To All You Mamma's

“I’m just too busy and too tired right now”

Does that sound familiar, mamma’s? Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not doubting your busyness or exhaustion because you are doing it all! Whether you are working full-time on top of motherhood and/or juggling the sports and school schedules, making sure the laundry is folded and put away, attempting to have a social life, throwing a meal together for dinner, bringing the lunch to your husband that he forgot at home, and making sure you are engaged and invested in each of your kiddos days, it’s A LOT.

And if no one has told you lately that you are doing an amazing job and are appreciated beyond measure, I am telling you now- you are doing an amazing job and you are appreciated beyond measure.

Amongst the laundry list of tasks I mentioned above there is commonly one left out of the mix that needs to be taken care of, and that’s YOU. Normally, this is where the response above comes in. ‘I’m just too busy and too tired right now to take care of myself, to focus on my nutrition, to make it to the gym, etc.’

If there is one thing I have learned about motherhood it’s that if I were to use the excuse of too tired and too busy, I would never start what I wanted to accomplish because the tiredness and busyness doesn’t actually end! It ebbs and flows with seasons and different ages of children, but there will never be a perfect time to start focusing on yourself because it’s up to you to decide when the perfect time is, and I am telling you- it’s right now.

So, my question is, are you ready to start pouring into your cup while continuing to pour out? We can easily find ourselves in a cycle pouring out and out and out and eventually our cup is bone dry. The hard truth is, we can’t continue to pour out to our family, friends, and community without filling our cup up as much as we are pouring out. Sure, you can continue to try, but don’t you want to do it well with as much fuel as possible rather than trying to do it on low fumes? Friends, your cups deserve to be filled not just for you but for others around you! It’s worth the extra time, effort, and slight un-comfortability to take care of yourself so you can take care of those around you are the best of your ability. Quit pouring out of an empty cup, and start filling yours up. There is no better time to start than right where you are at.

Here’s a couple steps to get you moving in the right direction:

1) Sign up with a coach at AIM.

Did you see that coming? I sure did! You don’t have to have your life together, you don’t have to be eating veggies at every meal, you don’t have to be working out every day, you don’t even have to be so put together that you remember to put your bra on in the morning! We will meet you right where you are at and support you towards your individualized goals. I know you are tired and I know you are busy, but if you wait until you are fully rested and have free time you’ll be waiting your whole life. Make the leap now and commit to you, it’s the hardest step of the whole journey but it’s also the most important.

2) Commit to 3-4 things every day that fill your cup.

Think simple and small, don’t overcomplicate this one. A few examples include finding space for 20 minutes of movement everyday- take your kiddos or dogs on a walk in the evenings or wake up 20 minutes early and do a bodyweight workout from YouTube. Take 10-20 minutes to yourself in the mornings- This may require an earlier wake up time, but you’ll be so much more refreshed and rejuvenated if you simply have 10 minutes to yourself before the chaos of the day starts. Whether it’s sipping your coffee in silence, journaling, reading a book, or stretching- that 10-20 minutes make a world of a difference.

3. Focus on quality foods- I am not asking you to take away your post dinner dessert, but I am asking you to focus on the quality of your food. We can get so caught up in the busyness of life that we are eating the crust of our kids sandwich and a string cheese for lunch. Our food is directly made into fuel for our bodies, and if that’s what’s for lunch you aren’t going to be fueled for much of anything! Take the extra 10 minutes and make yourself a salad or a turkey wrap with veggies and hummus. It doesn’t have to be a four-course meal to be nourishing for your body. You deserve quality foods to fuel your lifestyle, so make it a priority as much as your kid’s nutrition is a priority to you.

4. Water intake- Set a goal to drink half your body weight in ounces and do whatever you need to do in order to make it happen. Whether it’s guzzle down half your goal right when you wake up, set reminders on your phone, or buying a cute new bottle that will motivate you to drink more water. Hydration is important, y’all!

Listen, this journey will force you out of your comfort zone and there will be times where you feel uncomfortable. But have you ever grown when you were comfortable and complacent right where you are doing exactly what you’ve been doing? In order for a branch to continue to grow, it must be snipped and pruned for new branches and roots to take. Let us help you snip away old branches so new ones can begin to grow come to life.