At the beginning of the year, I started a Facebook group for like-minded friends who want to lose weight, exercise more, and be healthier in 2013. It’s nice to have a place to post about workouts, weight issues, and confessions about ingesting an ice cream cone that isn’t in my main Facebook news feed. Last week, I asked the group:
“Let’s talk a bit about showering and exercise. This is a topic that is personal to me (if we’ve chatted any time in the last two years we’ve probably discussed this). When do you usually shower? Do you shower every day? Do you always shower after exercise?”
I was surprised by the variety of answers that I received. Some shower every morning first thing, then again after exercising, and then again before bed. Some shower every other day and only wash their hair twice a week. Some, like me, try to wait until after they exercise for the day — and then realize the day is over…
For me, logically, I know I should just get up every morning and take a shower – first thing, even as a Work At Home Mom. However, I don’t. I throw on exercise clothes and say that I’ll shower after I get my workout in (I’m not sure if this should be considered a positive or a negative of working from home…). Sometimes, the entire day goes by and I don’t fit my workout in and I still haven’t showered. I find myself rationalizing that I’ll get up early the next morning to workout and shower. And then it spirals.
Days where I workout at 5 am and then shower before dropping the kids off at school are the best and the most obvious solution. I don’t like to shower more than once a day because I have very dry skin. And once I’m clean, I use that as an excuse not to exercise. In stages of my life when I haven’t exercised my “showering debate” hasn’t been such an issue… but that’s a whole different can of worms.
I know that many people think that I’m a member of crazy-town because of how odd I am about this issue. I was most impressed by those who showered in the morning, head to the gym at lunch, showered again, and still managed to look presentable. How does one do that? Personally, I value efficiency. I can blame this on a hundred different things — but at its root, I just don’t like to waste time with the mundane when I could be doing other things – like working — or playing with my kids. A shower – complete with hair washing, shaving, lotion, and blow-drying takes me a good thirty minutes – add another five if I put on “real” clothes and makeup. And with my trio underfoot, it’s consistently interrupted, meaning the entire process takes even longer.
I know many mom’s who manage to shower every day and don’t even think about it. I want to be that person — I really do – and I was pre-kids. I don’t want to be the “Stinky Mom” or the “Mom who never showers.” But the truth is, showering always ends up fairly low on my daily priority list. When I started my new job on Tuesday, I told myself that I would get up every morning at 4:45 – workout and then shower. That way it would be done and I’d be ready for the workday. I did okay on Tuesday and Wednesday, but by Thursday I found myself rationalizing — and didn’t end up in the shower until late afternoon.
So tell me about your showering habits. What works for you?
Photo by Jordan Merrick via Flickr.
I am also a WAH mom. I shower in the morning, try to workout at lunch, and do a quick “rinse off” shower after that. I end up spending the afternoon red-faced with frizzy hair and no make-up. Not ideal when on Skype with my boss but at least I’ve burnt some calories.
Twitter: jessieyeager
It’s the showering + exercise + work + kids that gets me. And apparently I just haven’t learned how to properly do a quick rinse either. I just think — if I get wet, I have to put lotion everywhere again (skin issues) and that deters me. Ugh. First world problems I guess!
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
Twitter: Jamieweitl
This is me, and I work in an office but lunch is the only time I’ve found to consistently fit in a workout and I always come back to the office looking half make-up, half dressed, half hair done!
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I shower every morning before work otherwise I just feel gross. But I only wash my hair every other day. Otherwise it gets…weird. And I can’t shower more than once a day or I dry out too. When I DO fit exercise in, it’s after work, so I just go to bed stinky. Or I do a quick “bird bath” (wash up at the sink with a wash cloth) to get the stinky out of my pits and under-boob and so on.
During the summer and other school breaks, my shower schedule sucks. And if I don’t shower and at least put on clean yoga pants in the morning, I feel crabby all day.
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“And if I don’t shower and at least put on clean yoga pants int he morning, I feel crabby all day.”
