I’m not much of a New Year’s resolution type of girl and I don’t even recommend my clients set them either. Most health and fitness resolutions I see people make are unrealistic, involve some sort of detox, juice cleanse or their chasing unrealistic body composition goals. New Year’s resolutions are usually forgotten about within a couple months. I see it every year. Come January 2nd the gym will be packed. Come March, it is a ghost town again.
As I was reflecting on the past year recently I realized how much I have become laxed on in the last couple months. My workouts have been extremely inconsistent, nor have I had my normal mojo to really make my workouts effective and my food choices have been less than ideal for myself.
Before baby A all I had to worry about was making sure I was fed, my husband was fed and I was making it to the gym consistently. I had it down and was able to do those things really really well. I meal prepped, I had programmed my workouts weeks in advance, I was able to plan my days around going to the gym and if “real life” happened it was still easy to move things around to make sure I was still getting in my workouts and eating right.
I wouldn’t change being a mom for anything, but it has definitely changed me. Being a mom is above all else which means the gym has been put on the back burner more than I’d like to even admit. I guess this is just called “real life”. Health and fitness in the context of real life with a baby and family means the baby wants to be held, a family member has a terminal illness, there are holiday obligations all weekend long, when your stressed your body hurts, and when you just think you are about to head to the gym your dog pukes all over the living room carpet. Real life is messy, unpredictable and complicated. I am trying to accept this about real life which is forcing me to grow as a person.
With being a new mom, wife, business owner, coach, employee and daughter my New Year’s resolution to continue to prioritize my health is to be flexible and give myself grace as I aim to make each day just a little bit better than the day before.
Baby A will need my attention, the dog may puke from time to time, family obligations will come up and I will miss gym dates with myself. But, I will plan ahead for all of those things to happen. It may be inconvenient timing after baby A is comforted and all other responsibilities are taken care of so I may end up doing a living room workout without weights, get in a 10 minute workout in the garage, or settle for a 5 minute meditation.
At times I may be faced with unhealthy foods with no other options so I will be sure to make the best choice possible of what is in front of me. I may be held hostage with a baby that won’t sleep and have to do air squats and pushups or walk around the house to get in some movement.
On those rare days I am not dealing with all of those things, I will give it my all in the gym or meal prep to set myself up for the coming days. This won’t be easy, but at least I have a plan.
As you think about your New Year’s resolution or already have it set ask yourself, is this realistic? Will I be able to sustain my actions all year round to reach my goal? Or, are you just setting yourself up for failure? Make this year the year you actually stick to and obtain your health and fitness goals. Be flexible, honest and give yourself grace each day as you work towards prioritizing your health this year with your real life situations.