45 Minute Home Workout for Moms....(Or something like that!) :)

(photo credit)

So this is me....during my workout this morning...ha...ha...hahaha!  Ya right!  So let's get right to it...

I know...all ya all are reading the title of this post and thinking "How in the world does this girl have enough time in her day to workout for 45 minutes?  I don't even have enough time to take a shower, let alone workout!"  You are potentially on the verge of thinking bad thoughts about me right now, but allow me to explain what my 45 Minute Workout actually looks like......


8:30AM-  Start of Workout-  I press play on my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (Jillian is actually someone I'd often like to just unplug and walk away from....oh we have a love hate relationship, but more about that some other day!)  So I press play, and immediately realize I should probably pee and mamas you know what happens post child birth when you do jumping jacks right?  So even though I didn't have to go that bad...I obey, because I know what will happen when I don't.

8:35AM- Press play and back at it.

8:37AM- Alex starts fussing.  Press pause and give him his pacifier.  Abbie is covering her ears yelling "Alex!"  (her way of trying to get him to stop crying....oy!)

8:38AM-  Press play

8:39AM-  Alex spits pacifier out, more fussing.  Press pause.  Realize he is acting tired and put him down for a nap.

8:45AM- Back at workout.

8:50AM-  Alex is crying in crib.  Pause Jillian.  Go into his room, give him back his pacifier, shoosh him and pat his butt until he quiets down.

8:53AM- Back at workout

8:57AM  Abbie wants a mid morning snack.  Pause...again....

9:00AM Back at workout.  By this time Abbie has wandered into her room to play so I shut off the cartoons.

9:05AM- Crying from Abbie's room...I ignore it at first cause she's been whiny all morning.  She is probably crying over the fact that the chocolate chip in her granola bar is on the left side instead of the right and yesterday it was on the right not the left.

9:07AM Still crying.  I continue to ignore.  This time she comes out.  I continue working out while listening to whining and crying and pretending to ignore her even though I am really tired of her whining.  Turns out she is mad I turned off her cartoons (since she walked away and was playing in her room).  I respond with "Well, whining is not going to get them turned on.  We have watched enough cartoons for today and mommy will be done in a few minutes and I can come play with you."  A few more tears and she goes back into her room to play.

9:09AM  More fussing from Alex....man that boy has been having trouble this week with naps.  Press pause....insert pacifier, shoosh, butt pat...

9:11AM- Back at workout

9:15AM-  Workout ends and I shut Jillian off.

There you have it....an In Home 45 Minute Workout for Moms.....ha!  Mission accomplished and onto the next task :)

Somewhere in there I swear I got a 20-25 minute workout!  I know I know.  You are all wondering why in the world I would even attempt the workout in all of that mess!?  Well because for me...I need to.  It makes me a better person when I workout.  I feel better about myself and when my workout is done I can do better at the rest of my life throughout the day....even when being constantly interrupted I still feel better with a workout than without one.

So why not go to a gym?  Get up earlier?  Wait until after Dave gets home from work?


Answers:

I'm too cheap to get a gym pass and by the time I would get them loaded up to go I could have gotten in a workout at home.

I do get up earlier but sometimes the littles get up early too and I can't get my workout done before.

I hate waiting until Dave gets home from work because #1 I am too tired, and #2 by the time he gets home its a whirlwind of supper, baths, and bedtimes which is a whole other blog post in and of itself!



Life as a mom is sometimes messy....the constant neediness and the constant demands....it's exhausting and lovely all at the same time.  I don't know how to explain it but it just is.

I keep telling myself someday I'll miss it, but you know what?  I won't miss a lot of this....  I won't miss the crying that won't stop even when Alex is picked up and comforted.  I won't miss whining.  I won't miss my late bedtime and early rising.  I won't miss the extra laundry and dishes.

What I will miss is cuddles and snuggles, childlike faith and innocence, sweet imaginations and how they can make the inanimate world come to life, little helping hands, and goodnight kisses and hugs.

No, I can confidently say I won't miss the bad parts, and you know what else I won't miss?  Doing a 20-25 minute in home workout in 45 minutes.....that part I'm not gonna miss at all!

Keep doing what you do best moms....being you and doing whatever you need to do in your everyday life to be the best mom you can be!

Blessings,

Healthy Self Image and Our Daughters

photo credit

I saw something in the mirror today.  Something I didn't like.  Sure we all have parts of ourselves we don't like, but this...this was deeper than surface level.

As I walked into my bedroom this morning my heart stopped.  Sank actually.  There standing up on my vanity chair looking into the mirror was my little girl.  Holding her shirt up to expose her abdomen and patting her belly.  Looking at it intently in the mirror.  Examining herself and I realized...she gets that from me.  I knew immediately why she was doing this, because I do this.  I don't say anything when I do, but I examine myself and criticize my flaws, at least in my head.  So why wouldn't a young child who saw her mother do this be doing the exact same thing?

It's become very apparent to me as of late how much our children learn and take in from us.  They learn manners and wrong from right, but they also learn about our ugly parts too.  Our own sin.  They pick up on it and grasp it and repeat it.  Phrases, bad habits...all of it.  Every single part of my being is being examined fully on a daily basis and I don't even realize it.  It's good, because it challenges me.  God has brought more sin issues up in my life since becoming a mom then ever before, but it's hard, and we can't be perfect, but we can do our best to glorify God in all that we do, and when we mess up, not only do we repent of our sin, but we also can teach our children as well through our own imperfections.

