| Can you truly accept yourself? Fully accept yourself? Just as you, today, in this moment, whatever it brings? So many of us answer a big fat Loud NO. We have all sorts of reasons we aren’t good enough and plenty of ways we could be acceptable … If we’d just ____________ (Get it together). Today lets focus on what we are doing well.
In what area of your life are you proud of yourself? Really proud of yourself, not in service of your children, parents, employer, or anyone else. Where are you really proud of you, your actions, behaviors, commitment, follow though, etc.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why do you love this part of you? What’s so good about it?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How does it make you great?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is a small change you can make right now, today to be a little better at this? Keep in mind sustainable change in lifestyle habits happens in small (think 10%) increments. Must be realistic within your time frame, make it specific, and measurable. This is the SMART goal principle developed by George Doran (1981). You are better off stating “I’ll eat 2 more servings of vegetables today. One at breakfast and one at dinner” rather than “I will eat more healthy today”.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Next what are you going to do to make this change happen? Here we are looking for a change in behavior. What will you do differently?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How was that exercise? Easy? Difficult? Were you able to find something you love about yourself? If not, I wonder why not. I may not know you and yet, I do know if you found nothing to be proud of it’s bullshit and old learning. I have seen the under belly of human experience and still find treasures there. It doesn’t have to a huge thing. We are looking for the big AND the small things. For example I was really proud of the way I used a new skill of asking questions this morning while I was talking to my husband. This mattered to me because it helped me be more effective in my communication and if I can use this skill in one more conversation today (2) and add 10% more tomorrow (2.2 conversations) soon I will be having effective communication in more than half my conversations, and then most of them before you know it. With each interaction I will feel a little more mastery (the key to building self-esteem) and pride. As I build those I begin to approve of myself more and more, leading to more and more positive change in my life. So I’ll ask you again …
What’s one thing about you, you can be proud of?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Follow the above prompts now that you’ve found your thing. If you are still stuck … Maybe that one thing to be proud of is that you don’t give up on this exercise. ?
Know that getting stuck isn’t the problem. We all get stuck. It’s staying stuck that is. The way out of the muck is to shift your thinking. It isn’t easy if you’ve been caught In a negative rut, to turn toward the positive, drop your judgment of yourself and others, and stop listening to the negative vibes of others. Commit to yourself and work on remaining in a positive frame of thought for 10% more of your day today.
If some of these words are too strong for you right now change them to make sense for you. I challenge you to consider why not use these words?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Does whatever holds you back from using them need to be released?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Is it an old belief or message you can drop?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What would happen if you did embrace words like love, great, good enough for yourself as descriptors?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
|
Tag: time management
Fitness on Your Vacation
How do you stay fit on vacation? Strict plans or throw it all out the window? Here’s ideas when far away or nearby spots are calling.
When most of us think of vacation we think about throwing routine out
the window. This is important work. We need to break from routine to begin the process of letting go and rejuvenating. It is also important to have some form of structure in out day, even if minimal. If you are reading this blog I assume you find physical activity to be important in your daily life, even if you don’t know how to make that a regular occurrence. So here’s a guideline to help find exercise balance on your vacation.
First, it’s important to consider your long term goals. Are you currently training to lose weight, gain muscle, compete in an event? If you are scaling back a regular workout using alternative options, such as a shorter run or different terrain may be all that’s needed. If your goals are more around lifestyle and health you may want to consider how sleep, food, and social activities will contribute to your health on vacation.
Second, do a little research. Does your location have a fitness center, classes, a pool, a safe place to run/walk in the area. Many hotels can provide you with a running/walking loop nearby, just ask. Then consider how the options available stack up to your goals. I’ve been in many a hotel fitness center that offered me two cardio options and a lot of cable channels. I have found that having a couple of good fitness apps helps. I like Nike Training Club for easy on the go workouts I don’t have to think about putting together and can use body weight and speed to complete. I also enjoy Nike’s running app to help me track distance, time, and intensity for those places that do not have a pre-outlined route for me to follow.
If you are heading somewhere outside or more primitive consider the lay of the land. Will you be able to paddle, swim, climb, run on sand, hike mountains, work harder just to live outside? These activities all count, however it may feel different to use daily activities as your workouts and you may need to do some pre-trip training to be ready for the physical challenges all day activities may require.
Third, decide on a plan AND it’s ok if you don’t follow it to a T. On a recent trip to the coast of Mexico I created this plan to balance out my all day reading in the sunshine and evenings lounging with friends and family:
Friday – day we left, ran before work since I knew I’d be in the car for a long time.
Sat – off, traveling and relaxing.
Sunday – Beach run – a great way to see the locale and get a feel for the place I was planning to spend most of my time. Ocean swimming and SUP time – leisurely. Building activities into your daily thought process, even if you don’t know when you are going to do them is a great way to stay active on vacation.
Monday – Strength training – in my condo. Using items like door-frames (pull ups/lat work) and a full gallon jug of water (approx 9lbs) I was able to mimic my regular strength set. Adding in balance (1 foot, Russian lunges, bear crawls, and super slow sets) allows for functional training that challenges the core and exhausts muscle without heavier weights/overload. Adding in plyometrics (speed) allows for explosive movement that will also exhausts a muscle under less overload, plus adds a cardio element if you are looking for a quicker way to your goal.
Tues – active rest day – day on the open water fishing excursion. Did some swimming and snorkeling. Not to mention the functional training of standing upright on a rocking boat.
