Hey there reader!
Today, I want to pop in and talk about putting in the effort even when you feel exhausted, overwhelmed or don't feel like doing anything.
The other night I felt overwhelmed. I ran my kids around for ortho appointments, volleyball, dance, and trying to get work done. It was a super busy day, and we got home late.
By 7:00 pm, I was exhausted.
The last thing I wanted to do was clean up. All I wanted was to take a shower and go to bed. However, the kitchen was a disaster, and my living room looked like a bomb had gone off. I thought about ignoring it and just cleaning up in the morning, and I almost did.
But instead, I decided to suck it up and clean my kitchen, along with straightening up the house before bed. I knew if I went to bed with my house in chaos, I would wake up to a home in chaos, and that isn't how I wanted to start my day.
So, instead of ignoring the mess, I took about 30- 40 minutes to clean up and get things ready for the morning. I put together lunches, cleaned the kitchen, started the dishwasher, and quickly organized all the random papers scattered on the table.
I even found the energy to fold a blanket and bring the clean laundry upstairs. I also gave my kids some night chores to do, like straightening up their rooms, putting their laundry away, and getting ready for the next day.
Afterward, I looked around and felt so relieved. Immediately, I thought, "it's always worth the effort."
Yes, I was tired and didn't feel like doing any of it - trust me, plopping my butt on the couch to catch up on some Bravo reality TV sounded much better.
However, when it was all done, I was happy I chose to reduce the chaos by taking a few extra minutes to get my home in order. I could go to sleep feeling productive, accomplished, and ready for the next day.
The following day, when I woke up and went downstairs, I thought again, "I'm so happy I made an effort to get everything cleaned up; it was so worth it."
Well, that one good choice led to another.
I woke up at 6:00 am, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat on the couch - finally! Around 6:30 am, I thought, "hmmm, I should probably get on the treadmill." Ideally, I should be on the treadmill no later than 6:30 am, but I was lazy. Anyway, I pondered that thought for another 10 minutes, and then at 6:45 am, I decided to get dressed and head into the basement for a workout.
By the time I got on the treadmill, it was 7:00 am, and I only had 30 minutes to exercise before I had to get ready and start my day. I ran hard for those 30 minutes and worked up a great sweat. When I got off the treadmill, I did 1 minute of crunches and then got ready.
That morning, I could've said, "forget about it, I'll exercise tomorrow," but I didn't. I remember how I felt cleaning the kitchen the night before and decided to put in that extra effort again and choose exercise over the couch.
Once again, making that extra effort was completely worth it. I felt great the entire day. I felt productive and was proud of myself for choosing what I knew would make me feel better in the long run. The thing that was helping me to move towards my goals.
Throughout the rest of the day, I thought more about "making an effort". I started to think that I never once regretted putting in the effort. I never thought, "I wish I didn't exercise this morning," or "I wish I didn't pass up that extra slice of pizza." Never.
However, I regret the times I'm lazy, procrastinate, or put healthy habits at the bottom of the priority list. Whenever I don't exercise in the morning, I wish I did. When I eat late at night, the following day, I wish I didn't.
My point is, any time I put in the extra effort to clean up, get organized, meal prep, eat healthy foods, and exercise, it's ALWAYS been worth it. There has never been a time I regretted doing any of those things.
I'm not saying I don't have lazy days, or we shouldn't be lazy occasionally. Of course, we need days just to veg out - I get it.
I'm saying that if you put the effort in more often than not, you'll be able to enjoy the lazy days much more.
Pushing past the laziness and procrastination and putting the effort in will move you towards achieving your weight loss goals.
My advice is to put the effort in, especially when you don't feel like it.
👉 Next time you want to sleep in, push yourself to get out of bed and exercise - even if it's only for 30 minutes.
👉 If you want to eat late at night, but the effort to do something else will take your attention away from food.
👉 If you don't feel like tracking your meals, do it anyway because you know this will keep you intentional with calories.
👉 Put the effort in and meal prep on Sunday because you know having healthy food ready during the week is key to eating portion-controlled nutritious food.
I can go on and on, but you get my point. Put the effort in! It's always worth it, and you won't regret it.
Talk to you soon!
Tammy 💕
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