Working in the Workouts: How to motivate when you are tired?

Each week, Debbie will share her goals, challenges, successes and tips on how to fit in fitness when caring for a rambunctious toddler.

Just when I thought I was home free, the toddler loses his groove. What groove, you ask? The sleeping one, unfortunately.

It is infinitely harder to stick to a fitness plan when you are not getting enough sleep. Ask me how I know. But there has to be a solution out there, right? I cannot be the only sleep-deprived person out there who wants to be fit.

So I Googled "too tired to exercise" and I found about forty billion links that tell me the more energy you expend, the more energy you'll have. Then there were the links who suggested seven to eight hours of sleep every night. OK, trying!

So did I find renewed motivation on the internet? C'mon, you all know you can find everything on the internet. My jump start came when I read the science behind "the more energy you expend, the more energy you'll have." It actually makes sense! In a nutshell, the better our bodies use oxygen, the more fuel our bodies can make. Exercise helps our cardiovascular system make more oxygen. It has to do with the way our bodies metabolize what we eat and turn it into energy. OK, they definitely explain it better in the article I read, but hopefully you get the point.

Now I head back to my weekly fitness routine, not necessarily invigorated, but with a bit more enthusiasm than I had before I understood how my body worked. Stay tuned to see if exercise can counter my sleep deprivation . . .