASEMENT! I think the reason I’m able to mostly stay on track is that I put on an episode or two of Friends, Sex and the City or Gilmore Girls and cannot get off the treadmill until they are done. I’m not sure if you have the room or budget for it, but buying a piece of gently-used gym equipment and putting it in your house is how I found my motivation. You could do your work-out while Hud takes his nap-and have the monitor facing you so you can ‘watch’ him. Good luck with your crack-of-down work-outs!! I admire you!
A) I can’t afford a gym membership anymore, and
B) My gym (when I belonged to a gym) wouldn’t change diapers. So they’d page you over the loud speaker in the middle of your workout to go to the nursery and change a diaper. Which of course meant going through the whole leaving-your-baby process again. And it totally ruined any type of pace you had going. Frustrating!
So I do what you do and wake up while everyone else is sleeping and go for a run in the neighborhood… cuz that doesn’t cost me anything. 😉
I’m the same way – I need a schedule at all times. I think the dreaded tasks become so much easier to tackle when they become habit from the schedule. Sometimes, I really have to remind myself that it is ok to vear off schedule every now and then. Sometimes the unexpected bring great things 🙂 Don’t worry, Erin, you’ll get there!
I use the school’s gym, which is outstanding, but they actually charge for it during the summer. I’ve got zero money right now, so that’s been my excuse. And I’m a runner, but it’s either been disgustingly hot or raining, and I’m afraid that I’ve gotten out of shape and will disappoint myself. SO there’s about seventeen excuses. Ugh. I’m with you. Let’s do it 🙂
I was literally a gym rat. I hadn’t missed a workout since high school and was doing P90X yoga everyday until my grandmother unexpectedly died. For a month after that I couldn’t think well enough to do housework and school work much less add working out to the list. Recently I’ve gotten back to working out everyday but I don’t have the stamina I use to have. The P90X yoga had gotten so easy I was nearly bored and now I can’t get my butt through it without being in sore as heck the next day. I feel like I need an ah ha moment where all I want to do is workout to get back in the groove.
It’s definitely hard keeping up with your gym workouts especially if you dont’ LOVE working out — which I certainly don’t. I’ve just made sure to track my mileage on the treadmill which keeps me accountable — I feel guilty if I don’t add a few more miles to my tally every day.
I’m like you – I have to work the gym into my every day routine (and by that I mean 4 days during the workweek – and then we take huge power walks on Saturday and/or Sunday) or else I stop going altogether. I used to be so good about working out in the mornings but now with my early start time at work and my commute, it’s not feasible to work out early… so my trick is heading straight to the gym after work and NOT talking myself out of it with excuses on my 32 mile trek home. I’ve been REALLY bad about that for the last month! I also make one of my 4 Personal Boxes in my MyAgenda “Fitness” and write in what I’m going to do for the week… then I feel REALLY guilty if I don’t actually do it!
I am totally where you are right now. This past week every morning I wake up and instead of going to the gym like I could/should I either turn on the news or sit at my computer. I have activities I need to drive the boys to at 9 AM, but I wake up early enough to get a workout in before that.
I just need to get my butt there one or two times and I will be hooked and get myself in a routine. My bday is this Saturday and I plan on starting my new workout routine next week. No excuses!! I am a teacher and have the summer off and usually by this time I am in a groove of working out every weekday morning. Not sure what my problem is this summer. Seriously, I don’t even have an excuse I have just been LAZY. Good luck to us both. 🙂
I go to the gym 1x per week. Yeah, that aspect of the Fit Train is BAD. And it’s even harder for me to go when I’m seeing results just by changing my diet. But I KNOW if I went to the gym, not only would I get TONED but the weight would come off faster. yet what do I do? Sit my ass on my couch and watch Food Network.
Awesome.
MojitoMaven you have just described me in a nutshell!! I wish i could find any motivation at all, lord knows i certainly need it!! I have never been this big in my life & i know it would fall off if i just got up off my butt!! 🙂
So excited I found your blog! I love seeing wedding pictures and am a Southern girl at heart! I’m a new follower – stop by One Fine Wire any time!
http://www.finewire.blogspot.com
So nice to meet you!
Oh my gosh–you have no idea how much I needed to read your post today! I’ve been reading your blog for well over a year now, but it was like this post was just for me! I just had a baby (my first!) at the end of April, and I’ve been struggling with finding the time to work out and getting back on the fit train. It seems like for the first couple of months after the baby was born, we were just in survival mode–but now that she’s starting to fall into some type of a schedule, I know I’ve really got to get my act together. Before baby, I was always a morning workout person, and I’d love to get back to that–my excuse is that I’m swamped with mommy guilt! If I get up early enough, I can sneak off to the gym before my husband leaves for work–but I feel so bad if my daughter wakes up while I’m gone and I miss doing the morning feeding/cuddle time. I’m headed back to the week after next, and I feel like those moments are so fleeting and precious (and I hate to miss even more time with her when I’m back at work)! I know I need to do it for both of us (after all, she deserves a healthy mommy!), but it’s just so hard! 🙂 Good luck to you!!
