Avoiding My Nightmare: Easy Ways to Stay Slim and Trim

Posted on Balanced Body | August 19, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you have a good imagination, please try to picture an image like this: a woman whose face you cannot see goes past you. Judging by the clothes that she is wearing and her figure that has no curves, you guess that she is somewhere in her thirties. If you take another glance at her from the side, her body resembles an overweight question mark with her back arched up and neck sticking out in front of her like she is walking in a wind tunnel. She has two two-year old babies with her. She is definitely in a hurry to get somewhere and if you follow her you will find out that she is on her way to the doctor. There she needs to get a prescription for pain killers because she has a terrible tightness in her back and neck pains that will not let up. She is also takes a steady dose of antidepressants so that she can continue with her daily routine and make it another day while trying to keep a smile on her face. I saw this woman in my dreams (well nightmare to be more truthful) a month after my girls were born and I knew at once that that ugly and unhappy person could be me within two years. I guess it was the worst nightmare that I had had within the last couple of years. The minute I opened my eyes I headed straight out of my bedroom into my living room and started doing my morning exercises. From that moment on I made a commitment to do whatever I can in order not to become that creature that I saw in my nightmare.

I can tell you for sure that it’s not easy to keep on training every day when I have two babies who need my attention almost all the time. I know that my girls also need a happy mother who will be able to support them in their lives and become a good example for them. At the moment that I am writing this article my girls are four and a half months old and I’ve been doing my morning exercises every day for the last 3 months. I already see the results and my husband notices them too. My tummy became much flatter, my back and neck feel much better as every day goes by and my general attitude towards myself and towards the whole world became much more positive.

During these three months that I’ve been exercising I developed a few rules that help me go on with my trainings and that keep me from getting bored with them. Here they are:

1. Do exercises every day at the same exact time. The morning is most suitable for me because my babies are still asleep as well as my husband so nobody distracts me for at least 15 minutes.

2. If you have some extra time during the day devote some of it to your exercises too. No matter if you have 5 minutes or 25 minutes it will still do you a lot of good.

3. Never miss you “planned” exercises especially during the first three weeks when you are just getting used to a new schedule. If you miss it once you have a high chance of missing it the next time, and the next time and so on. It won’t be long until you’ll realize that you missed the whole week or even several weeks. It is much more difficult to get back to your routine than to continue it.

4. If you are tired and you did not get enough sleep promise yourself to take just 5 minutes to stretch to help you wake up and get yourself moving again. If I start like this I often end up spending at least 15 minutes instead of 5 working out and that makes me feel so much better afterwards.

5. Don’t do the same exercises day after day. Find several exercise routines that you like and rotate them according to your mood as it will keep you from getting bored. I found an ideal workout routine for myself and I wrote about it in Easy Ways to Fight Flab: Simple Routines to Stay Lean and Mean.

6. Listen to your body. If your body tells you “I don’t want to do any ab crunches today” then just don’t do them. If you want to stretch – then stretch. If you want to dance – then dance. Don’t follow some plan just because you think it will be right for you. Remember that diversifying your workouts will only make your body and mind more balanced and harmonious.

7. Exercise in really good workout clothes because when you look at yourself in the mirror (even in the morning with your hair in tangled mess) you still need to feel good about yourself.

8. If you have somebody who can take care of your baby (babies) for several hours during the week then get a gym membership. I went back to teaching Pilates two times a week when my babies were 2.5 months old. This helps me to have some rest from my everyday routine, gives me time to socialize and also gives me a huge boost of energy.

Keep it balanced!