Why You Should Schedule Your Free Time

Summer is a very busy time.  The kids are home from school.  Friends are getting married.  Family vacations are being taken.  Get-togethers, church camp, sports camp, swimming lessons...you name it, and I'm sure it's on the list of things to be done.  Summer is a hectic time in my house, and I'm sure it is in yours as well.  So I'm sure you're wondering why you should schedule your free time.

In the winter months, I yearn for the days of more sun and being outside.  I like being able to explore and just feel the warmth of the sun on my face.  I hate being cooped up.  When the spring and summer months come, I'm ready to change up my schedule a bit.  I want to make sure I have plenty of time to spend with my husband and family.  I want to make sure we get those evening family walks in.  I want to be able to drop everything in the spur of the moment and go get ice cream.

Schedule Your Free Time

I definitely schedule everything about my day...including my shower (or else it won't get taken). HA!  I make sure that I have my Bible study, workout, work time, meals, and free time scheduled into my day.  I am a pen and paper kind of gal, so I have my planner.  But more than that, I schedule my day on an index card.  This makes it portable for me, and I can keep on track with my appointments and activities.  So why should you schedule your free time?

Because it allows you to actually be free.  By scheduling the rest of your day, that means you're also scheduling in your entire daily to do list.  When you get those things marked off your list, you can focus all your time and energy on your family.

 

Schedule Your Days

Since I work from home, it's important that I try to keep my "work life" away from my "home life."  Is that even possible? Not really, but I do try.  Maybe you don't work at home, but maybe you do stay at home with your kids.  Something that has really worked for me is scheduling the days when I have to leave the house and go do errands or go to appointments.

I have become a little bit of a homebody and I enjoy being home.  So I try to only schedule appointments and errands on Tuesdays and Fridays.  This allows me to be focused in my work at home, and get as much done as possible.  But I always make sure to schedule in free time with my husband each evening.

I love the freedom of scheduling that time.  I don't have to think about work.  I know that my duties for the day are done, and I can be fully present with my family.

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Show Up...Even When You Don't Want To

Life is hard sometimes.  Things are thrown at us from every angle.  Life gets stressful.  And there are days that you just don't wanna...

Do it anyway.

No one else will show up for you.  You are in charge of you.  In the moment of not wanting to do it, you are building your character.

Is there a force within you that is strong enough to withstand the days that you don't want to?  Is your reason for being on a fitness journey stronger than the days that are hard?

Here are a few tips that I use for the days that I just don't feel like doing it:

1. Do it first thing.  Yes, there will be mornings you don't want to get out of bed.  But if you just get up and get your workout in, then you don't allow yourself to dwell on it all day.  You can't think about excusing yourself out of it.  You just get it over and done with and you can relax in the evening!
2. Do something you enjoy.  If you aren't feeling it, do a workout that you normally enjoy.  If you really like dance, do a dance workout.  If you like lifting weights, lift!  When you do something you really like doing, it takes the "have to" out of it.
3. Implement the 10 minute rule.  Set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes.  Push play on your workout, and when that timer goes off, re-evaluate.  If you still aren't into it, then turn it off and go back to bed.  But if you're already sweating and have pushed past the bad attitude, then keep going!  This does not give you permission to stop every day.  That is only cheating yourself.
4. Plan ahead.  Know exactly what you'll be doing, when you'll be doing it, and where you'll be doing it.  Set your clothes out the night before.  Follow your workout calendar.  When you know exactly what you'll be doing, then you have no time to fight that inner voice.  You can shut that voice up and get to work!

You are stronger than the excuses.  So show up, crush it, and be proud of yourself for doing it!

Do You Have the Right Kind of Accountability?

Who do you show up for?  On your health and fitness journey, who are you showing up for?  Is it your husband?  Is it your kids?  What about you?  Do you show up for you?

One of the "well known" ideas around the fitness industry is that in order to succeed, you must have an accountability partner.  I don't necessarily agree with that statement, as I have had no accountability partner on my own journey.  I don't think they're a bad thing, but I don't think they are completely necessary for several reasons.

I think that for you to be successful, you must have self-accountability.

"The only accountability that truly exists is self-accountability.  The only person who can hold you accountable for anything is you, and to be successful you must develop the mental honesty and courage to own your thinking, actions, and results." --Brian Moran

Ultimately, you have to hold yourself accountable.  You have to be completely honest and vulnerable with yourself.  If you're not, you're lying to yourself.  You have to be accountable to yourself before you can be accountable to anybody else.

Are you committed? Commitment isn't just a word...it's an action!  You have to take action and prove to yourself that you are committed.  Are you brave enough to be honest with yourself? You choose your actions.

You choose whether or not you get up 30 minutes earlier to get your workout in.  You choose whether you have those Cheetos or a salad.  You choose whether you want to make excuses for yourself or not.  Those actions will become your results and your consequences.

 

In May 2015, I lost my Granny.  I went into a depression and self-medicated with food.  I also went into denial because I had no intention of being accountable to myself for what I was eating.  I didn't care.  It honestly took me about a year and a half to fully grasp what I had done to myself and then get a game plan together to get myself out of it.  I had to take full responsibility of my actions. 

Show up for yourself.  When you don't show up to eat better or to workout, you're only disappointing yourself. 

