There's Never a Right Time

There will never be a right time. 

Before I get going, let me just say: I’m totally here for the selfcare movement. It’s abut time people caught up with what I’ve been doing since my injury. I knew if I didn’t take care of myself, I wouldn’t have the quality of life I wanted, and I had SO much life in front of me, that wasn’t something I was willing to sacrifice.

That being said, some of these selfcare gurus can GTFO. Cordially of course. But seriously. GTFO. I mean do they even have kids??? Because what they’re talking about with the chaos that is MY household, is I M P O S S I B L E.

I never realized how busy life could be until I had a kid. All of a sudden, my days were broken down into increments of time that accommodated her needs. Mix that in with working, managing a household and trying to get food on the table for dinner, and any time for me very quickly went out the door. Because I needed to make sure that everyone else was taken care of before I even considered taking care of myself. Like by the time everything is organized and somewhat under control, it’s already 10pm and time for bed.

So good luck trying to do anything that involves making sure you’re hitting your healthy living goals, right?

I mean why even bother to get started when your attention will inevitably get diverted every single day to something else? Reality is that there’s always going to be something pulling you in a different direction, diverting your attention, or taking up your time. There’s never a “good” time to push yourself, to get uncomfortable, to get healthy. 

So start now. That doesn’t mean you turn around tomorrow and start training for a marathon. Let’s be clear. Starting now needs to be something that’s accessible for you in YOUR life with YOUR schedule. For every single person as a result, starting now will look different.

Maybe it means planning what you’ll cook for dinner so you can plan out your grocery list instead of impulse buying and winging dinner when you walk into the store. Maybe it means asking your partner to take the kids for 30 minutes so you can grab a quick HIIT workout or go for a walk around your neighborhood. Maybe it means packing your lunch the night before for work, so you’re not scrambling at the last minute in the morning and either packing something unhealthy or giving up and going through a drive through.

Self care, putting your health first does need to start now. You deserve it. You give of yourself every single day to SO many people, you really do deserve to feel amazing and to be happy with how you look.

But self care doesn’t have to nor should it, be something that causes you stress. Self care, especially in terms of living healthy, can be small incremental changes over time that build on each other to create the life you want. Almost like tricking yourself into being healthy. One thing at a time, one day at a time, and while I know that’s a slower transition than what you want, it will give you the result you want along with the habits to maintain it.