Wed – Yoga – These sessions are gems. I love looking for and finding a local yoga class. It’s always fun to check out a new studio and hope I get enough of the language to figure out what poses come next. Whether I do or not, the end result is still bliss. Plus this balances out my sitting (aka as reading whole novels) and over use of movement patterns like paddling, climbing, hiking if those are a main part of my trip.
Thurs – Strength training – see above. Plus adding in the family activity of playing in the sand, paddling SUPs, and swimming in the surf.
Friday – Beach run – as the vacation comes to a close this allows me to say goodbye and observe from a new set of eyes, not beginner excited ones, but the ones who’ve been looking and are ready to see what’s below the surface. A great skill in life, too.
Sat – off / 1st travel day – if possible on the first leg of the trip, I may attempt to get a short run, yoga session, or paddle in depending on departure time. This allows balance to the sitting of a long drive.
Sun – active rest as I unpack all my memories and practical items like laundry followed by rest night and vacation integration.
Enjoy!
Fitness Apps Keep You on Track
Here’s some apps from Huffington Post to help you track and stay motivated. I just heard a radio spot talking about the success rates of using apps to reach fitness goals. The odds are increased and success rates climb when people are using something to track- apps add another element to tracking – they are in real time, showing calorie breakdowns, exercise benefits, and lots of color to keep your eyeballs happy. Plus many of us keep a phone with us most of the time so our tracking tool is at our fingertips no matter where we are.
One I love that’s not on the list is livestrong.com‘s daily plate. Here’s the list from Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/slideshow/2365811/271246/?icid=hp_healthy-living_gallery
Is your 2014 health goal outside the fitness realm? Adding exercise into your daily routine, increases energy, helps you sleep better, and often leads to more healthy eating. I just read a research article that discussed how exercise cuts cravings for alcohol and makes quitting smoking easier.
Planning for Fitness Success
This week’s idea for healthy living = PLANNING
It’s Fall, back to school, and illness season. So planning will be key. If you haven’t paid things forward it will matter that you determine your strategy to get through the season and how to maintain workouts if you get ill. How will you adjust your schedule for busy days or days/weeks you feel like crap. Falling completely off the wagon doesn’t seem to be the best option because most have trouble getting back on – Damn horse ran fast after I fell off – SO … here are some tips for planning balance in your life.
1) Determine what you can do – maybe you usually workout an hour but the first week of school or during a big project it might be 30min a day or 2 15min segments. Maybe find activities that you can include for calorie burn like parking and walking or picking events with friends that include activities to participate in.
2) Pay attention to food – if you aren’t working out as much or hard you may need to cut back on calories – often easier when sick than during a busy time. So just notice and maybe choose the salad and lean chicken, smaller portions, or eating less snacks throughout the day – don’t go too long between meals or you’ll tank your blood surgar.
3) Know this is how healthy living works – life happens, we get sick, go on vacation, have a whole town party for a week where we dress up. Give yourself a break and keep postive. This is the stuff that makes life worth living and if you can strike the balance between healthy eating, working-out, and living you are doing it. Your horse won’t take off with your wagon – you’ll have no trouble living the fitness lifesytle if you have put some effort into planning for life.
Harvesting Your Fitness Garden
Over the summer we’ve been using the metaphor of a garden to represent your fitness and health goals. In June we looked at how you “planted” the seeds of success, in August how you “weeded”, and now it’s time to harvest.
We reap what we sow. If I want a healthy life then I have to do something to get it. Too often I run into clients who tell me how much they want to be fit yet are not willing to make exercise and healthy eating a priority. They continue with the same ole same ole expecting it to be different. They spend a bunch of money buying the latest gear and don’t use it. They exercise sporadically or eat well some of the time but can’t seem to get it together enough to make a dent in their goals. Then they give up and blame age, location, work, family, friends, the weather … you get the picture.
If you decided to plant a fitness garden this summer it is time to harvest. Now is the time to take stock of how well you did, reward your efforts, and make plans for the next phase of your garden. According to my Aunt and Uncle (excellent gardeners) the work you do in the fall (after the harvest) is just as important as the spring (during planting). Here are some things to consider as you “harvest” your fitness garden.
First, how did you do? Did you reach your goals? Did you get close? Do you feel you gave it your best effort? Where could you have done better? This is a time to honestly, without judgment, evaluate your work. What worked for you and what didn’t?
Second, it’s time to take the answer from #1 to determine what you want to do differently. Did you do ok on certain days but struggle with your schedule on others? Did you get your diet right except for weekends? Did you find you could maintain with some friends and not others? Then determine what you will do differently to meet your goals.
Third, determine what you new goals are. Have you decided your original goal wasn’t what you really wanted? Have you decided to participate in an event, like a 5k or long kayak weekend? Is there a new sport or class you’d like to try? Write it down, find a buddy, get the gear you need, and get started with a new dose of motivation.
Once you have an idea of what worked, what didn’t, where you were successful, and what you’d like to change for the next round, it’s time for rewards! What did you decide you’d get if you made your goal? At what levels were you willing to reward yourself? Did you offer yourself a consolation for efforts that didn’t quite reach where you want to be? Allow yourself to savor and honor your efforts. You worked hard. In life it doesn’t always go well and isn’t always easy. It is your ability to make it through the ups and downs that determines success.
Enjoy the journey!