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Writer's pictureCoach Gary B.

Balancing the weight of the world on your shoulders

Updated: Jun 22, 2022

Dear Parents:


I hear you. Just when you think you have a routine figured out, something happens. Your child gets sick and you need to stay home and take care of them. Your child has a bad night of sleep and in turn, you get none. The nighttime routine takes twice as long as it should, and you don’t get to bed until much later than normal. You realize you need a second or even third job just to pay for childcare. You stress more now than ever before because as your kids grow up, you don’t have the ability to watch them 24/7 and the world can be a dangerous place. It’s not easy but it is the absolute greatest gift of all.


I have two children, 2 and 4 years old. I remember the car ride back from the hospital after we had our first child. It was surreal. We now had a child. Someone that relied on us to take care of her. I remember the first week. I thought it was possible to get back into my routine immediately. I thought that I could continue to wake up and do my two hour gym sessions. I thought it was possible to continue to eat my meals when I needed to, and to sleep how long I needed to. Boy was I wrong!



Becoming a parent changes your life forever but what I have learned is that it should not prevent you from taking care of yourself either. Can I workout at 5pm at night for 2-3 hours with a team anymore? Absolutely not. Why? Because I don’t want to miss those precious hours after my kids get back from daycare and I am able to put them to bed. So what can I do? How do I keep working out? How do I still eat relatively healthy? How do I manage everything?


First off, I am lucky in the sense that I am a morning person. I am also fortunate that my wife chooses to workout in our garage every morning and stays with our children while I go to the gym. I get my workouts in while the world is sleeping. Are they 2-3 hours long? Not even close. Instead, I go to the gym with an efficient plan, execute, and return home.


How do I deal with the sleep or therelackof? How do I deal with the occasional screams at night or the colds and coughing? First, I actually go to sleep right after we put our kids to bed. This can be sometimes as early as 7:30pm. I joke with my wife and tell her that my goal is to go to bed before Wheel of Fortune ends! I do this because sleep is important. More important than watching tv or scrolling through Instagram. By going to bed early, if there is an interruption in the middle of the night, I can still get my sleep. Also, I make it a point to try and get more sleep on the weekends to make up for any deficit.


How about nutrition? How do I manage that aspect with two young kids that would live off Mac N Cheese, pasta, and animal crackers? Well I can honestly say, it’s not easy. I’d be lying if I said that becoming a parent also reminded me of how incredibly tasty animal crackers are. I’d also be lying if I told you that sometimes when I “overfilled their snack cups” that it was always an accident. Someone has to eat the ones that fell on the counter!! The key for me is prep cooking, or planning. It is important to have healthy options. I load my fridge up with fruit especially in the summer as my kids love it as do I. If it is a busy week, I always make it a point to either have quick dinner ideas planned out, or I cook ahead of time. Either way, planning is vital because life is unpredictable.


Stress? Sometimes being a parent requires you to occasionally miss a workout session because something comes up or you don’t get any sleep. For those that are used to working out regularly, this can cause a lot of stress. At first, and even to this day, I struggle with this. However, it is important to know that missing one workout is not the end of the world. Kids grow up fast. If my son or daughter yells “daddy” in the middle of the night and wants me to sit in the chair with them, then that is what I am going to do. WIll it hinder or even negate my training the following day because I am exhausted, yup! But that is ok. Events like that don’t happen every night, and when they do, it is important to make the most of them. It is important to be present. For those with older kids with nonstop sports games and activities that you want to watch, go watch them. It might keep you up later and force you to cut your workout in half, but that is also ok. With regards to the financial stress, I also struggle with this. Childcare can be between 2-3k$ a month alone. That is more than a mortgage! In fact, it forces me to work multiple jobs. I am blessed that my full time job is hybrid (go in the office 3 days a week) and coaching is online which allows me to work while being in the presence of my family. In order to keep my sanity and keep my weekends open for family time, I front load my week. I am aware that not everyone has that flexibility and that I am lucky, however, if you need to work multiple jobs, try to make sure you have at least one day where you can disconnect. It helps alot!


I can honestly say that when your parents tell you that “it goes by fast,” they are right. It does go by fast. I think the biggest takeaway is that you can be present for your children while still taking care of yourself. Your training might change, you might have to watch less TV to take advantage of getting more sleep, you might have to start setting an alarm for 5am and you might have to meal prep, but it is still possible. In fact, when you are blessed with the opportunity to even be a parent, you are essentially making a promise to them that you will be there for them for as long as physically possible. In order to do that, YOU MUST TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. Fulfill that promise. Don’t miss a beat. Cheers to being around for the great grandkids to come.


-Coach G


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