Dumbbells_n_doughnuts

I’ve never been someone who believes you need to spend hours in the gym to get a good workout or to make progress. Even throughout my years of competing and coaching and just wanting to be healthier, I’ve always believed that 30–45 minutes of focused, HARD lifting can be more than enough.

But 20–25 minutes?

That’s a short lift, even for me.

Today I had a 30-minute lunch break, a gym a couple minutes down the road, and two choices:

Decide it wasn’t enough time to be “worth it”…

Or get my butt over there and see what I could get done.

And let me tell you — you can do a LOT in 20 minutes when you’re not messing around.

No scrolling.
No wandering around deciding what exercise to do next.
No unnecessarily long rest periods.

Just walk in, push hard, get the work done, and get back to work.

Was it my normal 30–45 minute lift? Nope.

Did I still stimulate the muscle, move my body, add to my weekly training volume, and leave feeling better than I walked in?

Absolutely.

I think sometimes we get so caught up in what would be optimal that we forget how powerful consistency is.

Maybe you don’t have an hour today.

Maybe you have 20 minutes.

Use the 20 minutes.

Because a short workout doesn’t have to be a wasted workout.

Children don’t inherit our priorities. They witness them.

The older my son gets, the more I see that he’s always watching.

He’s watching how I respond when something is hard.

He’s watching whether I make time to move my body or whether I always have an excuse.

He’s watching how I talk about myself.

He’s watching what I choose to prioritize.

That’s why this Spider-Man shirt has become one of my favorite shirts to wear to the gym.

Not because I love Spider-Man.

But because every time I put it on, it reminds me exactly why I’m here.

I don’t work out because I hate my body.

I don’t work out because I think I need to earn my food.

And while I’d be lying if I said I don’t have physique goals, those aren’t what get me through the workouts when I’m tired or unmotivated.

I show up because I want to be healthy enough to keep saying “yes.”

Yes to playing on the floor.

Yes to chasing him through the yard.

Yes to hiking, traveling, and making memories.

Yes to being present for as many years of his life as I’m blessed to have.

Spider-Man protects his city.

I’m just trying to protect my health.

Because if I can teach my son anything, I hope it’s this:

Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish.

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give the people who love you.

And if that makes me his superhero…

Then every early morning, every workout, and every drop of sweat is worth it. 💜

Your health doesn’t need your perfection.

It needs your participation.

Every workout doesn’t have to be amazing.
Every meal doesn’t have to be perfect.
Every week doesn’t have to go exactly as planned.

You just have to keep participating.

Because the people who succeed aren’t the ones who never miss a workout, never eat dessert, or never have an off week.

They’re the ones who keep coming back.

They come back after vacation.
They come back after a busy week at work.
They come back after getting sick.
They come back after life gets messy.

Progress isn’t built by being perfect.

It’s built by refusing to quit.

So if today is your “come back” day…

Welcome back.

Let’s get to work.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your mind, your body, and your soul… is step away.

Step away from the responsibilities.
Step away from the endless notifications.
Step away from social media.
Step away from the pressure to always be “on.”

A few days away won’t erase months or years of consistency. In fact, sometimes it’s exactly what you need to come back with a clearer mind and a fuller cup.

But if I’m being honest…

Coming home is often the hardest part.

Not because I don’t love my routine, but because routines take intention. It’s easy to stay in vacation mode for “just one more day.” It’s easy to push the workout to tomorrow, order takeout one more night, or tell yourself you’ll get serious on Monday.

I’ve learned that consistency isn’t built by never taking breaks.

It’s built by returning.

Returning to the morning walk.
Returning to the gym.
Returning to the meal prep.
Returning to the habits that make me feel like me.

The older I get, the more I realize routines aren’t restrictive—they’re freeing. They take away the daily debate and help me keep promises to myself, even on the days motivation is nowhere to be found.

So if you’re coming home from vacation, a busy season, or simply a week that felt off…

Don’t expect perfection.

Just return.

One workout.
One balanced meal.
One walk.
One choice at a time.

That’s how consistency is built.

If you’ve been waiting for the “perfect” time to restart, let today be enough.

“Be careful not to gaslight yourself out of seeing your own progress.”

Sometimes the hardest person to convince is yourself.

You tell yourself you’re not doing enough.
That you’re moving too slowly.
That if you were really committed, you’d be doing more.

And before you know it, you’ve completely ignored everything you are doing because your brain is hyperfocused on what you’re not.

I’ve been catching myself doing that lately.

Looking at the changes in my routine, the challenges of stepping into a new season, the things that aren’t perfect yet, and convincing myself that somehow it means I’m falling short.

But the truth is, I’m showing up.

Maybe not perfectly.
Maybe not the way I would have during another season of life.
But I’m giving 100% of what I have to give right now.

And that’s enough.

Progress doesn’t only happen when life is ideal.
Progress happens when you keep moving forward while juggling work, family, stress, uncertainty, and all the other pieces of real life.

So if you’ve been telling yourself you’re failing because your progress feels slow, this is your reminder:

You don’t need to be doing everything.

You just need to keep doing the next right thing.

The fact that you’re still showing up is proof that you’re making progress.

In my new me routine ✌🏻

I had 30 minutes today for a lunch break lift- 5 minutes to the gym, 20 minutes to lift, 5 minutes to drive home. It was the longest but dang was it effective!! Reminder that not ever lift has to be 2 hours long to see progress 💜 do what you can with the time you have, pivot when needed, and keep making progress 💜💜

This morning was pouring, so my walk before work turned into treadmill steps at the gym.

Cardio this morning.
Lift later during lunch.
Just figuring it out as I go this week.

Honestly… I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.

This is my last week working in the schools for the school year, and I genuinely don’t know what I want next.

I’ve been offered a full-time First Steps position that would only be around 15 kids / 15 hours of direct work a week… which sounds amazing in a lot of ways. But it would also mean leaving my house and being back on the road 3 days a week after spending the last 6 years mostly remote.

And truthfully?
I’ve really loved being home.
It gives me flexibility with my child, it allows me to keep an eye on my goats, it decreases time wasted by commuting.

I’ve also had schools reaching out asking me to join their teams in the fall, but those positions would mean being in-person 5 days a week again. I could always go fully remote too… but every option comes with pros and cons.

I don’t know.
I really don’t.

And I think sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to immediately know the “right” answer when life shifts.

But maybe it’s okay to sit in the middle for a minute while you figure it out.

I still have my clients.
I still have my family.
I still have my farm.
All things that fill my cup outside of speech therapy too.

I think I just need to decide what I want my life to LOOK like moving forward… not just what sounds best on paper.

We’ll make a pros and cons list later 🤣