YES!
I think this is at the root of the issue for me as well. I have good intentions — but then I don’t shower and then I’m crabby and in a funk, and that leads to not exercising, which leads to delaying the shower, which sometimes leads to poor eating habits… it’s a spiral. I just need to make myself workout in the morning early — but once again, I didn’t do it today. I was awake until 12:30 last night and at 4:45 I just couldn’t stomach it… so I’m in dirty yoga pants — hoping to run and shower when I can make time for a break today. Ugh.
Twitter: Jamieweitl
Some times I feel like I could have written this. I don’t work at home, but do try to fit in workouts during lunch or before work. When it’s before work, as you said, easy peasy. But if I plan on a lunch workout, what if I don’t feel like it or something comes up? I hate that feeling of walking around greasy all day, adds to the guilt of skipping a workout.
Because of that, I’ve started the every morning shower routine (unless I’m working out first thing). Then, at lunch I’ll go for a run and do a rinse off shower. Have you ever tried dry shampoo? This is a game changer for me in the hair-washing realm. I have curly hair so I wash it a lot less frequently (1x/week usually).The dry shampoo soaks up the sweat & oil you made during your workout. You spray it on the sweaty parts of your head & hairdry it and it seriously is as good as new. I don’t mean to sound all infomercial-y, but when I figured out I could do this it changed my whole routine and made me a lot happier to shower in the morning knowing I can dry shampoo when I workout later & still look and feel clean!
Twitter: jamiemcq15
I love this dry shampoo idea. Is there a specific brand? Do they have it at Target?
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Twitter: Jamieweitl
The stuff I use I got at my salon (so, mucho pricey… but the stylist was convincing and I was excited so I went for it… lol) & it works great. I honestly haven’t tried anything else. It looks like the usual players – suave, pantene, treseme – make a dry shampoo. Found one on target.com from suave for $2.98!
Twitter: jamiemcq15
When I saw this post was my Jamie in my reader, my first thought was you Jamie McQ.
I tried dry shampoo while I was on bed rest. I think I either put too much or not enough – I looked even more greasy.
As for me, I shower every am, typically before the babies wake up. And two of the three times I’ve worked out since they’ve been born, I just showered quickly again afterwards (once was a weekend morning & i planned to shower after). My skin is the opposite of dry but I’m with you that two showers is a waste of time.
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Checking it out now. A friend read this and texted me about a few brands of dry shampoo from Sephora. I knew the internet would have answers!
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
Twitter: Jamieweitl
Maybe I am just cheap or something, but I use baby powder instead of dry shampoo. I just put it at my roots and massage it in with my fingers. My hair gets greasy pretty easily, so I do this when I get home from work everyday.
I have tried quite a few different Walmart/Target brands of dry shampoo and my favorite is Tresemme. One bottle lasts me a month or two, it doesn’t feel weird, and smells normal. I’ve tried Suave – it left my hair feeling weird and the bottle only lasted a few weeks. I’ve tried Dove – the bottle only lasted me a week or two and I didn’t like the smell. Dry shampoo is a lifesaver, even for me – lazy, work outside of the home, with no kids.
Twitter: asgoodasgluten
I shower in the evening as showering in the morning wakes up my kid before I want her up… plus, I’d have to get up earlier. I usually work out after work so I never have the “should I shower in the morning or after my workout” issue. But, I also hate showering for the time it takes (including the drying of my super thick hair, and lotioning up my dry skin, etc). I jealous of my husband who is bald and can take a fairly quick shower.
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Twitter: JolizieD
Yes, my husband takes quick showers and it doesn’t bother him at all to take two a day. If only I were a man… And yes, it’s the hair that is the real issue! And he wouldn’t even think of putting lotion on!
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
Twitter: Jamieweitl
If I could find time to shower, maybe I’d find time to exercise? I still haven’t even gotten that far.
