I’m in sort of a weird place and it’s bothering me, so I’m gonna get all 2007 and write my feelings about it.
I’ve been back to work for a little over two months and things are fine, truly; nothing to report either way about that. I like my job and it provides stellar healthcare and while I miss my kid (all day, but usually pretty hardcore around 2pm), work is good.
What’s NOT good is the working out. From the time LG was about three weeks old, I started working out again, mostly doing the Shred and/or Bethenny’s yoga DVD and/or going on walks (LG was silent on our walks! Or, she was silent to ME when I put my music on. Same diff.)
I did this mostly for my sanity, as I’m one of those weirdos who starts to freak out if she doesn’t workout. I’m not a hardcore worker-outer, mind you. I just feel better when I DO something.
Anyway, the (re)start of work has put me in this weird place where I want to workout, but I also want to spend time with my child (imagine that) and it’s been hard finding the right balance between the two.
See, I get home from work around 6pm and if I go on a quick workout, I can be home around 6:45pm. The problem, though, is that LG goes to bed sometime between 7pm and 7:45pm, which means if I workout, my time with her is very limited.
Not to mention, working out after work causes us to eat dinner around 7:30pm or 8pm and when you go to bed at 9pm, that’s too damn late for dinner.
I know the answer is to just drag myself out of bed and workout before work, which is actually when I prefer to workout, but DAMN. I’m tired.
All this whining aside, I’ve been doing the Couch to 5k program and will be completing it this week. I was a little skeptical of the program; if you’d have told me eight weeks ago I could run three miles straight two months from then, I’d have laughed at you.
But, I started the program to give myself a workout I could complete in 30 minutes and I’ve done just that.
Regardless, I still feel this pressure to find the time to do what I want to do (workout, hang with LG and Chris) and what I need to do (workout, hang with LG and Chris.) But hey, at least my wants and needs align, right? Could be worse, I suppose.
In other news, I bought jeggings this weekend and they’re fabulous. So at least I’ve got a roof over my head, food on the table in front of the TV, and jeggs.
I wish I could offer advice, but being that I am not inclined to work out these days (especially not at the crack of dawn), I have nothing to add. But whatever you are doing, keep on doing it – you look amazing.
If there’s anything I’ve learned about adding kids to the mix, it’s that something has to give. Cliche, but true. For me, it was working out. Keeping a tidy house, putting food on the table at a normal time and playing with the kids take precedence (add “sleep,” BOLDED, to the beginning of that list). If I find time to work out, AWESOME (not that I always use that time to work out…). If not, I do crunches during commercial breaks, or during the time it takes for Instant Netflix to start playing a show. And with slow as hell internet, that’s a long ass time!
I wish I had something more constructive to say, BUT..I do think that if I were you, I’d want a few less hours of work in my day so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on my kid. I think I/you would be happier and could fit some exercise in that little bit of time too 🙂
Totally get this & struggle to find the balance, too! I work later hours, so we have a couple quality mornings a week when I bring her to daycare at 10 instead of 8, but my LG is always asleep when I get home. I have a 5K in November, and while the practice runs take me away from her for a bit, I try to think of it as being a good role model for her. Because of course her 5-month-old memory is locking in all that great role modeling I’m doing.
Without any kids, I sort of feel the same struggle. I am not a fan of eating dinner at 8pm and I am not a fan of working all day, immediately running home, working out, cooking dinner and then HOLY HELL CAN A WOMAN GET A MINUTE TO HERSELF! Life feels freaking full with no kids so I can imagine that with a squishy little LG in the mix, the pull to not do other things is STRONG. I think the AM workouts are probably your only hope. If it makes you feel better, starting next week I’ll be CrossFitting at 5am t/TH just to minimize some of that craziness I mentioned above. Something had to give, ya know? It’s a struggle for everyone, you’re a rockstar — you’ll figure it out. And in case you like kool-aid — you know both Vacaville CrossFit’s have 5am sessions. Yes, I did check because I’m a weirdo zealot. 😉
PS — looking forward to lunch weds!
I don’t have kids, so I don’t know anything about the time struggle that goes into working and raising them, but maybe a shorter intense workout could help? You could do a quick interval workout a couple times a week intermingled with running or something else that you normally do. I really like the Bodyrock.tv workouts since they are TOUGH and make me feel like I’m getting a hard-core workout (they always make my muscles feel like jello afterward), even though they short and quick — usually 12-20 minutes of intervals. Also, many of their workouts don’t require special equipment, or if they do, they can easily be adapted to things you have around the house.
We are in the same boat with these thoughts, usually. I work out early or, I used to, eat dinner sort of right when I got home and then I’d work out around 9pm, which sounds like that may not work for you but it was enough time to digest my dinner AND enough time after Kyle was sound asleep that I never felt guilty.
Mike always proposed getting up earlier to get into work earlier and then spending the last 1-2 hours of my workday working out, so my actual time with Kyle wouldn’t be affected but I couldn’t shake THAT guilt. (I wasn’t working, and he wasn’t sleeping, but I wasn’t with him = GUILT.)
The guilt gets you coming and going, doesn’t it?
Dang dude, I don’t even have a kid and I can barely keep up with working out and work. I feel you. I really feel you.
I honestly don’t know HOW people fit it all in. Wish I had some breakthrough advice for you, but all I have is commiseration. (And weak commiseration at that – I can empathize, since I feel like I can barely handle my work life, let alone be my idea of a good wife or a good friend or a good child or whatever… and I don’t have a kid to add into the mix.) You are doing a wonderful job – that’s clear. Whatever makes you feel good is going to be good for your family – whether that’s taking 45 minutes to work out or skipping the workout to spend that time with your daughter.