Dixie Dog and My Workout Rut

Have you ever had a life change that completely disrupted your routine? Whether it’s moving to a new home, caring for a sick relative, or, in my case, the addition of a 4-legged family member, major life changes can be a huge blow to your regular workout routine. My life was recently impacted by a beautiful girl named Dixie, my hound dog.

The excuses began weeks before her arrival. “I want to take time off from the gym because once I get the dog I’ll be up early in the morning and it will be much easier to get workouts in since I’m already up" ... so I thought. Then Dixie arrived. I couldn’t make it to gym that early because not only did she take a while to “do her business” in the morning, she would cry me into submission any time I put her back into her crate. She was also too small to go on a walk for any real length of time, and we were walking SLOW.

I told my Health Educator that I would get evening workouts in place (I tend to be more of a morning exerciser, but I had to do something). After work sounded like a good idea. But the reality was that I felt I had to get right home to walk my dog, feed her and play with her before bed. So, no gym for me! I couldn’t leave my new baby again after she had spent all that time in her crate! On and on my excuses went. My puppy came before anything else – including my exercise time.

I had let my excuses run rampant until, the pounds crept on, I was tired all the time. I even started eating worse. I couldn’t get the dog a snack from the pantry without getting myself one. Who had I become??!!

The reality is that I could make it to the gym – with a little planning. I could leave Dixie in her crate for an hour while I did a workout. And she was getting bigger every day, so I could start to take her on longer walks with me. Even if it wasn’t the 45 minutes of intense cardio I was used to, it would be something.

One day, I made the realization that life changes happen, and will continue to happen for the rest of my life. If every time my strict routine gets interrupted and I start making excuses, it would be that much harder for me to get back on my plan. It also dawned on me that, although I can do math, at times I failed to recognize that 15 minutes of exercise is definitely greater than 0 minutes. So here’s what I did to get out of my rut:
 

• I worked out a plan with my mother – she agreed to pick up the dog in the middle of the day so I could sneak a workout in at night without feeling guilty that my dog hadn’t been out all day.
• I made a commitment to get back to the gym on the weekends.
• I reached out to a friend who also has a dog, and now that Dixie is 8 months old, we enjoy weekend walks with my friend Linda and her dog, Remi. Dixie and I both love this! She gets to socialize with other dogs and I get a 90-minute walk.
• I started looking for opportunities to get short bouts of exercise in, whenever and wherever I could.
   

With a little bit of planning, my energy has improved and my dog is still getting the care she needs.

I have since lost the “puppy weight” and learned a valuable lesson: If I don’t start making back-up plans the minute my regular exercise routine gets impacted, my excuses will start to run the show. Life changes can happen, but weight change doesn’t always have to follow suit.

Have you ever experienced a life change that made you have to re-think your workout routine? What did you do?
 

by Chrissy78 on 03/28/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: Weight-Loss, motivation, exercise, planning, strategies