When my son was nine months old, I started my fitness journey.
He was napping, our house was quiet, and I carved out 28 minutes of his nap time as mine.
Just me, my girl Lexi J, and the desire to feel like myself again.
That worked for quite a while, but now as a mom of three, I was forced to shift into a different perspective about working out and having kids.
My oldest grew out of naps. My younger boys have naps spread throughout the day… guess what that leaves me?
No perfect time during the day to set aside to work out uninterrupted.
I decided to stop sneaking away to work out while they sleep.
Instead, I decided to open the doors and invite them in to workout with me!
There's a version of today’s fitness culture that treats working out as an escape and don’t get me wrong, it totally can be! Some days I miss the quiet focused time without my boys hootin’ & hollerin’.
But when schedules change and life’s obstacles are thrown your way, you have to pivot and meet yourself where you’re at. (Have you heard that before? ;))
Research by psychologist Albert Bandura demonstrates that children learn behaviors and attitudes primarily through observation and imitation of the adults around them. This concept is often summarized by the phrase as caught, not taught.
And if you have children, you know they don’t miss anything.
If I want my kids to care about moving their body and fueling it well I should be doing it in front of them, with them, around them, modeling what I want them to ‘catch’.
When they’re in the gym with me, they're not actually learning how to do a perfect push up. They're learning that their body is something worth taking care of. That movement is medicine. That the best way to love yourself is to keep a promise to yourself.
I often think of my sons as grown adults in the real world. I think about them trying out for the basketball team at 15 and putting in extra shots to make the team.
I think about them at 25, on their own figuring out how to balance all of the things that come with adulthood.
I think of them being 35 and hope they have the energy to take on raising babies of their own.
The best investment I can make in their future isn't telling them how to care for their bodies… it’s showing them.
Good day? Move your body. Bad day? Move your body. Processing some big emotions? Move your body. Feeling like you’re in a rut? Move your body.
The only way they’ll know to do that is by seeing it first hand.
Thank God for Lexi J Wellness 28 minute dumbbell only workouts. These were made for busy moms with kids who have short attention spans, wanting to be better for her family.
If that sounds like you… welcome, you’re in good company!
