Greetings Friends,

It has been a few weeks since I checked in. What can I say? The summer is short and fast in Minnesota, there is so much to do and it seems like not enough time to do it all. It reminds me how busy and overwhelmed we all tend to feel these days. I have been requesting food journals from many of my personal training clients and I get a number of reasons why my client simply does not have time to get it done. I have a few clients that cancel regularly for one reason or another, I even have few that have rescheduled their first session several times stating all the chaos of their lives and how they want things to settle down first and THEN they will start working out. The reality is simple, life is not going to settle down. If we wait for the right time to do things, some things will just never get done. People have so many reasons for failing in their fitness journey and they all sound perfectly reasonable, relatable and make sense.

As the owner of a small studio, I am cramming so much crap into a single day, that I forget to breathe, eat and most times do not get enough sleep. Today, in fact I was trying to get the dogs out for some play time before I got my own workout in and tended some yardwork. Scout is supposed to be on a restricted exercise program with that bad ticker of hers. We tend to fake play with her, just throw a frisbee up in the air for her to catch so that she isn’t running. However, today she took off full speed across the park to race Tuck to the ball. I had launched that thing as hard and as far as I could. She beat him to the ball, picked it up, started to run back to me and then she just collapsed to the ground and rolled over with all 4 feet in the air. She was jerking and making this god awful winey wheeze. The ball was clamped firmly in her teeth. When I got to her, I thought for sure it was all over. Scout was dying. I pried the ball from her mouth, we talked to her, pet her and loved her. I really thought she had stopped breathing and she may have but eventually she rolled over and tried to stand but couldn’t. She wobbled and shook then fell back to the ground. It was SO SCARY!. I picked her up and carried her home, sobbing the entire way. A few minutes after we got home, she was eating watermelon and tried to catch a fly. I am guessing this was a seizure due to the heart arrythmia and heat. As one of my very insightful friends said; “Scout doesn’t know she is sick”. This made so much sense to me. I feel like I am betraying her on a daily basis. She doesn’t know why she cant go on the walk or the hike and she just looks at with that cocked head like she has all these questions:” What? Haven’t I been such a good girl? Why can’t I go with you? I have always gone with you. Remember when I went to work with you every day? Everyone loved me! What did I do wrong? Haven’t I always loved you and done everything you asked of me?” Yeah, the burden is real, for this big squishball of a human. Sorry, that story got long, moving on.

Now, that kind of scene could really derail a person for a few hours and it did. I just kept thinking, when do things get easier? Or at least slightly less chaotic? I have so many things I needed to do with this time today. One of which is to get my own workout done. This happens a lot actually. I have to squeeze my own fitness into my chaotic day. And since it is required that I get at least 2 workouts in a day, this can get complicated. Yes, that is my own requirement but it is what I have to do at this age to keep weight off, keep up with my younger clients and still drink beer. :-) A month ago, I had to choose between my uncles funeral and my step sons graduation from Military Police School. Both on the same day and basically overlapping times. I drove from MN to MO on Tuesday, enjoyed family day with my soldier on Wednesday. I had to head to Iowa on Thursday to support my family before the actual graduation ceremony. It was the right choice, I know this… but it sucked. And my step son, Bailey was an absolute champ about the whole damn thing. He let me off the hook by telling me that I made the right choice to go to the service then he and the fam, showed up towards the end of the open house. I have a bit of an internal family drama going on right now, that drama made the service stressful and uncomfortable not only for myself but some other members of my family. My mother has had her own health issues as of late, I have mine and Scout obviously has hers. Tuck has his own needs. My small business does not run itself, there are appointments, household duties, social obligations, and there are what feels like a million day to day things that I cannot think of as I sit here that keep me hopping and a bit stressed. My partner and step sons/daughter have their day to day stuff as well and we are all trying to keep track of each other. We just implemented a calendar, wish us luck!

Well, what the hell is my point in telling you all of this? That’s a lot of sharing Christine!! THERE IS NEVER A GOOD TIME EVER! Look at all that crap I just rattled off and that was like a few weeks of stuff. We are all busy, too busy…stupid busy. There is never enough time. That is the hard truth. If you are sitting on unresolved issues, you best get to it Buttercup because no one is stopping the train for your ass. Life is short, life is fragile and life does not revolve around your excuses or your timeline.

How does this pertain to your fitness? Since this is a fitness blog or at least it use to be. Don’t kid yourself into thinking there is always time to start. OR that you will start after this or that or whatever. Commit to yourself and do what you need to do to move forward. Commit to your health for the people that love you. Make your time on this earth matter and make it last as long as you damn well can. PUT IN THE WORK. Put the damn bagel, pizza, chips or brownie down and invest in your nutrition. Your body will thank you. Maybe you need to let go of some things, maybe you need to give up some things, maybe you just need to get off you duff and set some goals and or boundaries for yourself!

This isn’t actually a plug for my community, my studio or myself as a professional and small business owner. Even though I am really good at what I do and my people are loyal, committed and just really full of grace as humans. You SHOULD want to be part of our community. This is more of a plea, a plea for you to take care of yourself, live your longest life and live your best life. I recently started taking voice lessons. I did this because it is something that I always wanted to do. I know this sounds crazy but I was just a bit too shy to try this earlier in life. Let’s be honest, at my age, it is not like I am starting a rock band. So I am doing it for me and honestly, I can barely make time to do it. I practice in the shower, in the car and while I am watering the garden. Tonight in fact, I sang with a piano for the first time in my life. It was HARD! I kept forgetting the melody or words. I am not sure how musicians do it! But the hard is fricken worth it! Do the hard things people, you will NOT regret it, I promise with every part of me and I never break a promise!

Live your best life and love without expectation!

No regrets, Coach Christine