Do You Want To Be The Woman On The Left Or The Woman On The Right?

I don’t know about you guys, but I think it’s kind of silly to wait until January of every year to get your life in order and decide to make changes.

The only thing you gain by waiting until the new year is possibly a couple pounds.

You are a couple months older, and you have let lots of opportunities pass you by.

And then you are kicking yourself saying, “I wish I hadn’t let everything go for so long.”

For me, I believe resolutions (which are really just new habits we want to establish) are ongoing things we need to focus on all year long.

Even during the busy times of year.

I also believe very strongly that being in decent shape is the foundation for everything in your life.

I believe physical fitness directly affects emotional and mental fitness.

I believe the stronger the muscles in your body are, the stronger the muscles in your brain are.

And it is my goal to inspire women to be as active as possible.

NOT to fit into an old pair of jeans you had before you became a mother, but because it you wanna be an active participant in your kids’ lives, and your future grandchildren’s lives, AND YOUR OWN LIFE.

This is one of my favorite pictures:

I WILL NOT BE THAT WOMAN ON THE LEFT.

EVER.

But not being that woman on the left means doing stuff NOW to prevent that.

Making exercise a part of your normal routine is will help you be that woman on the right twenty or thirty or forty years from now.

NOT having exercise be a normal part of your routine gets you one step closer to the woman on the left.

Six years ago I was heading in the direction of that lady with the walker.

I didn’t work out, I had gained more and more weight with every kid I had, I hid behind people in pictures because I felt so gross, and I had recently been admitted to the psych ward of a hospital for the fourth time in my life, fighting off another bout of depression.

When I started exercising regularly, all of those things gradually changed.

I’m not shredded now. I’m not a size 6.

But I don’t mind having my picture taken anymore. I’m much more confident.

And in the past 5 years I’ve run 6 marathons — the first one five years ago at 43 years old and the most recent one a couple weeks ago —

I’ve completed a whole bunch of triathlons and

countless 5K’s.

Pushing myself physically reminds me how strong I am mentally.

That when the hard parts of motherhood show up — the parts where you have to be patient and calm and level headed and strong even when you think you can’t possibly handle what life is serving to you (and those moments appear very often)  — that I am equipped to handle them.

And it feels pretty good to be able to tell myself that I will get through whatever it is I am going through.

That I am a badass.

But you know what?

We are all badasses.

Some of us just haven’t unearthed that side of ourselves yet.

I believe moving your butt regularly is imperative to unearthing your inner badass.

But I also believe you need to find a way to move your butt that you enjoy the most.

It’s not a one-size-fits all program.

It’s a manageable, flexible, sustainable program that will help you to take care of yourself.

You can wait until January 1st.

Or you can start now.

Why wait?

Why look back two months from now with regret?

Start taking care of yourself right now. Don’t let things go over the holidays.

You deserve to be a priority!

Don’t miss another opportunity.

Start the new year off with some new habits already in place.