We are winding down the first week of the new year. How are you doing? We have covered food and relationships so onto exercise. Before we start, let me give you a bit of my background. When I was in school, I was NOT anything close to athletic. I could trip over my own feet with nothing in the way. I can’t dance to save my life. When I tried working out, I got shin splints and side cramps… are you getting the picture?? On the flip side, I have loads and loads of energy. So, the challenge was how to expend without killing myself. I give you this information so that you can see we all start from nowhere. Don’t beat yourself down about what you can’t do, work with what you have and what you enjoy to get to where you want to be.
My love hate relationship with exercise started in school and progressed (hate) into my early 20s. I didn’t really find my rhythm until my late 20s. I started blading. I had always loved roller skating and ice skating so this was a natural progression. I would carry my skates when I took the kids to school and then blade back and around the neighborhood. I eventually was blading 7 – 8 miles a night. I also learned martial arts and spent several nights a week sparing.
I LOVE to be outdoors – in nature – breathing fresh air – listening to the earth – communing and rejuvenating. Hiking, kayaking, biking, walking, running… all are my friends these days. But it took time. I am no spring chicken, but I am active. I am determined to stay healthy until my dying day. I refuse to be someone sitting in a chair mumbling to themselves not knowing who I or my family is. Not. Gonna. Happen.
The average life span today is 72.8 years. The last two years it has dropped each year. Why is that? Shouldn’t life expectancy increase with all the “improvements” we have created in the world? The average American that is not regularly active spends the last 10 years of their lives in unhealthy conditions – cancer, chronic illness, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, arthritis, etc. For those that eat right and are active throughout their life, their unhealthy conditions are 1 – 3 years. What do you want your end of life conditions to be?
I know women that are 80 years old that are crippled, that don’t know their own names, that can’t move from arthritis, and I know women of the same age that compete in body building events, that dance like a teenager, or still create. Which do you want to be?
Wow.. long soap box today. Sorry all! I am trying to make a point. We all need a nudge sometimes and this is yours. You can choose to start, or you can choose to remain where you are. If you are ready to start, read on. If not, I wish you well and you likely will want to move on.
Where to start? Find things you like to do. It is no more difficult than that. If you love to read – download audible on your phone, find some books you want to read and listen while you are doing something. Don’t let your inactive likes stop you! If you don’t know what you like to do, experiment. Have you tried yoga? Pilates? Belly Dancing? Line Dancing? Zumba? Rock climbing? New things are fun to try. You may not find you like any of them – but you checked them out and know that now.
Step two. Start slow. I really hate the exercise community in general terms. You see all these perfect people and think, “How the hell can I do that? I don’t look like them.” And then you dismiss it and think you can’t rather than – you can. You can’t start at the top. Start where you are. You will have some bad starts – you do too much or too often at first and suffer the pain afterwards. First rule, never exercise until it hurts. You WILL hurt 2 – 3 days later but you should not hurt while you are working out. Don’t push yourself too hard. If you can’t do all the poses or whatever you are trying to do, do what you can. It will come.
Step three. Don’t get lazy. Don’t stop pushing yourself to do more – GENTLY. If you are determined to do a 4-minute plank, don’t stop at 30 seconds. Do 31, and then 32. Eventually, you will get there. You choose your goals. You decide your speed. But never stop. You will have days where you don’t want to do a darn thing. We all do. Maybe your body needs a rest. Maybe you are getting sick. That is fine. Take your day off. Just don’t continue it. It is much harder to start back up once you have decided it is too hard. Sometimes you just need to back off a bit. Maybe you took too big of a step forward. Give yourself a break. Grace!! Love yourself enough to listen to your body and be kind.
Step four. At some point, you will want to explore other things. Find someone in your tribe that wants to be adventurous and try something new with you. It is a great way to expand your good relationships.
Take charge of your life today. Work towards getting more flexible and more active! You will be happy you did so.
Blessings – E