I (Kalie) remember watching “What Not to Wear” when I was in college. The storyline was almost always the same. It featured a wife, mother, sister or friend on the other side of her 20’s who rarely had time for herself anymore.

Her life consisted of working; being a good wife and mom; trying to juggle laundry, cleaning, cooking; keeping everyone’s schedules organized; and ultimately becoming trapped in a cycle of exhaustion. By the time she was featured on the show, she was unhappy with her size, felt defeated, lacked energy, and ultimately, had lost her identity along the way!

I remember watching this show and thinking, “There’s no way that will ever be me. I will always find a way to make time for myself every day.”

Boy, was I wrong!

While I don’t qualify for “What Not to Wear,” I can honestly say I’m a lot more sympathetic in knowing what it FEELS like to be that woman. With two small kids and a crazy schedule, I often feel like I’m on a hamster wheel and just doing my best to keep my head above water.

I don’t have the same amount of time to exercise or do the things for myself that I once did. There are days I run out the door without even brushing my hair. There are times I’ve realized it’s 4:00 pm and I’ve spent the entire day working around the house in my pajamas, hair in a tangled mess and I completely forgot to brush my teeth.

Case in point

A few weeks ago, I was on my way to teach a wellness retreat, only to realize halfway there that I still had my bedroom slippers on. How embarrassing! I became so comfortable wearing yoga pants that even on weekends I’d forgot what it was like to wear actual clothes. My argument… if nothing else, I should be comfortable, right? 

That ah-ha moment

It wasn’t until I had “a moment” that I pinpointed the true feelings masked behind my yoga pants and messy hair. I was struggling to feel beautiful and I was dying for a little self-care.

As women, society often leads us to believe that caring for ourselves is bad or selfish; that everyone else’s needs always take precedence over our own.

We skip meals or grab unhealthy food on the run, never find time to exercise, stay up late night after night just to “get it all done” and wake up one day finding ourselves exhausted, depressed, overweight and in poor health, all in the name of being self-less.

We, as women, need to band together

I’m going to be brutally honest and you may not appreciate what I’m about to say. Even as women, we sometimes make each other feel like it’s being selfish to give back to ourselves.

I’ve heard fellow women snicker about the mom who dropped her kids off at daycare an hour early so she had time to exercise before work. I’ve watched others make snide comments regarding the woman who puts on makeup just to go run errands for the day.

The truth is, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been guilty of this a time or two, but ladies, we’re not helping ourselves or each other by doing this.

Balance matters

While there needs to be balance between how much time we put into caring for ourselves versus caring for others, we NEED to remind ourselves that we’re important too.

It’s important to remind ourselves to STOP feeling guilty because we want to take a little time out of our day to care for someone as important as everyone else in our life, OURSELVES!

Why is it important to practice self-care?

When you put more effort into caring for yourself, it shifts your mindset and how you feel about the day.

When you practice self-care, you feel more confident, positive and playful. You’ll be ready to take on the day and tackle anything that comes your way. It translates into your interactions with others and even your relationships/marriage.

You see, when you start looking at self-care from a practical standpoint, you begin to realize it’s beneficial for yourself, but also goes far beyond that.

After my ah-ha moment a few months ago and a desire to take care of myself again, I switched my daily routine. Here are five simple tips that have allowed me to live each day with confidence — and can do the same for you too.