The Real Challenge

Whew!  It's after 10pm and I'm just now getting time to myself.  I love my children more than anything, but they have challenged me to my limit today.  I was up by 6am and it was go go go from there.  By 7am I was certain that the devil had entered my sweet three year old and taken over.   You know, people tell you that threes are worse than twos, but for some reason you just never believe them until they actually turn three.  Just when I thought I was going to lose my mind, my little girl would run up to me, hug me then look up at me with her big blue eyes and say "mommy, I love you."  I'm telling you, it's like the sweet and sour patch kids.

You know, lately I've been using the word challenge a lot.  I've been making Facebook posts about Fitness Challenge groups and helping people overcome the 'challenge' of staying on track with fitness programs and healthy eating.  I always thought of just those two things as the actual 'challenge'.  For me though, the challenge goes way deeper than that.  Without trying to be healthy, I'm already trying to figure out how I take care of the kids, clean the house, play with my children, rock the baby to sleep, figuring out how to handle my difficult 3 year old, finding time shower without my 3 year old crying bc I'm trying to shower, and cook food that everyone will eat! It's exhausting!  When you become a mom, NOTHING is about you anymore. You are living on everyone else's time, and forgetting about your own needs.  So my new challenge is trying to find time for myself, to make sure that I'm taken care of.  If you don't take care of yourself, you aren't your best self.  If you aren't your best self, than how can you be the best mom to your children?

So now when I post about my Fitness Challenge Groups, I'm not just challenging you to do your workout and eat clean. I'm challenging you to take time out for yourself.  My time for myself IS my workout.  Me taking care of myself IS eating clean. Even if you don't feel like working out, you are doing something so good for yourself.  When I'm working out, I'm distressing from the day and taking my frustration out in the workout. It's my therapy.  So are you ready to start taking care of yourself?  Are you ready for a challenge?