How to Stay On Track When Life is Crazy

So, how did I stay on track with my fitness goals while I relocated my whole family into my parent's 1,000 sq foot ranch home, in which I shared a twin size futon with my 5 year old, left my personal training business and started all over again at a new studio while waiting for our new house to be completed? Well, I didn't. I didn't at all, like barely, not even in the slightest could I get it together...at least not in the beginning.

You see, at first, I kept telling myself it was just short-term and that a little slacking was no big deal. Our new situation was stressful, we were all over the place and working out/meal prepping just wasn't on my priority list at the time, and that's ok! However, what was suppose to be a 30-day stay at my parent's house turned into a 60-day stay and then a 90-day stay and then another month, and then another! So needless to say about two months into our 4.5 month sleepover, I wasn't feeling at all like myself and realized if I allowed myself to keep going down this path by the time we were in our new house I was going to be in a very unhappy place.

So I started beating myself up about getting back on track. Like, why couldn't I just get it together??? I know what to do, how to do it, for goodness sake I do this shit for a LIVING! And suddenly, out of no where, it hit me.... I realized there was NO getting back on track!

WHY??

Because the track I was on, no longer existed. I was on a whole different track, a different living situation, and different work schedule, sleeping arrangements., etc. EVERYTHING was different! And, yet I kept expecting myself to get back to doing all the things I did before, for example...

Meal Prepping; I use to do this as part of my Sunday ritual while my kids napped. I kept expecting myself to do this again when really that made no sense. There was no room in the fridge for all of the foods I would normally feed my whole family. It wasn't my house, my kitchen or my fridge. Not to mention, Sunday turned into the day we did "house" stuff...met with contractors & realtors while taking several trips back and forth to Home Depot, and you know, if we had time....Bed, Bath & Beyond. ;) <--- Old School movie reference, get it? No? Ok, moving on.

Breakfast; I think I missed this the most. Since my days start so early, I always, always, made a protein smoothie every single morning and drank it on the way into the gym to meet my first client. At my old house, this wasn't a problem...our bedrooms were on the 2nd floor, kitchen on the first and it had these nice French doors that I would close just to ensure the noise from the blender wasn't too loud. Well, I couldn't do that with our new living arrangements. I mean, sneezing was too loud! I'm pretty sure I woke people up several mornings by just turning on the Keurig, but hey, somethings cannot be compromised. ;)

Workouts: I use to be able to squeeze in a workout in between clients at the gym. But I no longer worked in a gym setting, I now work at a small training studio which I love, but it's different. There aren't any treadmills, stairclimbers, elliptical, spin bikes, etc. And, since I was no longer teaching group fitness classes either, I essentially said good-bye to all of my cardio workouts for a while. :(

Sleeping; I use to get myself to bed by 9pm every night. Although I was still able to manage this, I never got a good night's sleep. NOT. ONCE! Both of my kid's had a hard time adjusting so when it wasn't one it was the other. My youngest completely regressed and started waking up several times a night, and did this every single night for the first two months. And, then just when I started thinking 'YAY! Sleep!' My oldest started claiming he was scared and couldn't sleep alone. Nothing like sharing a twin size futon with a 5 year old who grinds his teeth, and apparently fights crime in the middle of the night. 😐

EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT.

So, why did I keep trying to do the same things I was doing before? Habit, I guess. I knew what had always worked for me and at the time, I think it was the one thing I didn't want to change. I needed to adjust to my new situation and carve out a new normal. When I finally realized that I needed to create new habits because clearly my situation was not going to change anytime soon, I was able to get back to feeling like myself again.

Here's what I did...

1. Got up even earlier so that I can make and eat my breakfast at work before my first client rather than hitting the closest DD on the way in. 🍳☕👍

2. Joined a local gym. I have not paid for a gym membership in over 7 years so this was a BIG deal for me, haha. 💪💧

3. Took afternoon naps with my little guy to help catch up on sleep so that I wasn't completely exhausted every single day. Never under estimate the power of sleep and what it does for your body every day. 😴

4. Traded all of the coffee for more water. Because I was so tired from the lack of sleep my body was constantly craving sugar and caffeine which I initially gave into but realized it was getting me no where fast. The increase in water also created an increase in energy levels, which in turn decreased the look of exhaustion on my face! Yay for water!

These small changes helped me get back to feeling a little better and helped me refocus my priorities without completely stressing over gaining a few extra pounds, ahem, yeah...let's just keep it at that.

When the going gets tough, instead of bitching about how things aren't the same (not that I did any bitching at all 😉), take some time to step-back, re-prioritize and put together a new game plan. There is always a way, we just need to be willing to do the work and make some adjustments. Change is good, right?

It feels good to be back and I look forward to sharing more with all of you about my personal fitness journey.