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06 Apr 2007 06:00 AM

Dear Heather ... I Want To Journal My Experiences

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

Dear Heather,

I love your Fitness blog, it's fun to read and you seem like a real person most of the time. I get the feeling you know what it is to have setbacks and to not be perfect and as much as I want to be that in shape, fit and toned person; I don't think I ever will be. I work out, but only semi-regularly. I can never seem to get into a routine that lets me maintain my workout longer than two or three weeks at a time. You know how it is, kids get sick, a repairman needs to be called or worse, I'm sick and I still have to keep going. It's just the life of a mom and I have three kids, all under the age of 10. If I'm not running one of them to an after school activity, I'm juggling the errands or the housework - I'm lucky if I get five minutes to myself all day, much less thirty minutes to get a workout in. We can't afford a gym, though.

I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining - I love being a mom, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. I thought I might journal these experiences. I read somewhere that when you keep a daily log of what you do and how you feel, it can help you. What do you think? Am I grasping at straws?

- One Frustrated Mama

Dear One Frustrated Mama,

I feel your pain and I only have one child. But she's an active one and she's always on the go. Whether you have one child or three or five - the more active they are, the less time you seem to have. I've had gym memberships and I've enjoyed them when I had them, but ultimately, I end up letting them lapse because the time of day I enjoy working out, the childcare isn't usually open and I have a hard time justifying getting my daughter up an hour earlier just so I can go to the gym.

Now as for journaling - journals can make a lot of difference. For one thing, you can track how much you eat, you can track your moods, you can look at your challenges and you can make lists. You can use a journal for a variety of different things and it may be the one way you can identify patterns - whether it's patterns of behavior or patterns of time.

For example, I know one mom who kept a log of her daily activities and she discovered, rather by accident that she repeated some things several times a day without realizing it. Once she identified these patterns, she made some conscious efforts to rearrange her day - such as she did her grocery shopping while her daughter was at karate class - it gave her something to do in that 45 minutes and freed up the other 45 minutes she might have spent during another part of the day.

Instead of spreading her kids' extracurricular activities out, she rearranged their classes so that when her son went to soccer, she could swing down and around the corner and take her daughter to the library. It gave her some quiet time to do reading or research, while both kids were happy and occupied.

I'm not saying it will be that easy, but if you can identify the times of day you are the busiest and the activities that are repetitive throughout the day, you may be able to stack - eliminating several things at once and giving yourself more time. One thing I like to do is take my laptop with me to my daughter's extracurricular activities and I sit in the car and write. That saves me nearly 4 hours a week I might otherwise do nothing. When I don't have work, I'll get out of my car and do circuits around the block, just walking.

There are plenty of times I alternate - it lets me get something in during a time I might just be sitting there twiddling thumbs. So yes, I wholeheartedly endorse journaling as a way to help motivate yourself - the solution you need may just be sitting there waiting for you to identify it. Good luck!

For more great questions and answers, check out previous Dear Heathers.

Related Articles:

5 Ways to Stick to Your Workout

Spring Forward to Action! - Accountability

Positive Affirmations for Fitness

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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