Before we moved from Vancouver to Idaho I was attending Bootcamp exercise classes, and was really enjoying them. It was a great appointment to get out of the house and I felt accountable to showing up to a class that I prepaid for. After becoming a Mom in order to make exercise a regular part of my routine I really needed the support of others. As a Mom of young children you are almost always exhausted, and it can be waaaaay easier to give up on it all together. Exercising in a group helped me not give up.
November in Idaho was all about adjusting to our new environment. We also had to work on a lot of details like unpacking and finding my son a good pre-school. The month came and went and regular exercise did not happen.
December went by in a flash and I was really behind on all the Christmas stuff I usually try to get done further ahead of time. Not only did I not exercise regularly in December, I did a lot of indulging. A few days before New Year’s my husband and I were talking about how we did not like the way we felt, and knew it was time for a change.
Spending a bunch of money on a gym membership right now wasn’t that appealing to us. Add onto that the fact that it is cold and snowy here a lot of the winter and the desire to leave the house in the dark evening is not very high. Right now my husband is working longer hours than he did before being that he is at a new job, and he only gets a short amount of time with the kids in the evening.
Like many couples it is hard to fit in a lot of time spent together while raising a family, but it is very important to both of us. It was starting to feel like how are we possibly going to exercise? My husband came up with a plan that we should exercise together in our home. No driving in the snow, or going out in the freezing cold again at night, and we would exercise as soon as the kids went to bed.
It is not the ideal time of day to exercise but the fact is for us it works right now, and we feel much better than when we were not doing it at all. I love, love, love that we are exercising together! I really need that, and the truth is my husband is my favorite person to work out with. He thinks about what we should do, makes up circuits for us, and gets me using weights, which without him for some reason I never really do.
To keep me active I need to change things up. When I get bored with exercise it is not good for the long haul. We have recently realized there are a lot of great exercise programs On Demand for the days we need something new to do. Who knew? I think we have been living under a rock.
Regular exercise is all about finding what works for you personally. Times change, situations change. Adapting and figuring out a new plan of attack when what you’ve got going on is no longer working for you, or keeping you interested, is very important. Sometimes you have to get creative, and often it really helps to have someone committed to working out with you.
My best advice so far on my journey is to be flexible. When you start to dislike what you are doing change it up instead of suffering through, otherwise if you are like me you’ll set yourself up for failure. Never be afraid to ask for help and support with exercise! Without that I know I would be going nowhere fast in the exercise department.
Do you have any favorite at home workouts you can share with me for cold winter months?
