Where There’s A Will…

How are you doing on your resolutions? Is your resolve still hanging in there now that it’s mid-January? I hear a lot of people say that they don’t have time to workout and they can’t fit it into their schedule. Are you one of them? I’m here to tell you firsthand that it is entirely possible to fit it into a busy schedule.

It takes a bit of preparation and planning, but most things in life don’t just happen without preparation and planning. I’ll give you a glimpse into my day yesterday to show you what I’m talking about:

1. I dropped The Kid off at 8:15 for regional band practice and then headed back across town for my usual leg workout. I accidentally got 6 sets of a new personal record on my squats. I say “accidentally” because I wasn’t really trying. I loaded the plates on and really struggled hard through my 6 sets wondering what was wrong with me. It wasn’t until after I finished that I realized what was wrong. I couldn’t add and I was actually squatting more than I ever have before. Boom!
2. I finished my leg workout and headed over to the grocery store to pick up a bottle of water and container of greek yogurt. Grocery stores are great for meals and snacks on the run. If you swing by the deli area in the front, you can even get spoons and forks. I perused the store a bit and then ate my yogurt in my car.
3. It was produce pick up day so I swung by and picked up our CSA share. I love getting our delivery of fruits and veggies. It’s almost like getting a surprise birthday present every 2 weeks. I’m like a kid with excitement, wondering what is going to be inside. We got lots of grapefruits and oranges this time. We also got 2 heads of cabbage. Last time we got the world’s largest head of cabbage that I’m still trying to finish off. These two new heads will be going to work with me on Monday to share. I can’t possibly eat more cabbage.
4. I hung out at the bookstore for just a little bit to kill 30 minutes, and by then it was time to pick up The Kid for her lunch break at 11:30. I got her and we picked up lunch on the way home where I was able to grab a quick shower before taking her back for the afternoon band practice starting at 1:30.
5. I came back home and took Thing Two for a 2 mile dog walk. He loves his walks come rain, shine, gloom of night, snow, or any other weather that comes his way. I squeezed in a quick 20 minute HIIT workout. (See below to play along with me.) I’m in the process of trying to drop a little body fat so I can see just how much muscle I’ve been able to put on the past couple months. I love HIIT workouts for the quick calorie burn. Afterwards I started straightening up the house before heading back out to pick up The Kid after practice at 4:00.
6. I got The Kid picked up and came back home so she could shower and get ready for the evening concert while I finished cleaning the house. I whipped through cleaning and ate dinner like a speed demon to perfectly time it so that I finished just when we needed to leave for the concert which started at 6:00.
7. I had a great time hearing the band play. I’m amazed at every concert how professional they sound. These are kids that have never met before from all over our region. They get together for a one day marathon practice session and are able to flawlessly play 5 songs they’ve never seen before. I’m so proud of all of them, and especially The Kid for being so dedicated to her music.
8. We were able to finally wind down the evening at home with a couple movies and some relaxing magazine reading. Amazingly I managed to stay awake until bedtime. Phew!

So there you go. If you really want to get it done, you will find a way to make it work. I highly suggest planning out your day the night before to make sure that you have everything packed and your plan laid out ahead of time. It makes it much easier to organize your day and prevent forgotten items and time wasted making extra trips or going out of your way. If you have 20 minutes to spare today, here’s a quick workout to help burn off some calories and leave you plenty of time to get other stuff done.

Make sure you warm up first to get the blood flowing to your muscles and take some time for light stretching afterwards. You can easily adjust the work and rest times to your fitness level. If you are a beginner, you can shorten the work time and increase the rest. You can also remove the jumping and do the same motions without leaving the ground. If you are more advanced, remove the 30 seconds of rest and just rest between rounds.

• Star Jumps – Crouch down in a squat and touch the floor. Explode up and spread your arms and legs to form a star shape with your body.
• Shuttle Runs – Start on one side of your area and touch the floor with your outside hand. Keeping low, move sideways across the area and touch the floor with your outside hand. Shuffle back and forth, touching the ground on each side. You want to cover 8 – 10 feet in your shuffle.