No Excuses....Don't Guilt the Momma

                                                                                                                                                                              This picture showed up a few times on my facebook newsfeed the other day with the caption "No Excuses." It was shared by several of my more athletic friends who don't have children, and although I get the message, "don't let anything stand in the way of living a healthy life," I take a slight offense at the guilt trip.

When you have kids, some things become less important, one of those things is your "me time." Even Jillian Michaels, the superhero personal trainer from the "Biggest Loser,"in a a recent interview with dailymail admits gaining weight when her children were first born/adopted. And in another interview with Hollywoodlife she said that 1.she doesn't have as much time to devote to working out as she used to, and 2. Being a mom is a bigger priority than her fitness routine!

 In highschool, I was an excellent competitive swimmer and a blackbelt in karate. In college, and before I got pregnant with my first child, I never would have been mistaken for a volleyball player, but I was far from out of shape. Well, I had a baby, and there are just some things that a baby won't cooperate with. I can't just strap my son on my back and go for a swim. If I go jogging, I have to feed him, change him, and keep him happy in the stroller. When I go to the gym, He's not going to go on the elliptical with me, and if he starts screaming his brains out during the workout DVD, I'm going to have to turn it off and tend to him!

This doesn't mean that I'm not going to find the time to get myself in shape. This doesn't mean that I'm making excuses. shoot! I go to the gym and/or workout at home every day, and I'm training for my first 5k! This means that I put my family before my dress size and the hotness factor of my abs.

While I think it's great that the buff little chick in the photo can strap her two-year-old to her back and do her weightlifting, I also realize that for most of us, that senario is totally unrealistic. I mean really, how many times have you seen a babywearing momma running on the treadmill or getting down with it on the stairmaster? I've never seen it, and I do NOT plan on doing it. And that's perfectly ok.

I'm gonna do my thing and you do yours. If you don't have kids, you don't know the difference between being lazy and literally not having enough time, hands, or energy. I'm gonna get in shape, but it's going to take a little more effort for me, and you know what? That's just fine! That just means when I get there, It's gonna mean a whole lot more to me than it would if it wasn't so much work.

So, buff lady in the picture with the baby on your back, kudos to you, but I'll save the babywearing for the grocery store.