I just don't have time ...

I hear this phrase all the time.

"I can't (fill in the blank) because I don't have time. I really want to (fill in the blank), but there are not enough hours in the day."

What people really mean is they don't MAKE time. If something is really, truly important to you you WILL make time for it. Plain and simple. You will make time for it and you will follow through. If you don't do it then it's not as important as you say it is.

I have been saying this about getting the the gym for the last several months. I have a new baby, I have a toddler, I don't have time, I'm too tired, I can only go in the early morning or late at night and I can't do either of those (because I don't want to), I can only work out once a week so I won't go at all ..... I was so full of excuses I was annoying myself. I finally decided that I had had enough. I decided that I would suck it up and go in the morning before Joe goes to work. I figured that I needed to go early enough in the morning so I could be home to get the kids ready as well as get myself showered, ready for the day and breakfast eaten. Audrey gets up around 6:30 and Devon around 7:00.

Yesterday I got up at 4:50.

That's right.

In the MORNING.

I got my bum to the gym at 5:00am and worked out for an hour. I thought it would be empty at that time, but it was positively full. It felt so GOOD to really work out. When you get up that early you tend to really push yourself to make sure that getting up was really worth it.

I got home a little after 6:00am, showered, got ready, ate breakfast, made Joe breakfast and did two loads of laundry. Audrey got up at 7:00 and soon after Devon was up. It was such a different experience because I wasn't rushing around trying to get ready while holding Audrey and Devon begging to play. I wasn't scrambling to clean the breakfast dishes before we could leave the house and I wasn't stressed. We had a perfectly pleasant morning and the kids even got down for naps early and slept 3 hours .... at the same time. In those 3 hours I was able to clean the house and make dinner. Since I didn't have any cleaning to do after dinner I was able to read and make some jewelry .... something that I really enjoy, but haven't done in a while. I was somehow able to keep my energy up all day and had to force myself to go to bed at 11:00pm.

I went again this morning and it was even better! I am pleasantly sore and know that I am getting benefits from my hard work. I have never been a morning person, but I have a new appreciation for getting up before the sun does. I feel so much more productive, I feel healthy, I've done something good for myself that, in turn, benefits my family.

It's amazing how something like going to the gym can make me feel like the me-before-I-had-kids. I want to get back to going five days a week and I can't wait to get my body back! I was this close to loosing all the baby weight (I literally had one pound to go), but then I gained back five pounds. Ughhhhh. I only have two pounds left at this point so I don't think it will take me any time at all to reach my goal.