I hated her.

"I'm too busy". I hear it all the time. Every day someone tells me they are too busy to workout, eat healthy food or sleep. I used to say it too. I would set a goal like working out 3 times a week on Sunday night and by Wednesday when I still hadn't put in even 1 workout I would console myself with, "I'm just too busy". Ahhhhh, that felt better. I was justified in my lack of discipline. It wasn't ME that was the problem it was my awful job, my kid's activities, my husband who when he got home didn't want to watch the kids so I could go to my class. I felt out of control of my life. I felt like a victim of my chaos. I couldn't have the body or the life I wanted because....you got it, "I was too busy".

When a woman says this to me now I want to say, "No, you aren't". Ouch. What would she say back? "Excuse me? Do you have any idea what my schedule looks like right now?" And my answer would be that I don't need to see it. And honestly nothing you could say would convince me otherwise. You aren't too busy. Period. I wasn't too busy. I didn't want to workout. I didn't want to cook healthy food. I was tired. I was depressed. The last thing I wanted to do was come home after a long day and start chopping veggies while my kids bitched at me that they didn't want what I was cooking. The last thing I wanted to do was get back in my car and drive to class across town. I just wanted to sit my ass on the couch and tap out.

"But, Amy, I really do like working out. I love healthy food and I want to eat it." I did too. I loved when I finally got in a walk or did a YouTube workout but it never lasted. Just because I liked it didn't mean I really wanted to do it every day. I was sore. And it was hard finding workouts that I really liked. I didn't have any real plan so it took so much effort to get myself going. I had to find my the one sports bra I had tucked in the back of my drawer. I had to clear a space on my Barbie and Lego covered floors...damn kids, now I was cleaning and Steve would be home soon from work and I hated working out in front of him. Once again the kids and Steve were getting in the way of my dream body.

Here is the truth, we are ALL busy! It doesn't matter if you work full-time, work remote, work from the office, stay home with your kids, don't have kids, are single, married, divorced, have aging parents, have whatever...another woman in your exact situation is showing up daily to workout and she isn't hitting the Wendy's drive thru getting 4 for $4 meals for her family on the way home from work. "Well, good for her. She obviously has something that I don't have then." And you are right. But it isn't what you think. It isn't a supportive husband who cleans the house and tells her to go workout because she has had a tough day. It isn't older kids that don't need her wiping their butts and noses all day. It isn't an amazing boss who tells her the day is over and she can work on that report tomorrow.

It's discipline.

I used to hate this woman I followed on Facebook. She got up every morning at 4:30am and worked out with her husband. She was in great shape. Her house always looked clean and organized in her pictures. She went on regular dates with her cute husband and she had kids the same age as mine. I resented her. I thought well she has all of that because she had great parents who taught her to live that way. She was never overweight so working out wasn't as hard for her as it was for me. And she must be some crazy, bitch with OCD to have a house that clean and organized. Somehow that all made me feel better about myself. (Don't tell me she isn't perfect and she had something wrong with her because no one is perfect. I know she wasn't perfect. My point is she was disciplined. She was choosing to take care of her body, life and marriage in ways I wasn't.)

Yuck. Why would I be so insecure that I needed to attack a woman for just living a happy, healthy life? Wasn't that what I truly wanted? Would I want people to hate me if I obtained my goals and actually found a way to make my dreams come true? Of course not! I would want women to say, "Good job! How did you do it? Can you help me?"

Yes, I can. I am still a work in progress but I am finally living the lifestyle I always wanted to live. I am at a weight I haven't been at in years. I have a lot of energy. I don't have constant cravings anymore or chronic pain. I have a healthy relationship with food and with STEVE!!!! Life is better than it has been in a long time. Is it because life finally settled down? No! I have 3 teenagers. They are doing all the things and constantly want my attention. I run a small business where I teach multiple fitness classes a day. I run an online coaching business with over 20 clients. I have big house that is constantly falling apart and getting dirty. There is always a mountain of laundry on the floor in my basement. And the list goes on.

Life will never settle down. As soon as it does another season of soccer will be begin, a parent will fall and break a hip, a person will get fired at work leaving you to do 2 jobs instead of 1 for months. YOU have to change. YOU have to decide that no matter what you don't miss workouts and you don't eat junk food every day. Period. Just like you don't steal no matter how poor you get. You have a standard and you hold yourself to it. It's who you are. You are healthy person. You take care of yourself. You don't make lame ass excuses like "I am too busy" or "My husband sucks". You find a way. And when that friend you invited to class calls and says she can't come tonight because she's just too busy you'll think, no you aren't.