I lived years with no regular exercise. After that caught up to me, I waged a battle with myself to stick with my workouts. I would have a few weeks of working out 4-5 times and weeks when I would falter. No matter what I did, I would go through spells where I wouldn't workout for weeks at a time.
It again took years to figure out what worked for me. I HAVE to work out in the morning. If I wait until after work, there are many days when it won't get done (and now that I have a daughter to get to bed, it is an impossibility for me). Even so, even knowing this, I would go through spells where I just wouldn't. I don't know if it was willpower, or that I let myself make excuses. Maybe both.
I'm sure I will have times in my life when I falter and fail again. And pick myself back up again. But for now, I have gone 4 months without missing a single workout.....6-7 days a week. I finally feel, for the first time in my life, like it's a non-negotiable. No matter what is going on, no matter how late I stayed up the night before, I just get up and get it done.
But I'm the kind of person that doesn't settle. I always need a new challenge to keep pushing myself forward. Now that I have conquered my workouts, what's my new challenge?
Getting in a second workout each day. I work full time and am a full time mom to an almost-two year old (she comes to work with me), so this will be a real challenge. Nap time is reserved for uninterrupted work so I cannot use it for a workout. My first big hurdle will be to find a time when I can get another workout done and then make myself stick to it, rather than getting wrapped up in the work I was doing. I think I will start out with 10-15 minute workouts most of the time....abs or cardio....and build from there. If the weather is nice and I can spare even more time, a walk with my daughter will be perfect. Maybe I will try to fit more of those in after her dinner before I get her ready for bed.
All of these little what-ifs and maybe-I'll-try-this's is how I figure out what works for me. I have to try different things and then see what works and what "sticks." It's all about building workouts into a routine so you are less likely to make excuses.
