Last night, my family and I attended a birthday party for a classmate of my middle child. The party was hosted at a Burger King about twenty minutes from our home, and it started at six o'clock pm. We arrived at approximately 6:30 pm and stayed until it ended at 9:00 pm. The kids had a great time playing at the indoor playground, while Gabi and I talked with some of the parents. On most nights, the children go to bed at 8:00 pm and I fall asleep shortly after to get up early and work. The party, although fun, interfered with our routine.
After we made it home from the party, we ate, showered, and then went to sleep. I didn’t make it to the bed until eleven and woke up this morning at 5:54 am, which is later than my preference. My middle son had a difficult time sleeping last night, and I was on duty to take care of him. Instead of going back to my bed after checking on him, I fell asleep in his room and ignored my alarm. When I woke up, I had a couple of decisions to make about how I would spend the rest of my morning.
I wanted to write, read, eat, and squeeze in forty-five minutes to workout. By the time, I made it downstairs and began the routine; everyone was awake. I didn’t forgo my morning plans, but I had to make several adjustments. While the children had breakfast, I did some reading. In between helping them put their clothes on, I wrote in my journal. I was not able to complete every activity in my schedule before putting the kids on the school bus, but I made some progres
After we put the kids on the bus, I planned to exercise for one hour before returning home to get ready for my Spanish class. As the kids' school bus pulled away from the curb, it began to drizzle which in five minutes turned into a torrential downfall. I started to think that the exercise I hoped to accomplish as part of my morning, was not going to happen. The birthday party from the night before was impacting my day and interfering with a staple of my daily routine, exercise.
By the time it stopped raining, it was 9:00 am, and my Spanish class was scheduled for 10:30 am. Did I have a chance to get in a decent workout before class? I told myself yes, grabbed my things, and went for a run. I did some interval training along the beach, before spending a few minutes focused on capoeira movements and music. Afterwards, I felt relieved for pushing through the morning challenges to make time for exercise.
Have you experienced mornings like I did today? You know, the mornings where you crawl out of bed later than normal and your plans are interrupted with life’s responsibilities. Today, I was in a rush to get the children to school, get some work done, and exercise before Spanish class. You might have similar responsibilities and a job to get to in the morning. It's easy to skip exercise and get on with your day because it doesn't have an immediate consequence.
Avoiding exercise over time can lead to serious health problems. The World Health Organization reports that sedentary lifestyles can significantly increase cardiac disease, diabetes, and a host of other illnesses.
Commit to exercise today for a minimum of thirty minutes 2-3 times per week. Subscribe to this blog via my mailing list for future content that will motivate you to get in the best shape of your life!