photo courtesy of Tara CalimanHere at Expand Outdoors we talk a lot about excuses. (I’ve devoted a bunch of Monday posts to Monday Morning Excuses.) We all have them. We all use them. And I know we all wish they were easier to ignore!
One of the most common excuses I hear is “I don’t have time.” If there’s ever an excuse that seems totally reasonable, it’s when new mom’s tell you, “I don’t have time.”
When life is full of huge, brand-new changes—physically, mentally, emotionally—it’s astonishingly easy for our routines to slip out of control and fly away in the wind.
Finding ways to get past the excuses and create ways around them isn’t always easy (are they ever!?), but it can be done and I continually find inspiration and renewed motivation when I learn how others manage it.
What are their experiences? How’d they do it? Will it work for me?
I’m particularly excited for today’s guest post from Tara Calihman. She’s a runner, CrossFit enthusiast and all-around active women. When she had her son, her entire routine—life, really—was upended and she found herself re-prioritizing and finding ways to embrace motherhood while not losing sight of her own health and passions.
Even if you don’t have kids, or yours are grown, you’ll want to read this post—because it’s not just about finding time to workout with a new baby. It’s about making sure we take care of ourselves first, precisely so we can care for, and be there for others.
It’s about getting creative and discovering facets of ourselves that we didn’t know existed. So I’ll turn it over to Tara:
Motherhood & Learning to Embrace the 5:30am Workout
Tara at 5:30am CrossFit (photo courtesy of CrossFitRoots)I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my life: long-distance backpacking, teaching middle school, doing stand-up comedy... But the one thing that consistently gets incredulous looks from people is when I tell them I work out at 5:30 in the morning.
I’ve come to accept this as fact. But the other fact, the one I know about myself, is that if I want to make fitness a priority in my life, I have to get my workouts in when I can. Especially now that I have a child.
Before I got pregnant, I liked to get my workout in before heading into the office so that I could spend my valuable post-work hours attending happy hours, cooking dinner or going to events. I was all about the morning run, the bike ride into work and the CrossFit classes two or three times a week.
Then, during the first two trimesters of my pregnancy, I stayed fairly active, even going so far as to run a half-marathon when I was 4 and ½ months pregnant. But I wondered what fitness would be like after I had healed from giving birth.
Would I remember how to run? Would the baby be okay while I went to work out? Would I be okay when I went to work out?
Sticking with my morning workout routine and doing CrossFit at 5:30am was the only feasible option for my family’s schedule.
Most mornings I can slip out before my kid is even awake and when I come home, the boys are happily snoring away in bed together. While it’s not easy to get up that early and get myself motivated to work out, I’m almost always happier when it’s over.
There are a few other benefits:
- Getting your workout in first thing in the morning means that you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day. It also sometimes means that you’re sore for the rest of the day. But hey, more time for stretching!
- The roads are empty. Parking is a breeze. If I need to make a quick grocery stop after a workout, there’s no one in the store.
- The other people who are up at that time are maybe just a little crazy too. Normal people don’t get up to work out at 5:30am. Fortunately. So the people that show up are other parents, people who like to go to bed early and smartasses. My tribe!
- Knowing you have to get up for a 5:30am workout keeps you honest. It can also kill your social life. But is has done wonders for me getting the eight hours of sleep I know that I need to function.
- During a 5:30am workout, you can always use the time as an excuse. Or the fact that you haven’t had any coffee. There are some mornings that I have a hard time counting reps, adding up the weight I’m lifting on the bar or remembering exactly what a split jerk is. Hey, it’s 5:30am...cut me some slack!
I will be honest and say that early morning workouts in the winter are especially tough. The darkness, the cold, the snow—they all play tricks on your mind and try to convince you to stay in bed and skip the workout.
Having a garage has helped with some of that since scraping ice off a windshield before a 5:30am workout is one of my least favorite things to do.
(My other trick for dealing with getting out the door on a cold morning? Have my workout clothes picked out & sitting next to the heater. It helps to be able to pull on warm clothes before heading out into the dark.)
I really would not trade my early-morning workouts for anything. It’s the time I get to make my health and fitness a priority, without having to worry about anyone else. 5:30am becomes less frightening the more you embrace it.
And besides, once you have kids, you might just already be up at that hour.
about tara
Tara Calihman is a freelance writer and blogger who has lived in Boulder for ten years without getting either a dog or a Subaru. She enjoys dark chocolate, riding her bike & trying to hike trails with her toddler son. Although she hasn’t won any major awards, she was voted as one of 2008’s most bangable blogger babes. So there’s that. She can be found online at Tall Tara or tweeting @tarable.
welcome
If you’re new here, welcome. I’m delighted you stopped by.
Sign up for my monthly newsletter for more inspiration and practical tips to help you get—and stay active. You’ll also receive a FREE download of 7 Secrets to Staying Motivated.
If you’re interested in life coaching and ready to make a change, contact me for a free consult.
Other posts you might enjoy:
- I’m Not an Athlete: Monday Morning Excuse
- How Strong is Your Foundation?
- Climb Your Own Route (And Silence Your Inner Critic)