CAN YOU SPARE AN HOUR FOR YOU?

How many hours are there in a day? Easy, 24. 

24 hours in a day, and yet many moms still can’t find the time to take care of their health. They  take care of their children; they make sure they get enough hours of sleep, they prepare healthy and nutrient rich meals.  They also sacrifice their time to meet their children’s emotional and physical needs.

But who is taking care of YOU?

How long can you maintain working long hours, getting too little sleep, eating poorly on the go and expect your body to keep up with you?

In the best case scenario, your body can start showing signs of fatigue, tiredness, weight gain, lethargy and at its worst scenarios- heart disease, hypertension and illness.. 

And those are the physical symptoms.  Our mental health suffers too when our bodies don’t receive the proper TLC they need.

“But there’s just no time for me. I’m just too busy.” As a personal trainer, that’s a line I hear all the time from my clients. Well, let’s go back to the question I started with. There are 24 hours in a day. Yes, 24. So you’re telling me there isn’t 30 minutes to 1 hour reserved for you?? I challenge you to find the time.

Don’t wait for problems to happen and then decide to start making healthier choices. Do it NOW.

Don’t want to work out? Don’t like it? That’s fine. But pick one thing that you do for yourself to make sure your body doesn’t become a ticking time bomb, such as:

•  Eat healthier; such as drinking more water, add more fruits and veggies into your diet.
• Start yoga or meditation
•  Book time with a mental therapist, if needed.
•  Schedule a massage or mani/pedi
• Take time to go on walks in nature  
• Go out to lunch with a friend

Remind yourself that you are doing this so you would have the energy to better take care of yourself and your family.

Below are some tips to restructure your day so you can include some “me time”:

1.    Get organized.  Think about all of the time that is wasted looking for things; looking for papers, phone numbers, supplies…etc. Use the first 15 minutes of your morning to organize your work area. If a professional organizer is something you can afford, go ahead and hire one.

2.  Identify your most productive time. You may be a morning person or an evening person.  Decide what part of the day you work best and do all your busiest tasks then.

3. Make your to-do list the night before. Know what you will accomplish the next day. That way, you start out with a goal in mind first thing in the morning rather than wandering around aimlessly.

4.   Find more time in the day. Consider getting up an hour before your children do. That hour can be reserved for your workouts, meal prepping, or just quiet time spent by yourself having your morning breakfast. You’ll thank me later for this 🙂

5. Household chores and house cleaning. Never ending, right? Consider asking your children and family members to pitch in with house\hold chores and keeping clutter under control.  Even younger children can be taught to pick up after themselves and to take responsibility for an age-appropriate chore. .

Another tip is to Make your bed every morning. It takes 2 seconds and feels so good to jump into a bed that is freshly made. Mood booster right here!

6.  Learn to “Just Say No!” to extra commitments.  I know, it’s so hard right?? We rock star ladies just want to do it all and be available for everyone all the time. But your mental and physical health is  important too! You can’t do it all, and you shouldn’t feel that you need to. I assure you, they will find someone else. 

Bottom line, It doesn’t require many hours to take control of your physical and mental health. Remember a healthy mom is the best gift you can give to your children, your spouse and yourself.