I'll be popular some other time

It’s not very nice of me to talk about food on a day when many people have parties.  Oh well.  I guess I’m just not a nice girl.

Obviously, we all need to eat.  I would argue that it isn’t just about making sure the body has nutrients; it’s also about feeding our souls and building our communities and enjoying ourselves.

Here’s the thing:  we eat too much.

Choose wisely.  Eat what you really want in appropriate quantities.  You won’t face tomorrow morning looking for the loosest pants you have.

Happy weekend!

Welcome to Memorial Day weekend.  We are all ready, right?  We’ve planned to remember the dead, get supplies for the party, and prepare the perfect outfit.  Maybe we have packed the bags, loaded the car, boarded the kids, buckled in the dogs (wait… that doesn’t sound right… are we too stressed?).  Just one more thing:  plan to move your body.

Really?  Really?

Yes.  Somewhere in between the events and the s’mores and the singing of 99 Bottles of Beer, we need to move.  Even if we just offer to walk to the store to get more guacamole.  Even if we just take the fractious toddlers to the playground for a while and maybe sneak in a little swinging or sliding ourselves.  It will keep you from feeling like a ton of bricks on Tuesday morning.

Why, yes, I do have my bike on my desktop

I’m in the middle of Steve Wozniak’s book iWoz, which is probably not anyone’s first thought about fitness reading in spite of his performance on Dancing With the Stars.  I haven’t got to that part yet.  Heck, I haven’t even got to the part where he goes to Cal or starts Apple.

What I have read, however, is about his fascination with making computers more streamlined, using fewer parts to do the same functions.  (Actual engineers can start making fun of me now for my super oversimplification.)  That is exactly what fitness trainers do when we work to get efficient motion and good form.  The goal is to recruit only the correct muscles with precise timing to maximize results.  We integrate the software with the hardware, so to speak, encouraging body and mind to work together.

When we are doing things right, we get an economy of motion, an elegance and grace.  What’s not to like?

Alternative modes of transportation

Over the weekend, I drove to a place that I usually arrive at on a bike.  Then, with my son and almost-daughter and dogs, I hiked.  Three different modes of transportation provide three different views of the same scene.

In the car, the hills were negligible.  I had an overall impression of winding road and greenery.  In the same location on a bike, I got to know every patch of gravel, befriended every flower, celebrated every semi-flat spot in the road.  Hiking was even slower.  I got to take pictures of things.  I got to pet dogs and chat with children in capes saving the world.

Variety is good.

Sing along with the record!

(I can't figure out how to get videos here correctly, so here is a link to an appropriate song from Queen and David Bowie.)

Tick… tick… tick.  Whether it is the silence after that hard question or the end of the fourth quarter or the last lap of a race or, if you happen to be James Bond, the remaining time on the detonator, we all know about pressure.  We also have a collective myth that some people perform better than ever under pressure.  Performing Under Pressure:  The Science of Doing Your Best When It Matters Most by Hendrie Weisinger and J.P. Pawliw-Fry debunks the myth and provides some techniques that can help us cope with pressure.

The first section of the book defines and discusses what pressure is and what it does to us.  It examines the data about performance in pressure situations, which does not support the concept of the “clutch” player.  The authors argue that no one does better under pressure than not under pressure; some people just manage to do less poorly than others.

The second section provides short term help for pressure situations.  The tips focus on how to cope with the symptoms of pressure.  They suggest that using the tips in the moment will improve performance.  (I just finished reading the book last night, so I have not personally experimented with the techniques yet, but they look promising.)

The final section is perhaps the most interesting, in that it lays out a plan for character development to address some of the root causes of pressure.  The cute acronym “COTE” of armor annoys the heck out of me, but cultivating confidence, optimism, tenacity, and enthusiasm seems like a good idea.

In all, it is an interesting read, if not a life-changing book. 

Dog's life

Cricket and Polly do some lovely downward dogs.  Perhaps it helps to be a dog.  Actually, since they spend a large portion of the day “meditating,” I might have to describe them as accomplished yogis.  Maybe not.  Yogis don’t usually bark at everyone who passes on the sidewalk and I hope they don’t become absorbed in licking their own behinds.

My homeboy, Joe Pilates, watched animals and their instinctual urge to stretch.  He incorporated his observations into his system of exercises.  (So now I have cited a real authority, not just my dogs…)

Stretching is one of those things we tend to skip when we work out.  It does not satisfy the way weight lifting does, nor does it burn calories and release endorphins like cardio work.  For some people, it just hurts.  For others, it just feels good.

The former group transforms into the latter group with practice.  The latter group sometimes feels like it is wrong to spend time on something that feels good when there is only limited time to work out.

Bulletin:  it is okay to feel good.

Most of us have more stress than Polly and Cricket.  We have lots of things to accomplish besides waiting hopefully for someone to drop food.  For us, stretching gives both mind and body a chance to relax and reset.

Let’s give ourselves those few moments.

(Polly is the one tucked in with the toys; Cricket is the one with the long hair and light eyebrows.)

Between a rock and a rock

Some fitness phrases hurt almost as much as burpees.  My personal least-favorite is “work to failure.”

In concept, I understand the idea that we need to work until we can’t anymore.  One of the ways we get stronger is by maximizing the challenge to our muscles.  We find out the maximum amount we can do by trying one more increase, one more repetition, until there just isn’t another one available.

Failure, though, connotes weakness or lack of character or quitting.  I don’t like that language.  Let’s think, instead, of doing the same thing, but calling it working until we are done.  Or doing the most repetitions with perfect form.  Or pushing our limits.  We have shown up and we are working hard; we are not failures.

Besides, what is impossible this workout becomes possible later.