How To Coordinate Your Family Obligations With Your Fitness Goals
How time flies. January has come again! And despite what I usually say to my teen, that how you should start with any journey doesn’t have anything to do with the start of the week or the start of the year for that matter, January is a good time to take stock of things that we should be doing for ourselves.
Health of course, is on top of them, so as self love, and self-care. And it’s not any wonder that we moms always seem to miss this this boat. Many times our family obligations prevent us from doings things for ourselves. Between work, laundry, cooking, checking on kids assignment, maintaining a regular fitness schedule can be very hard when your chores and family members are all demanding for your time.
Remember that your fitness goals are not only for your benefit but also for the benefit of your family. When you are healthy and have an opportunity to blow off steam, you can approach your family obligations clear-headed and alert.
How to start with your fitness goals?
The first thing you should do is begin journaling. Your first entry should be a log of how your spend your time now. Dump and list everything. By identifying the areas of time in your day that may be wasted with repetitious or fruitless activity, you can find areas that can be transformed into exercise time. You will also be able to identify the times of day when your family is mostly otherwise occupied. If you are squandering this potential free time by doing things for them that they could be doing for themselves or with your help when they are present, reclaim that time as your own.
Keep your own biological clock in mind. Identify the time of day when you have the most energy and claim that as your exercise time. If you are a morning person, set your alarm half an hour earlier and claim that the first half-hour of the day as your personal exercise time. I find that this one works for me best an also doubles as my silent time.
If you prefer to exercise in the afternoon or evening, set aside half an hour to enjoy a workout video on your own. If your family will not leave you alone long enough to do this and you are financially able, join a gym and set aside a specific hour or so three-to-four times weekly to simply escape them, get your workout and de-stress!
Whether or not you join a gym, you should also plan on working some sort of physical activity into every day. You could do stretching, yoga or some other gentle form of exercise upon arising and before going to bed at night.
Get out with your kids and/or spouse for bike rides, walks and yard work. If you have a dog, be sure to take him or her out for a brisk walk every day. These little bits of natural activity add up to good fitness. They also improve the quality of your life and help you build good relationships with your family members while lowering your stress levels.
Be sure to involve family members in your fitness goals because this is a good way to practice good parenting, set a good example and keep your family healthy. In this day and age when health care is so expensive and overall sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits contribute more and more to overall poor health everywhere, it is very important to take good care of yourself and teach your children how to do so.
Even making a firm habit of taking time for yourself to exercise is a good way to teach your children how to take care of themselves. Remember that staying in shape yourself is a major contribution to your family life. Remember the ideas presented here as you strive to be the best parent and the best individual you can be by staying fit and strong.
