In our modern fast-paced world, many women often find themselves caught up in the whirlwind of daily responsibilities, leaving little time for self-care and exercise. The struggle to balance a busy lifestyle and conflicting priorities with the desire for improved well-being is a challenge many of us face. It can be a real mental tug of war.
We hope by reading our blog, you see some of your own triggers and maybe implement a couple of actions, so that you have time to take care of yourself (both inside and out).
Overcoming Common Challenges to Exercise
At Victoria Stag, we understand these struggles and we want to highlight the top 3 significant challenges our team is facing when it comes to a positive mindset to get our butts moving. We also wanted to remind you that you are not facing this alone. Just take one step at a time.
.
Lack of Motivation
We get it! Starting or restarting an exercise routine can be a bit overwhelming when your motivation is low or none; especially when you are starting from scratch or from a long break.
The number 1 tool that has worked for our team is before you start any exercise, set out your WHY! Like why are you even bothering? You could be binging the newest craze on Netflix!
This really helps when your day has kicked your ass and you want to give up or not even start. It reminds you of what the bigger picture is and what you care about.
Here are some of our team's WHYS!
- I want to keep up with my daughter, I want to be part of their life and not watch from the sidelines (or the grave).
- When I get my photo taken, I don't want to worry about 7 double chins that magically appear.
- I want to feel less stressed and the feeling that I get after a workout is worth it for the rest of the day. It helps with anger control with my teenagers (lol).
Conflicting Priorities and The Guilts
Right, so today, you need to get up, let the dogs out and you need to get the kids ready for school. You need to drop them off, then go to work, answer emails, meet your client for coffee and then go to more meetings. Then after working through or running life admin errands during your lunch break, you have to then take the kids to their after-school activities and then cook a very healthy dinner. While you are at it, don't forget to put a load of laundry on, put the bins out for garbage day and remember it is your partner's great great grandmother from their father's side dog's birthday and you need to get them a gift tomorrow.
Sounds familiar, and like a lot yeah? But wait... are you telling us that your brain says I have to do these other things first before looking after my own needs, otherwise I will feel guilty and my life will fall apart and World War 9 will start?!?!
The harsh reality is that females get the guilts more than men and we also take more of the family workload. We need to tell the guilts to move on, please!
How does the Victoria Stag team get over the guilts?
It is a work in progress but we asked our Founder and Lady Boss, Vicki, who is juggling so many balls that she could be a one-person circus. She says the top 3 things that help her are:
- Get in your head that if you are not looking after yourself, you can't look after others or keep sustaining the pace you are going. If you are sick or just burnt out and you keep going; your body will tell you to stop if you don't, trust me. Then you won't be useful to anyone.....ANYONE! Or you might have a nuclear snap at someone - which just isn't pleasant and not the right way to go viral online.
- Say 'No' to others but also to yourself - Don't do everything for everyone! People need to learn and be self-sufficient (it is called adulting) and one of the best ways to learn is from their own mistakes. Also, people have the same amount of hours in a day that you have... hello, make sure you aren't being taken for granted. And what about saying No to you? A perfect example of this for many is working more than your paid and reasonable hours! Be clear with you and your boss, only ever do overtime if there is something burning, otherwise it can wait until tomorrow.
- You have to speak up and ask for help - the people around us are not mind readers (even though some things are so obvious, you would think otherwise), so you need to speak up. Sometimes you can't do everything by yourself and getting a hand with even the smallest of tasks can help you. If your kid can play basketball, they can hold a vaccum... just saying...have you asked them?
.
Lacking Self-Confidence
This one has impacted the Victoria Stag team at one point of time or another.
When you feel so crap, you don't want to leave the house and the thought of going to a gym or outside where anyone can see you exercise is just bloody scary!
You need to start building up your confidence, here are some tips and tricks:
- At first, take baby steps and acknowledge to yourself when you are actually doing something! Something is better than nothing - a 5 minute walk is better than 5 minutes of watching TV.
- Also, make some realistic and achievable goals - running 10kms in your first attempt might be pushing it, if you haven't exercised for 5 years.
- Another helpful tip is if you can, try to find a support person. This maybe a friend or family member or even a GP or Personal Trainer. When you are not alone it can be easier!
A wealth of research consistently highlights the connection between a positive mindset and better physical health. When you approach exercise with a positive outlook, it becomes not just a task, but something enjoyable that can positively affect other areas of your life.
If you need help with a baby step exercise program - try the Victoria Stag Movement and Exercise Program. It is different from the other online programs, Vicki purposefully designed this program to not be overwhelming as during the Covid Lockdowns combined with a long term knee injury, she couldn't find a program that fitted both her fitness level (sloth) and mental state (couch is very comfortable) that didn't make her feel like crap and utterly hopeless.
We hope this blog has helped you feel seen and understood! And we hope we have been useful.
