Workout Wednesday: Laziness or Justified?

So far, in 2012, I have left a job I was in for a very long time, started a job with a new company in a dramatically different location, left one dayhome, started a new one (and let's not forget the transition time in between), had too many goodbye lunches in restaurants to count, and had my MIL move out of our home.   That is in the first 3 weeks of THIS YEAR!!!  I think if there was a stress index for that - I might be off the charts.  I should probably also touch on the migraines I have been getting almost everyday - whether due to the shifting weather or a byproduct of all of this stress.

2012 has been a challenging year to just jump into already.  I make plans and life happens.  I adjust plans and life happens again.   I say "to hell with planning" and things area left undone.   And then I beat myself up over it.

But, that is the reality.  As a working mom - life does happen.  There is dinner to be made and kids who won't go to sleep when you tell them to go to sleep.  There are things around the house that only you can do.  There are bills to pay and budgets to balance.   By the time the day ends, you have been up since 4:35am and it is suddenly 8pm and you should be heading down to the workout room or hitting the road for a run and it is, quite frankly, the last thing you want to do.  To top it off - this is just the everyday stuff.  We are not even talking real emergencies here!

The real question is how long can you let life interrupt your health?   At what point have you "justified" your way out enough workouts to mean you are just being lazy?  One week? Two weeks?

I would like to say that I have only really been slacking off for two weeks.   I entered the year with a bang.   I've been laying out plans for each week since, but have been falling seriously shy of the mark. I recognize that some days have been justified.  The days where I turn to hubby and ask him to take the top off my head and rinse the headache out are justified.   The days I absolutely needed that hour before bed to get everything ready to go to the dayhome the next day - justified.   The days I plopped down on the sofa to veg with some PVRed soaps?  Perhaps not so justified.

With this in mind, I have created a justification meter for myself:

1 Honestly, am I just being lazy?

2 But I NEED to sit down and watch the 3 episodes I recorded!

3 I ate too much dinner

4 I had a super long day and now that the kids are down - I'll just sit for a moment - I'll work out in a bit (and actually intend to get the workout in)

5 I just need a rest day - I've already worked out 4 times this week

6 I really want to work out, but the kids just won't settle in for the night.  Climbing the stairs 12 times should count as a workout, right? At least I walked at lunch today.

7 I'm so stressed out - an hour on the bike will help with that, but I can't take that time right now

8 Why aren't there enough hours in the day?  The day was so packed and suddenly it's time for bed and I haven't gotten my workout in yet!

9 I have a migraine/flu/nasty cold/sick kid

Ideally, I should always fall between 4 and 6...meaning I get the workout in.  If I am below 4 - I need to call myself lazy and just get it done.   Above 6 - TOTALLY JUSTIFIED in skipping that days workout.  If it stretches on for more than a couple of days, though, then I need to reassess life and see if maybe I could be managing things better - either by calling in extra help of getting hubby to share more of the load.   9, of course, is not an excuse.  It's just self care to skip the workout.

Are you able to justify your way out of any workout?  How do you mentally bitchslap yourself to stop being lazy?  I'm totally looking for tips here!!!  Let me know in the comments!

Also - today I've joined up on a blog hop! Welcome to any new visitors to my little blog!!!