My shower shcedule is random, at best. I’m lucky to wash my hair every two days, let alone get in a quick shower daily. Needless to say, I’m a pro at rocking the dirty-hair side braid (yes, my hair looks like this today….)!
Showering just doesn’t rank really high on my list when there are other things to be done!
Becca,
You’ll get there with exercise. My girls were nearly 1 and a half before I started trying to carve out time. There are only so many hours in the day — and work and kids always come first!
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
Twitter: Jamieweitl
One of my morning workout motivators is only having to take one shower! I have really straight and fine hair, so I HAVE to shower and wash my hair before leaving the house. I also tend to get pretty sweaty during my morning workouts, so I also HAVE to shower after one of those too. Monday-Friday I am up at 5:00 AM to workout. Saturday and Sunday, I sleep in, but workout right away so I can shower afterwards and be done with it all! I also kickbox every Thursday night. When it’s cooler out I just go to bed kinda stinky, but in the summer I have to take another shower before going to sleep. Do like me and use the shower as your morning workout motivator: “workout, shower, and then you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day!!”
Heather, this is absolutely what I need to do. And I try to have that mindset — but I only made it up on time two days this week! Baby steps.
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
Twitter: Jamieweitl
I shower after my work out or at night… it’s way too much effort for me to get up and shower in the morning every day because then I have to dry and straighten or curl my hair and I don’t have that kind of time!
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How does your hair hold up during the night? Do you still straighten it in the morning or do you actually style it at night? (I’m obviously clueless).
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
Depends. If I’m going to the gym during lunch, I just pull it back and wait to shower after work out. If I’m not, then I straighten it.
what a great post! great topic! ha ha ha. i shower once in the morning and haven’t figured out the whole exercise thing. that IS kind of a block for me…. b/c if i exercise at work then UGH i sweat/stink all day. plus my HAIR goes crazy. another issue? the time needed to change clothes. I always said – if nothing else – I want a shower each day!! it’s hard to ‘lose’ what i feel i gained in the shower. Ugh.
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It’s definitely the exercise combined with showering that makes it such an issue for me. And yes, there is definitely a time investment in getting dressed – especially when you work outside the home and have to have on nice clothing, accessories, etc.
I shower at night during the school year. And I still have to get up at 5:40 to make it to work on time and that’s just to get me out of the house by 6pm. If I take Abby, it’s a earlier wake-up. Plus I exercise when I’m home from work and don’t want to sleep in the ick. Love this post
Twitter: wa_tracy
I like the idea of night showering, but evening working out just doesn’t happen for me. If it’s after 5, the chances of me going for a run or to the gym are slim. I’m a morning person through and through and I pretty much shut down for the day in the early evening.
It’s interesting how different everyone’s schedule is… if only I could find that perfect balance. Oh yeah, that’s impossible.
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
I’m laughing…only because the evening is the only time during the week that I have to workout. I’d very much prefer to workout in the morning
Twitter: wa_tracy
I don’t feel human if if dont shower first thing in the morning. If I workout it’s free work, and I rinse off for a couple minutes without washing my hair. It’s too long to wash more than twice a week. Two words: dry shampoo !
On my Target list!
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend
I also workout and shower early in the am. When I used to work out after work I usually wouldn’t get a shower in before bed; I would just sort of ‘air out’ (which is still the kinda gross strategy I use for work out clothes, but that’s a whole other issue). My other not exactly solution is I never manage to shave. Pretty much ever. Shaving at the gym is a bit icky, and I NEVER have that kind of time to myself on the weekends (actually, now that I think about it, I rarely shower on the weekends- maybe I shower at the gym every day b/c there’s no way I’d manage to get in the shower at home).
Yes! My kids are finally old enough that they understand the concept and I will lock the front door and tell them I’m showering. But it never fails, I’m in the shower for 3 seconds and at least one of them is in the bathroom with an urgent need. And then I end up trailing through the house wet. When they were smaller, it was nearly impossible unless my husband was home.
Jamie recently posted..Sickness Weekend