Fitness Goop

Fitting in Health & Fitness When Your Life is Jam-Packed: Part 2

If your main challenge with maintaining your health habits is fitting them in, then it might be time to do some re-configuring. Your life is comprised of a number of categories, a few of which may include work, commuting, running your household, managing finances, parenting, family, community commitments, shopping for life supplies, and all of the other things that get squeezed in: unexpected illness, social gatherings, unscheduled periods of much-needed rest….etc. Yes, life is busy.

The fact of the matter is you are at the source of being present to all of these commitments in your life. You get to choose to show up in one of the following states: tired yet trucking along, frazzled and constantly overloaded, or balanced and efficient (and sometimes a fluctuation of all three). So, if you were to show up more ‘balanced’ in your life, what might be the cause of that? Self-care.

Body mind and spirit are – as any wellness practitioner will tell you- interconnected. When one is out of balance, the rest suffer. Following this logic, if you don’t prioritize taking care of your body, you will get the obvious results: less energetic, less able and more stressed. And when you are stressed, the natural default is to notice how overloaded you are and not see the possibility of a better, more relaxed experience of daily life. On the other hand, when you take care of your body, your mind and spirit will also benefit, and all activities you partake in will be touched by this more vibrant you.

So how do you fit it in? Decide to take a long, hard look at your busy schedule, and identify what can get knocked off your plate. “But I can’t….I have to do this”…you might think, about a number of things in your day-planner….decide what gives you more in the bigger scheme of your life, and simplify. Sometimes we don’t realize that in our great intentions to create what we want out of life, we stretch ourselves thin with commitments and responsibilities.

Remember that old saying “After all, I still have my health….”? There’s wisdom in that expression. How can you enjoy what you have when you’re in poor health? Watch what easily sneaks onto your plate in life, and seems to knock off your commitments to health.

Once you’ve considered some of the time and energy drainers that keep showing up in your schedule, make a list of these items, and then weigh out the pros and cons of each commitment. The aim here is to get rid of things that take time and energy that could be devoted to taking care of yourself, whether that be food shopping and prep, exercise, meditation, creative expression, therapy…whichever recharges you. Make ample space for your health. You will benefit in ways that far exceed the outcomes of most of that load of commitments.

Bonus tip: if you find that you feel uncomfortable ducking out of commitments and don’t want to break your word to others, find a way to frame it that empowers you and also shows others that you are making a sensible decision: “I’ve come to realize that I’m neglecting my health, and it’s in my best interest to reduce my commitments at this time so that I can take better care of myself.” Who can argue with that? You may even inspire others!

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