I was reading through the comments and no one has mentioned the one exercise resource that I recently discovered and have grown to LOVE. If you have cable service and have On Demand through that service you have access to 100″s of free workouts under the sports & fitness section, or free section of your On Demand (it is listed differently based on your provider). I live on the west coast and have it through Time Warner, my mom lives on the east coast and has it through Coxs, Direct TV has it to, etc. I no longer drive to the gym anymore, I just come home and do a different workout everyday…or the same ones sometimes if i really love them. Everyone should check it out if they have access to On Demand. They have everything from pilates and yoga to dance workouts, and right in your own living room for free! It never gets boring when you have so many different options to choose from. Hope this helps some of you that may be unmotivated, I know it is what has kept me going recently 🙂
We give our gym a nice monthly donation. It’s so hard to get motivated. I still haven’t found the thing that is going to work for me, I likeChick-Fil-A too much 😉
A lack of variation is a killer for me…running and running just gets old. Boring. I have a new trainer here in London who has me on a great program to keep things interesting and make 45-60 mins fly by (stairs, rowing machine, intervals on the treadmill, spin class, etc.). If you want a copy, let me know! More than happy to email it to you for ideas to mix things up a bit. We’re all in this together 🙂
No way I can make it to the gym. The stroller hits the pavement at my house at 6:30am for a hard-core stroller workout! Sometimes 2 babies, sometimes just one, depending on if my husband is available to keep one at home.
Oh, how I needed this post! I have been beating myself up good over the fact that I am a complete slacker in the getting things done around the house and exercising catergory. It’s only been recently. Okay wait, let’s be honest…..I have always been a slacker on the exercise front. But I seem to have lost my umph a little bit when it comes to my usual plan of attack around the house. Thanks for helping me remember we all go through slumps. My favorite quote from Eat, Pray, Love….”I will not harbour unhealthy thoughts.” I need to say it more I guess!
C
I needed this post too! I just can’t seem to get motivated to go to the gym!!
Oh there are so many convenient excuses to not make it to the gym- too tired, work meetings, have to pick Hubby up from work, and so on! I need to get my act together also and start hitting the gym a lot harder. Good luck with your goals. I wish I had the motivation to get up at the crack of dawn and get it out of the way first- that really is the best way to do it! 🙂
Gym! No it just does not happen for us. For some reason we can not fit into our life. Why? Other people do it. Why can’t we, I ask myself all the time. I think about it at night before I fall asleep and it sounds great. Going to the gym. Bringing the babies with me and working out. Sadly it has never happened and I’ve been thinking about it for three years!
My 20 month old, Lauren, can’t stand the gym nursery. In fact, she doesn’t like it when anyone watches her unless she knows them. The second I step foot into the nursery, she clings to me. I Just don’t take her anymore. It’s not worth the stress that she goes through. PS: My mom went to USC, go Gamecocks!
I don’t blame you for being wary of the gym nursery. I’m pretty good about staying motivated to work out but that’s only because I don’t have kiddos yet! Have a great weekend…
Here I am at 1:17 waiting for my recent 2 month old (yesterday) to wake up and beating myself up for not taking a walk since Saturday…SATURDAY. We leave for a wedding this weekend. I am leaving him alone with my parents for the first time ever. I just have so much on my mind. Love your blog and how much you help keep me in perspective. Getting ready to get my mind right on starting WW again. Have some baby lbs and post wedding lbs to lost too.
I gave up the gym membership and purchased a treadmill & bowflex. It’s nice to workout without leaving home. My exercise equipment ‘stares at me’ if I don’t use it…lol…so it’s easy to get in a workout no matter how hectic my schedule gets. Babies(children) are resilient, an hour in the nursery isn’t going to hurt Hudson, but if you just can’t stand it, plan your workouts when hubby is home. That would give you some ‘me time’ and be a great father/son time for them.
Working out early in the morning has saved my sanity! I put out my workout clothes the night before when I need to work out the next morning so it’s the first thing I see when I wake up early around 6:20 or 6:30am.
I feel so much better about my day when I get a workout out of the way in the morning.
Also–my kids also sleep through it all so I can be there when they wake up and I don’t have to change my clothes later to work out, etc.
I have come to love it. I also put on my ipod a podcast or other music that I can’t wait to listen to, so that helps get me motivated. Whatever works: just do it! 🙂