This week I’ve had no less than 3 people say a version of this to me, “I’m impressed with your fitness routine. I don’t know how you do it with everything else in your life.” I typically reply to them, I don’t know either, but it somehow gets done.
Embarking on a fitness journey is a lifelong commitment. There really is no ending to this. Yes, we set some short term goals for ourselves, but living an active life is something you commit to forever. It’s not easy every day and in order to do that you figure out little hacks to help check your boxes every day. Juggling a husband, 2 kids with a big age gap, a career, friends and fitness takes some finesse – so I wanted to share what helps me stay consistent on the fitness front in hopes that it will help you identify what YOU need to support this self care.
- Getting stronger. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that me and weightlifting go together real bad! Gaining strength over time is a great motivator – I love challenging my body to do things I never thought it was capable of doing. In order to this you have to be serious, focused and show up to your workouts ready to work to maintain and increase your strength. Lifting week after week and pushing yourself to add 5 more pounds or to bang our 1 more rep is addicting! Even failing your lifts can motivate you to come back and try again. That type of tangible progress keeps me coming back to test if I can push myself to beat last week’s performance.
- Speaking of coming back for more, momentum definitely contributes to my consistency week over week. If I have a streak going of hitting all my workouts, it’s really hard for me to wimp out and miss a day because I want to prove to myself that I can keep going! Now, I need to caveat this with making time for rest. I take my rest days VERY seriously, but I have a weekly lifting schedule. I want to hit my days and if for some reason I miss, I try to make it up. For my Apple Watch wearers – closing those devilish rings daily makes you compete against yourself to see if you can keep it up! It’s also a great way to show actual evidence that you are keeping the promises you made to yourself.
- Gym Friends (& Crushes) – There’s nothing more motivating than having being a part of a community of people that are showing up to make themselves better each day. My 4am gym crew are golden because I know if I miss too many days, they will be asking me about it! Contrary to some beliefs, a gym crush doesn’t have to wreck a happy home. I am a proud and happily married woman, but I ain’t dead! Let’s face it, there are a lot of men & women who look great and have built an amazing physique and I’m just here to appreciate their work. 😜 Most people who go to the gym (including myself) have some type of aesthetic goal – which is absolutely fine, and having a gym crush can help you have something to aspire to who happens to be easy on the eyes. I have gym crushes that are male and female and it makes me feel good knowing we are all in the same place getting stronger and finer day after day.
- Being a role model. My coworkers, friends and my kids have all told me many times that I’ve inspired them in one way or the other to eat cleaner, get in the gym, or just move and there is literally no better compliment! This absolutely encourages me to keep going because I can’t let them down and I recognize that in my commitment to my goals I can demonstrate that they can achieve what they want if they keep showing up.
I am not 100% perfect at all the things I’m committed to, but I do always try to show up fully present in the best way that I can. Perfection is not require, just don’t quit!
In the comments below, let me know how you breed consistency in your busy life to the things that are important to you.
Until next time,
xo, Siara
