Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Finding time to exercise? I'm out of excuses

A confession at The 36-Hour Day: Like so many people I know, I went and bought a copy of the most popular work-out DVD of the moment, 30 Day Shred. It's sitting on top of the TV console, still in the shrink wrap.

I want to get in shape. OK, I need to get in shape. But not because of a desire to look better in a bathing suit or because my 20th reunion is rapidly approaching -- those both of those things are actually true. I want to get in shape because my lovely, fawn-like, reed-thin 4 1/2-year-old daughter hugged me a few weeks ago and said, "Mama, you should run around more. So you can get un-fat."

Out of the mouths of babes, right?

So I went and bought this fitness DVD, even though I have never in my adult life had the time or patience to actually follow anything like it more than once. And I decided that, the day it arrived, I would open it up and start crunching and stretching and sweating.

Except... I didn't. And I didn't the next day, either. Or the next. I complain that I don't have time to exercise, but the truth is that I don't make time. Instead, I make excuses.

Each excuse has a kernel of truth in it, though. I really am wiped out at the end of my second shift. I really am a night-owl, and if I do manage to get up at 5 a.m., my youngest child really does seem to sense that I am conscious and gets up a few minutes after I do. I really do have two jobs to juggle and anywhere from two to five kids to care for at home, depending on the day. But staring at that shrink-wrapped DVD, I realized that I have another excuse in my arsenal.

I don't want anyone to watch me work out.

As most moms know, when your kids are very young there isn't much of anything you get to do without an audience. If I can't go to the bathroom without a curious kid asking questions about feminine products, how can I possibly follow Jillian Michaels for 30 minutes without interruption? (Also: Have you looked at the cover of the DVD? Is it just me, or does Ms. Michaels look like she's irritated by my inability to get started?)

So, friends, tell me two things. How do you make time to work out. And, perhaps more important, how do you get -- and stay -- motivated about it?

1 comment:

fibrowitch said...

It's called a Wii fit. You and the kids each play the games, put the controllers in your pocked and jog together.

Do the ski jumps, I am so in last place here But on the balance balls I'm in first!

When the kids go out and play with friends, that is when I do yoga, and stretching.

Exercise becomes a group activity, and something everyone looks silly at.