As a person who has struggled with some eating disorder issues in the past, I don't take body image for my own little girl lightly.  In fact I was just talking to my sister the other day about how no matter how dissatisfied I am with my own appearance, I try my best not to verbalize it, but this....this moment in the mirror took it to a whole new level for me.  Abbie notices how I examine my flaws in the mirror, and though she doesn't realize yet that I thought of them as flaws, the world will soon help her realize that is what I was thinking.  That I was spending too much time thinking about my imperfections and my physical appearance and not enough time focusing on how God wants to change my heart.

Ladies hear me out here....the way we view our own bodies in front of our daughters is a huge part of how they will view their own bodies as they grow up.  Now we can't be responsible for our children's choices.  Nor can we blame ourselves if our daughter chooses wrongly when she is older, but we are responsible for raising our children in a biblical way.  Raising them to glorify God in all that they do.  And they learn by not just words, but by example.  Our example.

Now don't mistake what I am trying to say here.  I think you should take pride in your body the way God made it to be.  1 Corinthians speaks of our body being a temple and we should treat it as such, and Proverbs speaks against being a glutton.  Teach your children to feed their body good foods that will help nourish them well, but also let them enjoy a doughnut sometimes.  Teach them to not feel guilty going out for ice cream as a family occasionally.  Teach them to enjoy the moments in fellowship around a table full of food and savor it. Teach them about exercise, but don't obsess.  Running around playing at the playground is exercise, not just working out at home or in a gym.  Swimming and splashing at the pool is exercise, taking a walk and going on a nature hike is exercise.  Taking care of our bodies should be fun.  Though often times it takes discipline, all things should be done in moderation.  Now I'm not against makeup, and cute hairstyles, but you know your heart.  Are you obsessing too much over these things, or are your doing your best to take care of the body God gave you, enjoying treats in moderation, and trying your best to praise God for the blessing that your body is instead of critiquing every imperfection?

Teach your girls to stand in front of a mirror and feel beautiful.  It starts with us moms.  These early years are so critical in teaching our young daughters that God made them beautiful.  That we each are different....but beautiful and perfect in His image.  This doesn't mean your daughter won't struggle with body image ever.  In fact I am fully expecting to have my daughter come to me at least once in tears about something she doesn't like about her body (probably multiple times!).  That's not wrong.  That's normal, but what's important moms is our response to our daughters in those moments.  Show them their Heavenly Father's love.  Point them to God's perspective and where their self worth really lies, and above all be an example.  Love yourself.  Do you love yourself and who God made you to be?  Flaws and all?

I admit, its hard sometimes to look in a mirror and know how puberty changed me, how weight gain and weight-loss changed me, how 2 pregnancies and 2 births changed me, but each one of those moments in my life was meant to be there.  Meant to leave it's mark.  I'm not going to get any younger, in fact, statistics show that we only keep getting older....ha!  Are we surprised by that?  Wouldn't it be wonderful if our culture found beauty in weathered hands and bodies?  Hands that have served endlessly time and time again?  Hands that washed peoples feet?  Bodies that birthed life?  Bodies that worked hard to take care of a family their entire life?  Bodies that sacrificed financially again and again to serve others?

I don't want to sound all cliche and thoughts of the phrase "it's what's inside that counts," are sure to cause an eye roll.  My own eyes even roll at that phrase, but for real ladies....if we don't model this for our daughters who will?  The girls they meet in school?  The hormone laden teenage boys they have crushes on?  It is our responsibility to model this for our girls.  To teach them that they are more than hair, more than 6 pack abs and a bikini body workout in Seventeen magazine.  No, our girls are valued.  They are loved.  They are treasured beyond measure by their maker.

Would you remind them of this?  Would you remind them that even when they feel like according to the worlds standards they are far from beautiful, that He still does.  That their creator finds them beautiful, and breathtaking.  That He created them perfectly the way He wanted them to be and He loves them, and moms of boys would you raise your boys to know this about you, about their sisters, about all women?  Would you raise up the next generation of men?

Psalm 45:11 says, "The king is enthralled by your beauty, honor Him for He is your Lord."

Genesis 1:27 says. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

You see that?  He is enthralled by us!  Not only that, but we are created in His image!

Do you struggle too?  Do you really believe you are beautiful?  Are you discontent with your own body?

Choose to stand in front of your own mirrors and smile at the blemishes, the stretch marks put there as gentle reminders of the babies you carried, the skin that is no longer as firm as it once was when you were just a teen, the C-section scar....whatever it is dear friends, embrace it!

He's talking to you too you know....

You are beautiful and breathtaking.  You are perfectly made and He loves you too.  Believe it in your own heart, and it won't be nearly as hard for our own daughters to see God's love for them through you.

Read His word and remind yourself over and over again of His promises and what He says about your beauty and pretty soon the lies that you tell yourself will be replaced with truth.  Let Him change your heart.  Let Him remind you, how beautiful you really are.

Blessings,