How to Holiday

This week, for most adults, begins the onslaught of holiday food (those of us who started at Halloween got a head start).  If we do not want to end up in January wondering what the heck happened, we have to have a plan.  Here are some suggestions.

Don’t contribute to the problem.  We like to give food gifts, but we can choose healthier ones, like spice mixes or pickles or whole grain muffins instead of cookies and candy.  When we bring something for the big dinner, we can choose to bring vegetables or salad without the super fatty and sugary touches.  Don’t push seconds.  Choose small plates.  Freeze the leftovers right away so they are not there, lurking in the fridge for that moment of boredom.

Manage emotions.  This is easier said than done when we mix crazy relatives and high expectations.  However, it is always a good idea to take a walk, or play some backyard football, or take the kids to the park.  Movement does wonders.  Making sure to take care of ourselves also helps; if we need to hop in a hot bath and tell no one to bug us unless things are on fire, so be it.

Have a taste, unless that is a trigger.  If Aunt Mildrid made that special pie you have loved since you were tiny just for you, it is all right to have a little.  We work on our fitness in order to enjoy life, so enjoy that small piece.  Unless, of course, that piece acts like a gateway drug and suddenly you are shooting up powdered sugar in the kitchen at midnight.

Laugh.  These are holidays, after all.  Find the good parts and savor them.

Monday Workout: Thankful for our bodies!

This week’s workout has some good-for-us compound exercises to keep our heart rate up and our whole body working.  If you do not have a medicine ball, you can do the lunge twists with a dumbbell.  If you do not have a kettle bell, you can use a dumbbell for the over yets as well.  (See here for how to do over yets).  Three rounds!

step up to press	30
ball flies	20
pushups	10
med ball lunge twists	30
ball bench press	20
over yets	10
plyojacks	30
curls	20
lateral raises	10

Friday Book Report: Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence has been around for a while, but I didn’t get around to reading it until now.  In some ways, this is a meta-book, drawing together information from a lot of different researchers, some of whose work I have read in other contexts. 

Perhaps it is because the ideas have already seeped out into the culture or perhaps because they seem intuitive, but I didn’t think there was that much exciting in the book.  Essentially, knowing how to recognize and manage our emotions allows us to function in society to the best of our other abilities; we unlock our other intelligences by using our emotional intelligence.

From a fitness perspective, this concept speaks to engaging the mind-body connection.  We recognize our emotions in part through how they feel in our bodies.  Tuning into our bodies and using our bodies to enhance or soothe our emotional state will create a better starting point for our other activities in life.

Door number 1

Time for a list of things that induce happiness, which reduces stress, which increases health.  Ten things!

1.     Going outside!

2.     Singing along with the radio, in the shower, or with friends.

3.    Hot water.  May combine with tea and consume, or bubbles and soak.

4.     Bubbles.  Blowing them compels breathing, which is always good.

5.     Hugs.

6.    Knock knock jokes.  Or puns.  Or banana peels.  Whatever it takes to make laughter.

7.     Babies, human or animal.

8.     Art, visual, performance, textual, etc.  Make it or check it out.

9.     Sweat.  If achieved through chores/yardwork, bonus points for achievement.  If achieved through exercise, bonus points for health.  If achieved through sex, double bonus points that require no explanation.

10. Gratitude.  If things could be worse, that means there are things to be grateful for, and things could always be worse.

Pits!

Sometimes when we work out, we fall into pits.  Not literally, unless we are doing some sort of extreme obstacle course training, in which case I am not part of the we we are discussing!  Metaphorical pits are just as dangerous to our fitness goals as literal ones.

Not surprisingly, the most common pits are at opposite ends of a spectrum.  When in doubt, choose the middle road.

One end might best be described as the pit of despair.  We can’t do anything right.  We will never achieve our goals.  We pretty much suck at everything we are doing.  Everyone else in the entire universe is better, stronger, faster, more coordinated, and cuter.  Nope.  Not true.  We can always improve.  When we work hard, good things will happen.  True, the first thing that happens may be that we develop some extreme patience, but that is a good thing.  When we fall into the pit of despair, we need to use the Ladder of Doing Something.  Anything we do is better than nothing, because the bottom of the pit is a depressing place to be.  Walk five minutes.  Do one pushup.  Do a forward bend and try to reach your knees (no, not your toes; that’s for a day when you are not in the pit.).

The other end is the pit of comfort.  It’s nice there.  We are nice.  We recognize that we are so nice that we don’t feel like we have to do much of anything.  This pit is sneaky.  We may not even recognize that we are in it because it is so cozy there, doing the same easy exercises over and over again.  The way out of this pit is the Ladder of One More and One Higher.  Do the extra rep.  Add a pound or two or five to the weight.  Try the advanced version of the exercise.

We are both awesome and terrible at the same time.  We can offer solace through effort to our terrible selves and motivation through striving to our awesome selves.

Join me?

I might need some patience in this post because my ideas are sometimes not as coherent as I’d like them to be.  Lately, I feel like it is more important to say something, even if I don’t get it quite right, and correct it later rather than say nothing because it might not be perfect.

We live in a divided and divisive society.  Conflict is everywhere, in families, among friends, even between our own bodies and minds.  Conflict, like stress, is not necessarily bad, unless we deal with it in ways that hurt ourselves or others.  At best, conflict is a challenge that gives us an opportunity for growth.

One of the reasons I love to work in fitness is that I find the strength that builds in our bodies empowers us in other areas of our lives.  When we become more mindful and flexible and strong physically, we also grow mentally and spiritually.  It’s a holistic process (I lived in Berkeley for 20 years, so I am allowed to use the word holistic.).

I also believe that as we grow, we have a responsibility to help others grow, too.  We can choose to connect and to learn together and to build.

End of the manifesto part.  On to the practical.  I may not be able to save the world, but I can open my studio.  On Friday mornings at 7, I will be teaching mat Pilates to anyone who comes.  (Message me if you don’t know where my studio is and all that stuff…)  We can take an hour to be mindful together while moving.

On every weekday morning, I’ll be in the studio meditating between 6 and 7.  Anyone who likes can join me.  I’m not an expert at meditation.  I have no formal training and no certifications.  I may be playing some guided meditation CDs or I may be playing meditative music or I may just be sitting there quietly.  I have some pillows and such for sitting, or bring your own.  I don’t have a lot to offer, but I can offer a space and a time for anyone who would like to share.

Monday workout: Slam and punch

This week’s workout includes two fun pieces of equipment, a medicine ball and a kettle bell.  If anyone happens to have any aggression lying around, this workout will help channel it into something positive:  between the ball slams and the punches, our imaginary demons will end up smashed to smithereens!

Do three rounds.

woodchoppers	30
ball slams	20
rescues	10
kb swings	30
kb twists	20
kb 8s	10
punches	30
squats	20
good mornings	10