Fitness Obstacle: Guilt May 9, 2006
This post is part of the Fitness Obstacles series.
It might sound strange, but guilt is a problem for me in planning to start an exercise routine.
If I go out exercising in the afternoon or early evening, I leave my wife at home to look after the three children. I don’t like dumping that on her, especially since she’s run off her feet all day looking after them while I’m at work. My wife also has a part-time bookkeeping business to run and stuff of her own to get done.
Having less time with the kids in the early evening is not appealing, either. Like most modern parents, I feel guilty enough about how much “quality time” I get to spend with them during the week, and I’m not going to cut it back even further. I already work shifted hours so I can leave work at 4 pm to get a decent amount of time with them.
I already have a few regular evening activities, such as my camera club, which require a bit of flexibility from the rest of the family to accommodate. Starting an exercise routine on top of that feels like I’m stretching the friendship with my wife too far.
Like most husbands I know, I have a long list of chores and jobs I’m supposed be doing. If I go out exercising, I’m not getting those things done. Either they don’t get done (not an option!), my wife does them (also not much of an option!), or I do them later and don’t get time to do other things (see my article on Time). Whatever the result, I feel guilty.
I even feel guilty about the cost of exercise. I guess there’s no real cost involved in going for a walk, but most other forms of exercise are going to involve gym or pool fees, equipment, shoes or clothing, etc. Since my wife stopped full-time work to stay at home and raise our children, money has been a little tighter. While we’re still very comfortable, I don’t like taking more out of the budget than I really need to.
I guess the reason guilt is such a problem for me is that I’m looking for an exercise routine to incorporate into my lifestyle. This is not just a health kick that could be indulged for a couple of months and then forgotten about. The changes I want to make are going to be more or less permanent changes to my routine, so anything that affects the rest of my family needs to be sustainable over the long term.
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