Secondly, find someone who can help create a plan for you.  Find someone who will listen to your goals and dreams and will help you get there.  This may not be an "accountability partner," but maybe someone who was in your shoes once.  Find someone who cares enough about you to help guide you.  Find someone who is going to take into account what you can and can't do in this moment of time.  They will be one to push you and move you outside your comfort zone.  They will encourage you to be better. 

If you're looking for that person to push you and encourage you, I am here to help!  I have a VIP Focus Group open for enrollment right now!  We will start June 19th and will be focused for 30 days.  I will ask you what your goals are and help you make a step-by-step plan to reach them.  Ready to get started?  Simply click {HERE} and JOIN ME!  I will be in touch to give you all the details of the group.

EDIT:  Group is now closed.

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If you’re needing some encouragement on your own spiritual journey or are looking for ideas on how to begin or continue with your own Bible study, join The Core!

Avoiding Social Situations Could Be Detrimental to Your Progress

Life happens.  Things are thrown at us all the time.  It gets crazy and stressful.  We are busier than ever before, and we don't know how to slow down.  There will never be the perfect time to get started with health and fitness or just focus on yourself.  There will always be someone else who needs you.

Learning how to deal with the things that life throws at you is super important as you make this way of living a lifestyle.  If you're not prepared for family parties, going to dinner with friends, birthday parties, and other celebrations, then you will probably be frozen in your tracks.  You won't be sure what move to make next, and it could totally throw you off your game.

We have made food emotional because we typically have food at every party and celebration we could ever imagine.  The people we have connection with is emotional--food just happens to be there.  So don't be sidelined when your best friends ask you to go out and eat after church on Sunday.

Here are a few tips for you when going out or going elsewhere for a meal:

1. Take something you know you can eat that matches your goals.
2. Take some emergency food in your purse.
3. Look at the menu for the restaurant ahead of time.  Go in with a plan!
4. Focus more on the people than the food!

Don't allow the social situations scare you.  Don't become a hermit because you're afraid of what you can and cannot eat.  Learn to work around those situations.  Be prepared.  They will happen.  So plan what you will do now so that you won't be paralyzed when they come up.

I think Melissa Hartwig says it best.  I know that I've mentioned time and time again that her book, Food Freedom Forever, has changed my life.  Here's a little excerpt from it:

"Don't let your reset turn you into a hermit.  You're eating healthy, not battling an infectious disease.  There is no reason you can't continue to socialize, dine out, attend parties and events, and travel during your reset.  It just requires a bit more planning and preparation, and a mind-shift away from thinking these special occasions are about the food.  They're not.  They're about the people you're with, the laughter you'll share, the traditions you'll create, and the stress-moderating effect of in-person social interaction.  So research the menu, pack your emergency food, bring your own side dish, be ready with your order of seltzer water with lime, and get out there during your reset."

Insert [healthy lifestyle] where she says reset.  Make it happen friends.  Don't be afraid to go out and have fun with the people you're with.  It's less about the food and more about the company you're with.    

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If you’re needing some encouragement on your own spiritual journey or are looking for ideas on how to begin or continue with your own Bible study, join The Core!

Are You Eating Instead of Drinking?

Did you know that our body's response to thirst feels just like hunger?  It could explain the reasons why you tend to open the pantry looking for something to eat and finding that nothing looks good.  It could also explain why you aren't seeing as much success with your health and fitness goals.

I find myself wanting a snack in the afternoon around 3:30.  I think it's partially because we always had an "after-school snack," as my Granny called it, when we got home off the school bus growing up.  But it also may be because I think I need something to eat, but I really need some water.

It has been advised that we intake at least half our body weight in ounces of water each day.  That means a person who weighs 200 pounds should be drinking at least 100 ounces of water.  That's A LOT!  I know that when I first started this journey four years ago, I hated water.  Seriously--I had to force myself to drink it.  Here I am now, and I exclusively drink it....except when I'm in my hometown. Haha!


So here are some tips for you as you try to drink more water!

1. When you feel that first pang of "hunger," drink some water first.  This may quench that desire you feel.  It may even save you some calories that you don't need!
2. When you pick up your water bottle, take 10 gulps.  This will help you reach your water goal faster each day!  I call this the "10 gulp rule."  It really works!
3. Add some fruit or veggies to your water for flavor.  You can add lemon, lime, cucumber, rosemary, basil, mint, and even essential oils to your water to give it some flavor!  This helps especially if you don't like the taste of water.
4. Grab a cute water bottle and take it everywhere you go!  This means I give you permission to go buy another water bottle!  It never hurts to have several. ;)  I seem to use a different one each week!  Keeping one near you at all times will also help you when the temptation arises to go through the drive-thru at your favorite snack spot when out and about.
5. Use a straw!  I know that I drink more when I have a straw.  This helps me meet my water goal faster as well.
6. Drink sparkling water if you need that carbonation feel.  I was addicted to Diet Coke.  I just thought I had to have one on a daily basis.  But then I switched to La Croix, and it made the transition so much easier!  Just be sure to purchase a sparkling water that does not have any sweeteners in it!

What other tips do you have that help you get your water in during the day?

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If you’re needing some encouragement on your own spiritual journey or are looking for ideas on how to begin or continue with your own Bible study, join The Core!