I remember when life for me was hectic. That’s not to say that it still isn’t. But at one time, I was a single mother of 3 kids (ages 8, 5 and 2) working a full time job from 8-5 and going to school full time to finish getting my Bachelor’s Degree from 6-10. There were days that I didn’t know if I was coming or going. Having my kids on the school bus by 7:00 am, getting ready for work and then starting my day were most days overwhelming. I remember getting off work and heading to Chic-Fil-A to catch a bite to eat before class and then coming home late at night to study eating survival food (chips, cookies, sandwiches, frozen dinners, ramen noodles). Going to bed at 1:00 and 2:00 am and waking up at 5:30 am was my norm. There were days when I wanted to give up but I knew I could never do what I tell my kids that they can never do. I always tell them that anything that they start, they have to finish. I knew I had to be the example of what I preach.
So what happened to me in the course of this hectic lifestyle? I was once a cheerleader, a track runner in high school, a cheerleader in my early college years, and a Navy Veteran. Let’s just say that fitness has always been a part of my lifestyle. But somewhere my priorities got in the way and I let fitness take a back seat and over the years I watched the scale grow from 120 lbs. to weighing 155 lbs. Some may say that’s not a lot. And it’s not for some people. But at 5’1” and for someone that has always taken my health seriously, I could see a problem developing. Years went by and luckily, the scale never went past 155 lbs. Not because I was doing anything about it but because my life continued to get more hectic.
How many of you have said, “I’m going to start back working out after _______________?”
I told myself that once I graduated from college that I would dedicate more time to my health and fitness. That didn’t exactly happen. Instead, the kids started playing sports and other extracurricular activities. So now instead of leaving work going to school, it was leaving work to drop one kid off at practice while I dropped another kid off at a game or getting my daughter to tutoring or girl scouts. So really, things didn’t change after graduation. I continued to stay on the go. But there was no place that I would rather be and if I had it do all over again, I would.
I did have a little help with my mom coming to my house every afternoon to be there when the kids came home from school. So the kids always had a snack waiting for them when they came home and dinner was always ready. So what was dinner? My mom was old school. She loved fried chicken, pork chops, hamburger and gravy, you get the picture? Let’s just say my kids ate good. Well for me, I didn’t eat pork or beef. Dinner for me was usually whatever that was there that was quick and simple for me after a long day. There were some days that I was just too tired for dinner. On those days, I just wanted a bath and bed. This went on for years. Though the scale never went up, I would look in the mirror some days and say to myself, “who are you?”
Can any of you relate? You get the “I’m just too busy” syndrome.
Well stay tuned and I’m going to tell you “How I Found ME Again. Until then, don’t give up. It’s NEVER too late to get in shape!
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