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Today was the first time in a long time that I started the morning off for just me. Between moving, work and Mom life it’s just been chaos for a few weeks here, but it seems to finally (slowly, but surely) be calming down. Today I got up early, went running with some girlfriends, came home and meditated for a few minutes. Seriously it was exactly what I needed to start my day off right. I forgot how nice it was to start your day early, to have some quiet time before your little one wakes up AND to exercise! Like holy cow, who would’ve ever thought I would miss running? 😉 In fact, when Blake woke up, she was really upset that I was in my running clothes and didn’t take her, so we went out again for another short run. Which made me fall in LOVE with our new little city. We are literally surrounded by farms, so running by them, watching Blake look at the cows and just spending time together without work interruptions was perfect.

ANYWAYS, I have wanted to right this post for a long time, but honestly with how chaotic my mind and life has felt the past few weeks, I just couldn’t bring myself to the right mindset to do it. So this morning, kind of just felt like the right time and honestly, tomorrow I might need this advice for myself sooo 😉

One of the most commonly asked questions I get is – how do I balance, like, work, Motherhood and keeping with exercise and a (mostly) healthy lifestyle? I say “mostly” because guys, let’s be real – Mama loves herself some treats every now and again, OKAY?! So I’m sharing a few things that I do for myself that work and then some fitness/health tips and tricks that we use in our house!

BALANCE TIPS:

1. Don’t be so dang hard on yourself. This is my first one before I lead into anything else because I feel like (especially as Moms), we are so dang hard on ourselves and really, we are doing way better than we think we are!
2. Schedule. I literally LIVE by my calendar, every, single, thing that I need to do is in my calendar, including working out. I schedule time to work out, time to meditate, study the scriptures, work, me time, everything. I just use Google Calendar and it’s worked great and I organize by color (so pink=me, red=work, purple=Blake, blue=Marcus etc.)
3. Prep as much as you can. I try really hard to stay somewhat ahead of things, obviously I’m not always perfect at it and well, life, but when I can I schedule out blog posts, meal prep food, get up early to get dinner started, etc. As much as I can do before hand so that I am not adding on more stress of rushing to meet deadlines when I am already overwhelmed in moments.
4. Have “off hours” – I set “hours” for myself, times when I am working, times when I am just a Mom and time for me to literally just do nothing except spend time with my family.
5. To Do Lists, if you saw the amount of to do lists I had a week you would laugh. I write EVERYTHING down otherwise I just don’t do it. I have a to-do list on my phone (for those middle of the night thoughts of “oh crap, I need to do this!”), I have a pad of paper for a to do list for each day and then I have a weekly to do list. Every morning I make a list of what goals I want to get done that day in order from most important to least and I cross them off as I get them done, then move over the ones I didn’t to the next day and so on.

HEALTH TIPS:

Over the last year I have really worked hard to change my health habits. I wanted to live a healthier lifestyle, have more energy and just feel better about myself. SO I set some goals and surprisingly – I have kept them for the most part. I didn’t count our couple weeks of moving because that just wasn’t realistic, but I’ve gotten back into the swing of things and finally got my fitness routine back up today after a couple of weeks. SO anyways, I have tried a lot of fitness products, routines, diets, etc. and have found some that work and some that don’t, so here is what we are currently using and doing in our house:

1. Get workout clothes that ACTUALLY FIT and are comfortable. I get wanting to look and feel cute in workout clothes, but I’ve found that the more comfortable I feel the more into the work out I am. I don’t want to have to be running while adjusting my clothes the entire time. Avia Active Wear (actually just sold at Walmart) – is super affordable, pretty dang cute and all really functional which I love. They’re moisture wicking, made with spandex comfort stretch and have reflective accents which is great for me while running. I’m wearing Avia in the pictures above. Their sports bras are also on point – so keep that in mind ladies. 😉
2. Nutrition Products: We started using Optimum Nutrition a few weeks ago and I really like their products, In fact I shared their cake bites on insta stories today (hands down the best protein “bar-like” product I’ve ever had). Marcus has actually used their Whey Protein powder in chocolate off and on for a few years though and loves it – so I said, hey, why not give it a try? I’ve been drinking it in the morning, sometimes throwing a banana in and it’s been perfect for a little breakfast before the day starts. It has 25 grams of protein in it and only 130 calories and helps with muscle build and strength. I actually used their Performance Energy this morning before my run too (first time using it) and loved it, had way more energy to push through it!). I like that one in the Watermelon flavor. It helps boost energy and support muscle.
3. Make it routine. One of the biggest things I had to start doing when I was starting to implement fitness back into my life was routine. If I didn’t just have it in my head that at “this time” each day I was going to work out, I wouldn’t do it. For awhile I did mornings, then switched to nights to accommodate Marcus work schedule and now I’m back in the mornings. I’m flexible on when, I just have to know that it’s HAPPENING at some point each day.
4. Try new things! I love switching up my fitness routine! Otherwise I just get bored of the same thing. Right now I am really into running, so I typically change up the scenery everyday and go to new places or on different routes! One thing I want to try this summer at some point too is biking. We bike for fun as a family, but I want to try it from the fitness routine. I’ve heard excellent things about the Schwinn Sidewinder – a trail ready mountain bike. It has 21 speeds that are smooth, front and rear brakes, strong alloy rims and can handle the trails like a boss. SO this is on my list to do before the summer is over! 
5. Don’t let “life” get in the way. Make time every day to live a healthy lifestyle, take your littles with you on a run, work out at home or the park, make time for it and you!
6. Buy healthy food. One thing that was a big thing for me was to stop buying treats. If treats are in the house, I’m going to eat them. SO I just don’t buy them anymore. I snack on different nuts, crackers, love cheeses and have a treat every once in awhile. I try to make dinner everyday so I can know what’s going into it and that it’s keeping healthy and when possible we try to focus on a Paleo diet as a family.
7. Water – buy a big water bottle and make a goal each day to drink a little more!

NOW A GIVEAWAY

Gotta keep things fun – so I’ve got all the details on the “Get Out and Get Active Sweepstakes”!  The winner of the Get Out Get Active at Walmart Sweepstakes will win an awesome prize pack that includes a Schwinn Bicycle, selected Optimum Nutrition products as well as head to toe Avia active gear. You can run over, here to get all the details and enter!

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