What Motivates you??

 

 

Some of you may be wondering what motivated me to start this journey to health and fitness.  Honestly this has always been something that I have cared about, I just let it fall to the wayside somewhere along the way.  But what really made me open my eyes and realize that I need to make my own health and fitness a priority is my son!  He has recently started eating finger foods.  So he can sit in his highchair with us when we are in the dining room at the table.  Which means someday soon he will be eating what we eat….so I started to look at what my husband and I had been eating.  I would typically buy something quick and cheap for lunch.  Often a huge sub with chips.  Breakfast would be a cup of coffee on my way to work.  Dinner was basically a whole lot of takeout every night of the week!  Pizza once a week, Chinese food once a week, wings, you name it, it was probably in our rotation and I did not want that to be my son’s first introduction to food!!

When I was growing up dinner time was important.  Every night we had a family dinner which included a meat, a starch and a vegetable.  This is how I always pictured life would be with my own family someday.  Coming home from work at 7, putting my son to bed and eating pizza in front of the TV was never my plan!!  But I realized that it has to start with ME!!  My son is not going to eat fruits and vegetables unless I eat fruits and vegetables!  Also I do all of the grocery shopping in our house, so if I am buying junk I am responsible for my family eating junk!!  If I look at something and think to myself, “wow I wouldn’t want my son to eat that!”  Then why in the world should I be eating it myself?!!?!?

 
The same logic applies to exercise.  I always pictured my children being active and playing sports.  How can I expect them to be active if their mom is a couch potato?!?!  Not to mention my son is getting fast!  He is only crawling, but he can cover the whole living room in the blink of an eye!  I need my energy to keep up with this kid.  I want my son to come home from school and go play outside, not sit on the couch.  But he will never do that if he sees me come home from work every night and watch TV.  I know that I must lead by example and show him how to be fit and healthy.  I want to be able to chase him around the backyard and play catch with him. 
 

I always used to think that I didn’t have time to exercise or prepare healthy meals, but I honestly have so much more energy now that I feel like someone added an extra two hours to my day!  I am also doing a lot of planning ahead, because I often come home late from work and need to be able to make something quickly.  I stock up on veggies that cook quickly, and lean meats like chicken and pork so I can put together a quick meal in 30 mins or less! 

 Of course there is also the mommy guilt that comes into play when I feel like I am doing anything for myself, but when I step back and look at the big picture by putting a priority on my own health I really am doing what is in the best interest of my family!  I want to be there when my son graduates from college, I want to have a mother son dance with him at his wedding someday and I know that might not have been possible if I kept my old habits.  So sometimes he is in his playpen bouncing up and down watching me workout and I feel good about that.  He’s even got some rhythm!  At the end of the day my family is the biggest motivating factor in my life!  I want to confidently lead them by example and fill our home with health and happiness one workout and one meal at a time!!!     

XOXO

Lexi