Which way to the gym?
I’m currently on maternity leave with a 6 week old and a 2 year old, so it can be extremely difficult to find time to just “Be with myself.” Because of this, I was sort of stumped about what to do for this month’s challenge, and then I realized that I already have been doing something that’s for me and only me this month – I’m getting back into my workout routine! Sure, Stella works out with me sometimes, but not always, and almost every day I’m trying to do an exercise video or jump on the elliptical machine and watch mindless reality TV for a few minutes while I just let my muscles feel the burn. It’s awesome!
I suppose this is cheating a little bit because it’s true that I’m doing this not only for my own health & happiness but also to be a healthy inspiration for my kids. However, I’m not doing this directly for them, so I’m going to go ahead and count it as my “start small” challenge.
I used to think working out had to include at least 45-60 minutes of cardio and/or gym time. Now that I have two little kids, I’m realizing that (for now) finding a chunk of time that long is almost always an impossibility, especially with nursing a newborn, so I’m going to work on being okay with doing just 20 minutes of daily exercise and know that those 20 minutes are FOR ME and NECESSARY and such a good thing for my physical, mental, and emotional health.
So there ya go – I’m starting small with my exercise goals this month. What have you done to start small?
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This is the newest installment in my Who Needs It? Decluttering Series (a year long decluttering challenge organized by the lovely SRB).
Challenge 1: Fess Up 
Area 1: The Master Bedroom
Challenge 2: Get Real
Area 2: The Bathrooms
Area 3: The Kitchen Drawers & Pantry
Challenge #3: Start Small
Clean out your internal junk drawer a little bit. Take some time to yourself, for just yourself. Where you are not doing anything for anybody else. At all.
I was going suggest an hour, but let’s start even smaller. 30 minutes. Even 15 minutes, but no less. 15 minutes to just BE with yourself, doing something for yourself and no one else. A chance to let the dust settle just a little, to look inside yourself just a little bit. I don’t want to put too many restrictions on (*stay* small!) but I do have a few!
- be by yourself
- put your phone away
- kill one bird with one stone (no doing anything directly for anyone else)
I had been doing the T25 workout, and I LOVED that it was just 25 minutes to focus on me. It’s a great workout if you ever need something to switch up what you have going on now. I agree, a workout counts as “mommy time,” and eventually you will have both kids going to bed around the same time again and be able to focus on other things you want to do for yourself! Great job for starting small!
Oooh – I’ve heard that’s an awesome video workout! That’s going to be my reward to myself once I get through the Shred.
I loathe working out so much that it would NEVER be something I consider time for myself. The only reason I’ve ever worked out is bc I feel pressured to do it by those close to me. I’m so jealous that you like it (even a little bit!)
LOL, I just like the results of it. As someone who is definitely not naturally thin & fit, I’ve had to make peace with my need to exercise, and that means I need to try to like it at least a little bit since it really needs to be a daily part of my life!
Hey! This is awesome! Of course it counts, especially because it makes you feel good about yourself. 🙂
(I briefly thought about making this my Start Small, but I realized I do something else that “counts” that I usually do for others, but recently made All About Me. BUT I am glad that *your* Start Small has rubbed off onto me)
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