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| Julie Rey with baby number 5 |
As a busy Mum it's often hard to motivate yourself to keep striving towards a health and fitness goal during winter. The daylight hours are shorter and colder so it's easier to tell yourself 'you'll get out later...' But don't make the mistake of relying on motivation alone to drop a dress size, or run 2km without stopping. Whatever it is that you want to do, you've just got to DO IT, over and over again, until it just becomes a part of what you do and who you are. No excuses.
Yes, it's harder if you have a family, but if you're committed to something you'll always find a way. Take Mum-of-five, Julie Rey. She works as a full-time teacher, is studying for her Masters, AND has FIVE children ranging in age from 10 months to 8 years. She finds the time to re-build her fitness, and if she can, what's stopping you? Here's Julie's story...
It’s 5.00am
as I roll over and haul myself out of bed. Which child is demanding
my attention you may ask, as surely with five it must be one up too
early? Actually the answer is none. While it may be 5.00am I am up to
my own alarm. I have set it deliberately to get myself up. This is my
time of day.
Yes, as
insane as it sounds I miss my own fitness and if I want it back then
I have to take it seriously.
With my
‘Couch to 5km’ program in hand (thanks to Coach Michelle), I am
up to attack the task of being able to run distances again.
What I find
amazing is how effortless it seems once you make the commitment to
yourself. Is it having so many children that gives you dedication, I
don’t know that this is so. Whatever it is, every time I get out
the door and onto my running route, I feel fantastic. It doesn’t
matter to me how fast I go but it does give me a huge sense of
achievement that I met my set goal for that day.
The six weeks
of my program seemed to have flown by and to celebrate my first week
at running 5km I headed down to my local club for a timed run –
celebrating a 5km time of 32.06 (followed by 30.44 just three weeks
later).
So what words
of wisdom are there to pass on?
- Take time to take yourself seriously – it doesn’t matter how big your family gets, you are worth the effort
- Set a goal and find out how to get yourself there (every little step towards it will make you feel fantastic!)
- Find your time – it doesn’t have to be 5am, but find a time that works for you and stick to it
And less than one year on since Julie wrote this article, she's gone beyond the "5km at 5am" to train for her first marathon! Just awesome :-)
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