Sweat.
It's as simple and complex as that. With sweating comes the need to shower, with showering comes the need to "get ready", to do my hair, makeup, pick out an outfit, etc. So my one hour run/workout then turns into another hour of getting ready. For a mom, this is a lot of time, often too much time. Sure, I can take my toddler on a run with me but then what do I do with her while I shower and get ready? (This is my continuous parental battle, anyway. Tips?).
Also, I personally have thin, limp and oily hair and therefore I only wash my hair every other day to keep it from being too ridiculously oily (get it?). For me, my perfect time to workout is the morning of "day 3" (hair washing day) before the day has begun. Ideally before my daughter is awake (though this is a gamble). But "day 3" only rolls around every other day and sometimes that is just not often enough, especially if I am training for a big race. I wish I was one of those girls who could head out the door looking cute -instead of homeless- with no make up, jeans and a hoodie and my hair still wet from the shower, but that is not a reality for me and it always takes a little more effort than I'd like to admit (and the finished product is still very simple and casual). I often think how much easier it would be to have no hair at all, but I don't think my husband would be too fond of that. So the struggle with sweat and oily hair continues. Dry shampoo is my friend and it works fairly well, but still, the effort it takes to shower away the workout is just sometimes not feasible. I am constantly in awe of mothers who can workout once, even twice a day sometimes and seem to not have this issue.
Am I alone in this? Does anyone have any tips or words of encouragement for this sweaty mom?
Juggling working out and raising kids is such a challenge, isn't it? Ugh! I guess because I am a stay at home mom I just skip the shower sometimes or take one way later in the day. That means I go places looking totally gross, but who cares because it isn't like I'm trying to pick up guys. I have gone everywhere in my sweaty gym clothes: school, store, zoo, museum, aquarium, playdates. I figure I'd rather look gross often and clean up nicely when it counts. But then again, I am a stay at home mom and looking homeless is a luxury.
ReplyDeleteI do take a shower while watching the kids though. I kid proofed our room, I close the door so they can't leave, and put on a cartoon. It seems to be working because neither one of my kids have died yet. I can hear what they are doing and can jump out of the shower at a moments notice.
Sorry for the long comment!! Hope you figure it out because it is a frustrating thing!
ugh! sorry about this one...I couldn't agree more. It's SUCH a pain to have to shower/not shower mid-day or whenever possible! Ha! I agree with Katie, I kid-proof everything and after my workout, I MUST SHOWER! I sweat like a man so nobody wants to be around my sweaty-mess all day long :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with Katie...I just workout and go places in my workout gear (unless it's on base and then I change into a pair of jeans with my sweatiness underneath. GROSS! My 16-month old is a busy girl, so I don't usually shower unless she's asleep which means a long day of being disgusting. Hopefully it gets easier as they get older:) Until then, just invest in a nice hat.
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