This is a bit of an inside joke amongst my writing friends.  When time is limited, how do you find time to exercise AND write?  Between family, work obligations and writing, I average about six hours of sleep per night.  I know that this is not enough, hence the name of my blog! 🙂

This is the best time of year to reflect on the whole Fiction/Fanny issue.  Posts are going up all over the writing circles and loops about New Year’s diet resolutions combined with completing manuscripts in time to pitch at the next conference.  If I’m being honest, I think about it all the time.  I have to.  I have fought the good fight all my life in the weight department.  Mom started monitoring my portion sizes at a pretty young age.   When I was told no more bread, my grandfather passed it to me under the table.  Love you, Papa Louie!  I have stared the point of no return right in the eye and for the most part (does pregnancy count?) haven’t gone over the edge.   I am finding that as my age goes up, it is getting harder to keep the weight down. 

The other night, I came home after work, hubby (God, love him!) prepped some leftovers for dinner.  I wasn’t really hungry, but ate anyway.  That’s just the kind of girl I am!  After dinner, I put on my workout clothes, took a load of laundry out of or the dryer, threw another load in the wash, and helped the little one with a school project while cleaning the kitchen.  By the time the kitchen and the project were completed, I had to decide…do I go into my office and write, or stick to the initial plan and hit the elliptical machine and weights?  This time, I hit the keyboard (and started this blog post).  Next time I’ll chose different, but the fact is…I don’t want to have to decide!  I’ve tried several scenarios to fit both writing and exercise in.  I’ve gotten up earlier to exercise every other day which means the alarm rings at 5:30am and then I’m too tired to write that night.  I’ve tried to exercise and shower at night before writing, but after a nice warm shower, I’m pretty much done for the night!  The creativity has gone to sleep!  I do try to get a solid workout in on both Saturday and Sunday, but let’s face it…sometimes social engagements, kid activities and writing meetings interfere.  Or sometimes, I just need to catch up on some sleep!    

There’s really no way around it.  Quitting the day job doesn’t work because that’s not gonna buy baby a new pair of shoes (or pay the mortgage!)  Clearly, I need a new plan and I think I’ve found it.  I’m going to dust off those Shape Up sneakers and bring them to work.  I have access to a fitness center in my building.  If I want my Fiction and my Fanny, I should be able to walk on the treadmill at least three times a week during my lunch hour, right?  It’s also time to practice some self-restraint.  I just loaded the Lose It App onto my iPhone.  The goal is a pound a week for a total of ten pounds.  Wish me luck.  This is going to be hard with my mother’s Christmas Cookies in the freezer.  Maybe I should polish them off before getting started!   I’d love to know how others manage the whole Fiction/Fanny dilemma.