As a busy mother of five and grandmother of a growing family, Bridget understands how difficult it can be to pull away from home and family for self-care.
Things like exercise and meal prepping can seem unimportant when stacked again a large family's calendar.
Yet, this coming February will mark eight years of working with Bridget as her personal trainer and nutritionist.
How is she able to juggle a busy family schedule and maintain her needs? The answer is easiest if you first understand her “why.”
Bridget intimately understands she functions better in all capacities when she herself is healthy in body, mind, and soul.
Because of this, prioritizing exercise and nutrition is just as important as any other need in her life.
Bridget is a stay-at-home mom. Her daily life looks much like many women who are active in their church, community, schools, and of course family.
She is busy. In addition to her busy life, she recently earned her master's in nursing. For a short while she took a job at an oncology center to put her nursing skills to work, but decided she needed to help with her aging parents more.
While we all have different circumstances, we can all identify with busy, and time sensitive demands weaved into everyday life. We are brimming with responsibilities in many capacities and adding exercise and clean eating can feel overwhelming.
However, Bridget has learned regardless of how busy life gets, she performs much better when she is taking care of her physical and mental health. Exercise and nutrition both relieve stress and aid in healing the body.
Recently, Bridget shared some insight on how she has been able to prioritize her health and fitness – and transform her life with balance. And because she has done it so well, I thought I would share it here.
Prioritize Accountability
Bridget decided to work with a personal trainer because she had some physical goals she wanted to achieve. However, doing an online program or going to a gym alone was not going to keep her accountable.
“There is always time for a workout even if it is just a HIIT, but being willing to do it day in and day out on your own can become challenging. Having someone to hold me accountable is a priority for me. It is worth the financial investment".
Finding a system that holds you accountable is paramount for most people in exercise. This is one factor why personal trainers are hired.
“I needed accountability. Plus, I was not sure what to do other than running.” Bridget continued, “I chose Pro Push because they cared about me as an individual and took the time to understand my needs. Because they cared, they helped me stay on track as my life changed over the years. While they have held me accountable, they have also helped me adjust with my life's needs. This type of structure made it possible to stay accountable.”
Having an appointment with someone can be helpful for accountability. When you know someone is waiting for you, most tend to keep the appointment.
Having a personal trainer for accountability is not mandatory. There are other ways to make accountability work for you. Some suggestions we can make are:
working out with a friend regularly
declaring your goals publicly on social media
working with a wellness coach with frequent reports about your progress
Knowing what you need to be held accountable is a wonderful place to start. For Bridget, she needed an appointment, but also important was she wanted a structured program she could get excited about.
“The workouts are never the same and are always fun. The gym is smaller and not so overwhelming. Kristina and Chase are not just there to get you physically healthy, but emotionally and mentally as well. I love the positive feelings in the gym. Everyone is upbeat.”
2. Prioritize Nutrition
One of the goals Bridget had when she started with us was to lose some unwanted weight. Exercise can help with this; however, nutrition will influence waist size more than anything else.
“Learning food is fuel for my body and can directly transform my health and physique had a significant impact on my choices. Also, just learning what foods I need more of and what to avoid helped guide me.”
As Bridget learned nutrition principles, she not only wanted to prioritize nutrition for herself, but also for her family. She began to slowly overhaul her kitchen. This helped her prepare healthy food for herself and feel good about what her family was eating.
This can be done over time and still respecting choices of others, especially a spouse. A few suggestions here are:
replace white, over processed foods with whole grains
keep fruit and vegetables on hand and ready to eat with fun dips or other choices your family is familiar with and like
make a run to a favorite destination for a dessert, rather than keeping junk foods and sugary items in the house
As Bridget prioritized nutrition, she lost unwanted weight. “I have decreased 4 sizes and I feel confident”!
3. Prioritize Health Within Your Family
Many feel they do not have time to take care of themselves because of family and work responsibilities. However, a closer look at this shows the best way to handle life is to take care of our health.
But Bridget attributes her success to recognizing good health is not only important for mom and dad. Kids also need to eat well and get daily exercise.
In the eight years Bridget has been with us, we have provided personal training, nutrition, and stretch therapy services to several members of her family. At her request, I have spent many sessions with some of her kids teaching nutrition and exercise science. Like most families, they have a budget. They choose to prioritize their finances in a way that provides exposure to good health practices.
“As my focus on exercise and nutrition trickled down to each member of my family, they all began to prioritize exercise and eating healthy. These habits now follow them into their adult life.”
Using her resources and influence not only encouraged her family to follow her lead, but it also made her own goals so much easier to achieve and maintain.
As she watches the fruits of her labor leave her nest and create their own, Bridget shared, "now my priority is to make sure I can always keep up with my grandkids”!