They are My Reason, Not My Excuse

Is it just me or does life seem to only get busier and busier? The work day no longer ends at 5pm and often begins much earlier than 8am. Traffic is so bad that a commute that should only take you 10-15 minutes, ends up taking 30 minutes to an hour. Factor in all your commitments outside of work and the activities your children are involved in and life can feel like one mad, hectic dash. 
Even as a stay at home mom, it's very easy for my day to try to manage me. I have this plan in my mind and then the kids wake up and decide they want none of that plan. In our efforts to simply survive our day, we must give up something. For me, the compromise always eliminated my time for fitness.
After my daughter was born, I began doing a workout during one of her 2 nap times, but it was almost an hour and she only slept for an hour. That quickly stopped because I got discouraged. We started taking walks through the neighborhood, but that was completely dependent on the weather. Classes at my gym didn't work with her napping or childcare schedule. It seemed too hard, so I stopped. I stopped looking for a reason to invest in my health and instead embraced all my excuses...because I thought they were really good excuses.
One day, all my excuses caught up with me. I was faced with a choice- continue using my children as my excuse or let them be the reason I made a lifestyle change. My journey over the past 9 months began slowly. I started only focusing on nutrition and then after 3 months realized that fitness was the missing key to the puzzle. I'm so thankful to my coach who introduced me to some amazing and effective 30 minute home workouts and simple portion fix nutrition. It took a few months for me to find the best time of day to get in my workout. I tried everything from after everyone was in bed, to first thing in the morning and everything in between. There were times I wanted to give up, times I had so much more to do other than spend 30 minutes exercising. However, as 2015 draws to a close and I realize I will be beginning a new year almost 40 pounds lighter and in the best physical shape of my life, all those inconveniences seem so insignificant.
My wish for everyone this Christmas season is that you realize your true worth and the potential that is inside of each of you to achieve your goals. It doesn't have to be complicated or perfect, you simply have to start.