Finding Balance When I’m Busy: Guest Post by Madison of Espresso & Cream + Week 3 Update

Happy Wednesday! Whew…it’s been a whole week since we last chatted! I hope you’ll forgive me for being a bit out of touch…I’ve been enjoying precious time with a dear family member that’s gracing us with her presence for the week!

Speaking of dear family members…as I mentioned last week, I couldn’t be more excited that my sweet and beautiful sister-in-law, Madison, is kicking off a series of guest posts intended to motivate us to pursue a healthy lifestyle as we continue along in the summer fitness challenge.

Madison married my brother, Joe, exactly two years ago yesterday! On top of having one of the most beautiful and tender hearts I know, she has an ability to inspire all of us by being a living example at how to execute a healthy lifestyle. Over at her incredible blog, Espresso and Cream, she shares all sorts of creative ideas and recipes that keep her on the right track. I look forward to each and every post! She does an amazing job at encouraging our family to enjoy healthy food and pair it with activity, and I’m certain she’ll bless you with the same encouragement!

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Finding Balance When I’m Busy

Hello, friends! My name is Madison and I’m a 25-year-old wife, food editor, blogger and puppy mommy. I also happen to be Amber’s sister-in-law and have loved seeing her blog grow and change over the last couple years. While I’m not a mom yet, I do wear quite a few hats. Once Joe and I got married 2 years ago, it was a struggle to adjust to a new normal, and finding time for everything I wanted to do wasn’t easy. Two years later, I finally feel like I’ve found a happy balance. Here are my keys to success:

1. Make Exercise Fun: You’ve probably heard this time and time again, but that’s because it’s true! A while back, Joe and I found that we were stuck in a rut of going to the gym after work (on separate/different schedules) and meeting up when we got home. My workouts were feeling lackluster and I wasn’t excited to go to the gym at all. Plus, it felt like we were spending a lot of time during the week apart since we weren’t working out together. I love spending time with Joe and we bond over being active together, so we started to do more fitness-related activities as a couple. We signed up for advanced adult tennis lessons through our city’s summer recreation program. It was inexpensive, we met a lot of great people to play tennis with and we got to spend time together during the week instead of working out separately. Another bonus? It pushed me through my exercise rut and got me back on track for summer.

2. Utilize Every Opportunity: My hubby makes fun of me because I’m always doing some sort of exercise in the middle of everyday activities, but when things are super busy, every little bit counts! Waiting for a pot of water to boil while making dinner? Do two sets of 10 body weight squats. Commercial break during your favorite TV show? A great time to do an ab sequence. I also park on the top floor of our parking ramp every day so I’ll get in an extra three flights of stairs. And if I know I’m not going to get a chance to go to the gym that day, I’ll make a point to set aside a few minutes in the morning to do a quick yoga sequence, jumping jacks or a 4 minute high-intensity tabata-style workout using the free Tabata Timer app on my phone.

3. Get Outside: I mentioned that I’m not a mom yet, but I have a lot of mom friends. Many of them tell me that they don’t have time to go to the gym, and I totally get it. Living in a larger city means that getting to the gym can take 10 to 15 minutes, so even the shortest workout can take an hour door to door. When the weather is warm, Joe and I have been taking advantage of our favorite gym: the backyard! We aren’t CrossFit people, but the popularity of CrossFit has led to the creation of a lot of great, intense, short workouts that can be done at home. Recently, we skipped our gym workout and did a “burpee challenge” I found online that had us do 150 burpees for time in the yard. It was so hard! In addition to being a great workout, it only took me 12 minutes to complete. I’m guessing every single person reading this can find 12 minutes in their day to get a workout in. Moms out there: you could even do this while your kids play on the swing set in the backyard. It might just take a little longer keeping one eye on your kiddos.

4. Don’t Sweat It: Finally, I used to be the type of person who beat themselves up about not getting in my workout. I had an unhealthy mentality of, “I ate chocolate cake yesterday, so I need to make sure I work out today.” It was a really horrible way to think about food and exercise. Today, I try to maintain a much more balanced approach to working out and eating right. When I use working out as a punishment for making a poor eating choice it feels like, well, punishment. And I don’t think anyone gets excited about that. When I work out for the right reasons (it makes me feel healthy, to relieve stress, to get outside and use my body the way God intended) I’m much more excited about working out.

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Mommy Needs to MOVE Week 3 Update:

We are now at a grand total of 1,130 miles! That means we logged another 378 miles this week! Way to go, everybody! I am seriously so proud of us! Let’s have another great week! As always, it’s never too late to join us! Go here if you’re interested!