Some of our ladies loving that they’re awake at 5:45am…

That’s not necessarily something you’d expect a gym owner to say, right? As a gym owner, I should be selling you on how easy it is to get back into shape, all you have to do is find time for yourself, blah blah blah…

But I also know that sometimes things don’t go as planned. Sometimes you’re working 12 hour days because you’re up against a big deadline at work, maybe your kid or husband is sick (again), maybe you’re sick too…

I think it’s very easy for all of us in Santa Barbara county to agree that this year didn’t start off the way we all envisioned it…I know my stress levels were so high through December and January that I felt like I was drowning at times. Business was slow because of the fires, then I was finding time to volunteer with the Bucket Brigade (because that felt very important to me), and I was still trying to keep Alaris moving. And this stress meant my immune system was shot…so I got sick at least 3 separate times since December (which NEVER happens). I flat out didn’t have the time to focus on my own fitness. And that’s OK.

Once March started, I finally felt like I had the space to focus on my training again. In fact, it seems like March is when a LOT of people finally started to feel like their lives were in enough of a rhythm to start working out consistently again. And let me tell you, getting back into shape has easily been one of the hardest things I’ve done in a while. Workouts that were easy have been difficult, I’m having to pause longer when I’m strength training, and the head game sometime feels impossible. But I’m putting in the work where I can, and I’m reminding myself that my body just survived an immensely prolonged period of very high stress…and that takes time to move on from.

So as we are wrapping up March and hitting Spring, just remember that this year, we’re all behind…we’ve been through a lot, and while getting back into shape really sucks, we’ll eventually get there if we keep trying.