Thought of the Day

I saw this the other day and have been thinking about it a lot today. I did a little math of my own and not including my sleeping hours, a 1 hour workout takes up only 6% of my waking hours. That gives me 94% of the day (14 hours) to do everything else I need to get done before I go to bed. To think that I use to give myself the "I'm too busy" excuse all the time as a reason not to work out. Honestly, I'll probably spend more time writing, reading, rewriting, and posting this blog.
I have had to change a few things to make my time at the gym more convenient. After all, change was what I needed.
The biggest change? My sleeping schedule. I wake up earlier than I use to. I use to sleep in to 7:30 each day, 8:00 on a good day. I now wake up no later than 6:00. I go to sleep a little bit earlier than I use to. It's a big deal if I stay up past 10 anymore. And you know what? I love the affect it's had on me. I never feel the need to take a nap during the middle of the day (like I use to). I hit the gym first thing in the morning after my daughter goes to school. I get it done and over with. I'm back home and out of the shower before some people are waking up for the day. I love it. First thing in the morning and I already feel like I've accomplished something for the day. It took me a while to get into the new routine. But now, I find that I just wake up on my own. Where as before I relied on my alarm and a back up alarm to get me out of bed in the morning. This change and led to other changes. Better changes.
I've begun planning things better. I've gotten a little more organized. If I plan my meals out in advance, it makes the days go easier. I go shopping and get everything I need in advance. Then I just follow the plan. There is no last minute rush and panic on what to make for dinner. I already know. That saves a lot of time in my day right there. It's insane how much time I use to spend worrying about what to make for dinner, rushing to the store to get the stuff (if we didn't have everything on hand), and coming home and throwing it together. (Before I started eating healthier, ordering take out happened a lot because of this). Then, I'd have to rush to make sure the kids ate, were bathed, and off to bed by a decent hour. Then after all of that rushing, I'd have all of the clean up to do after. Blah. It was exhausting. Not to mention, the extra money spent that way.
Now, I go in there and have dinner ready by 5:30/6:00. Yea, sometimes I may change my mind and move days around but I still have everything I need and can get it cooked on time. We eat and I clean up the kitchen while the kids play for a while. Then it's bath times, story time, and bedtime for them. Then I get a bit of time to myself without any cleaning left to do. Yea, that's right.. FREE TIME! I actually get guilt-free FREE TIME! I'm looking for my next book to read because I do have all of this extra free time.
Another thing I've planned is my cleaning schedule. There are the things that need done every day and then things that need to be done just here and there. And having that system has helped me keep the house nice and clean. These things can no longer be affected by my gym time. Because I have them under control.
Once I decided that going to the gym wasn't something to find time for but a priority, I found ways to make the time. Just like the many other things I work around during the week (swim class, dance class, Dr. apts, etc) it's just another part of my daily routine. And it's true what they say, after a while, it just becomes second nature. A habit.
Anyway, when I saw that post earlier this week, it made me think of all of the excuses I use to make for myself and how I was hurting myself and failing myself by doing so. To think that I could already be at goal if I would have just realized this all years ago. But this journey is all about changing and growing as a person (while shrinking), right? At least I'm learning my lessons now. And I get onto myself a lot about not doing this all sooner. But, I know that I wasn't ready then for all of those added changes. I'm glad that I can handle them all now. I feel better physically and mentally.

Tomorrow is pancake day and this is the recipe I will be trying: Snickerdoodle Pancakes.