Sometimes we need a little nudge to get moving. Here are some possible “rules” to help us out:
1. Microwave time is stretching time.
2. The pause between episodes is lap-around-the-house time. (Bonus points: change the laundry!)
3. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.
4. On the phone? Talk and walk.
We made it to the end of the month! Hooray for us! But there is one last permission I’m granting: permission to rest. Here are some ways to incorporate rest:
1. Between sets.
2. Between rounds.
3. On vacation.
4. On rest days.
5. When we’re sick/tired.
Rest is where we heal and get stronger!
When we’re kids, people bribe us to do stuff. Behave at the doctor? Get a sucker. Good report card? Pizza for you. Now that we’re adults, we get to set our own rewards for working out. May I suggest:
1. Massage. Or a hot bath. Or anything that makes your body feel fabulous.
2. Milestone treats. Chop up that big goal and reward yourself for each segment. This could be a scale number, a distance reached, a weight lifted, or whatever else you’re measuring. Make it small enough to be manageable but big enough to be meaningful.
3. New gear. Who doesn’t love getting new workout clothes? Or comfy shoes? Or a cool new thingamajig for that activity we love?
Today’s permission has a bunch of flavors. We have permission to play games. Here are some ways that might play out (pun intended).
1. Literal games. We can get our workout while playing football or pickleball or soccer or water polo or baseball.
2. Mind games. We can see if we can trick ourselves into doing one more rep or one more sprint.
3. Distracting games. On a long run or bike or hike? Play the alphabet game like you did when you were stuck in the car as a kid. Or I Spy. Or race other people to landmarks (with or without telling them!).
4. Streak games. How many days in a row can you show up at the gym? How many workouts can you make it before you need new shoes? How long can you go before washing that lucky shirt (actually, please don’t do that one. The other people in the gym don’t deserve that.)
Unless we are dead, we are eating something at least occasionally. Eating is natural. It’s essential! And yet, somehow, I still feel like I need to remind us all that we have permission to eat. Here are some things we are allowed:
1. Vegetables. The more, the merrier! Eat as many colors as possible! Eat them in salads, soups, on the side, on top, or underneath.
2. Fruits. Whole is better, but juice is ok, too.
3. Protein foods. What these are vary by human. It’s good to choose lean proteins and maybe a fair amount of plant-based protein for optimal health.
4. Treats. Yes: we are allowed treats. We just need to remember that they are sometimes foods.
1. love
2. joy
3. peace
4. patience
5. kindness
6. goodness
7. faithfulness
8. gentleness
9. self-control
Add your own!
Ways to be faithful in workouts:
1. Show up daily.
2. Practice good form.
3. Be a good workout buddy.
Workout kindness comes in many flavors.
1. Use headphones. Not everyone wants to jam to your jam.
2. Wipe the equipment. Because no one wants to share your sweat.
3. Put the weights back in the rack. Duh.
4. Let folks work in. You need to rest between sets anyway.
5. Pick up your stuff. You’re a grown-up now and it isn’t that hard.
Ways to bring more peace to workouts:
1. Plan ahead. It’s much more peaceful to work out when we have all our stuff.
2. Finish with stretching.
3. Smash the cis/hetero/white supremacist/capitalist/imperialist patriarchy (definitely good exercise, too.)
We can Pilates in the wild! Three things to try in daily life:
1. Deep breathing.
2. Aligned posture.
3. Efficient movement.
More strength fresheners:
1. Change the tempo.
2. Try a circuit.
3. Swap machines for free weights or vice versa.
4. Change the usual order.
Three ways to make cardio fresher:
1. Change the speed.
2. Change the time.
3. Change the intensity.
Up or down! You pick!
Fresh mindsets come in many flavors. Here are a couple to taste!
1. The power of “yet.” As in “I can’t do that YET.” This opens up possibilities!
2. What did I learn? I just tried something new and it was hard and it didn’t go the way I wanted it to. What do I take away from this? Maybe I want to keep trying; maybe once was enough.
3. Where’s the fun? Not that many experiences are 100% awful. I mean, even going into labor gets to the part where you have a baby at the end. Burpees may not be fun to do, but they are fun to brag about later.
4. Make your own. Yep: you are powerful and can use your big brain to transform yourself in any direction that occurs to you!
Still want more ways to love yourself? How about these?
1. Talk nicely to yourself. You are amazing!
2. Give yourself a break. Sometimes we all need one.
3. Be grateful. We all have some blessings lying around in our lives.
4. Hug somebody. It’s good for both of you!
5. Do a favor. We can all use a bit of good karma, plus an instant mood boost.
All of this love for our bodies requires appropriate food. We can’t do our best cardio, strength, balance, and flexibility work on a diet of Cheetos and whiskey. Here are some general ideas for how to eat for self-love:
Drink water. It’s good for hydration, calorie free, and essential to so many body processes. If it seems a little boring, throw a slice of lemon in there, or try fizzy water.
Eat those veggies. They really are good for you. They fill us up, give us essential nutrients, and don’t have too many calories.
Get enough protein. Choose wisely here, though. We want to eat low on the food chain for our own health and for the health of our ecosystems.
Change it up. There is no perfect food. We need to eat a variety of foods to meet all our needs. Plus it’s fun and tasty.
Quick reasons to do Pilates:
1. Increased mobility
2. Increased flexibility
3. Better balance
4. Better posture
5. Better efficiency
6. Fun
Jumping is great for both cardio fitness and bone strength. Here are six things to try:
1. jacks (regular, plyojacks, plank jacks)
2. burpees
3. box jumps or depth jumps (jumping on or off a fitness box)
4. jump squats
5. jump lunges
6. lateral hops (extra fun with a BOSU
How to show yourself some real love:
1. Eat breakfast.
2. Sleep enough.
3. Move your body.
Let’s review. Here are the kinds of goals we learned about over the month.
1. SMART goals
2. dumb goals
3. rubrics
4. process goals
5. outcome goals
Choose your favorite or mix and match!
Rubrics we can try:
1. Do x minutes of cardio x times per week.
2. Complete x weight workouts per week.
3. Eat x different vegetables this week.
4. Drink x glasses of water today.
