I’ve had a few “Thank goodness I work out” moments this week. From digging holes and planting shrubbery, to moving large planters around on the porch, to having to carry my 35-pound dog part of the way home from a walk—I’ve appreciated my strength and stamina. While studies show that exercise plays an important role in promoting sound physical and mental health, more practically, it also adds to quality of life. From easily carrying in the groceries to dancing for the sheer joy of it, being physically fit allows you to do and be more of Who you want to be. Ironically, this isn’t one of the many benefits of exercise that is often cited. Too often we focus on the external reasons to exercise—weight loss or maintenance, a healthier heart, reduced risk of high blood pressure, stronger bones and joints, a stronger immune system, etc. Those reasons are awesome, but alone they may not be enough to get you out of bed to go move your body. But what about having the energy or stamina to play with your kids or grand-kids? Getting out and enjoying a hike with your family? Taking on a do-it-yourself project around the house? Or doing anything else you might want to do, like going horseback riding, zip-lining, or canoeing? All of those activities are easier, safer, and more fun if you consistently move your body. Even small things make a difference to quality of life, for instance being able to easily carry a box to the attic or basement, hauling the laundry basket, or climbing several flights of stairs. Life is easier—and just more fun—when you have a strong and powerful body that you’ve developed through regular exercise. […]
What Do You Really Want?
The hardest part of a workout sometimes is actually getting started. This morning was one of those times for me. First the bed was nice and warm and I had not one, but two cats snuggled up next to me. And once I was up, the idea of sitting down to a nice cup of tea and Pinterest was appealing. While in the moment, staying in bed and playing on the computer were what I “wanted” to do, I have a bigger “want” that got me upstairs and working out. That want is to have a strong, lean, and powerful body that is functioning optimally and fully allows me to express my authentic best. If I had followed the immediate “want” of bed and/or gazing at beautiful pictures, the resulting good feeling would have been pretty short-lived. Guilt and self-criticism would have inevitably followed. A lot of my energy for the day would have been wasted on feeling bad about myself, and struggling to figure out when I might get my workout in—and possibly even more self-criticism if I wasn’t able to find a time to do it. That’s energy that I could use for more things that I “want” to do and that will make me feel good throughout my day. Doing what you “want” to do and what feels good then becomes a matter of looking at the bigger picture and what will have the biggest anabolic energetic return, or return on investment, if you will. This is the reason figuring out “why” you want to eat healthy foods and move your body is so important. Having a bigger “want” that trumps the momentary immediate “want” is what will get you to the […]
Make the First Move to Change Your Body
How’s your relationship with your body? When you think of your body, do you feel supported, empowered, and nourished? Or do you feel betrayed, let down, or frustrated? How would your body describe its relationship with you? Would it feel appreciated, loved, respected, and well-cared-for, or would it feel neglected, abused, and unwanted? When you look at your body, does it physically reflect the status of your relationship? Because what you have going with your body is a relationship in every sense of the word. Your relationship with your body is the longest—and most important—of your life. There is no reconciling from that divorce! Many people have a negative catabolic relationship with their body. At best, they ignore it and at worst they are constantly critical, neglectful, and downright abusive in how they treat it. How long would a person stay healthy in a relationship like that? Is it any wonder it begins showing up overweight, aching, and breaking down with illness? Who do you think started that catabolic relationship—you or your body? Unless you were born with a condition, chances are you hurled the first insult—whether a verbal assault, or less than nourishing food, or lack-of or too-extreme movement. The good news is you have the power to create a better relationship. In fact, you have total control over the quality and type of relationship you have. It can be wonderful, loving, supportive, and fun—or not—all depending on what you do consistently from this moment forward. But it is you that must first change for your body to show up differently. Regardless of the physical condition you’re in, you have to decide you want to reconcile, and examine your reasons why you want to […]
Do You Need That to Be Healthful?
nour•ish ˈnər-ish, ˈnə-rish verb nour•ish•es; nour•ished; nour•ish•ing [+ obj] 1 : to provide (someone or something) with food and other things that are needed to live, be healthy, etc. ▪ Plants are nourished [=fed] by rain and soil. ▪ Vitamins are added to the shampoo to nourish the hair. ▪ a well-nourished baby 2 : to cause (something) to develop or grow stronger ▪ a friendship nourished by trust ▪ Her parents nourished [=supported] her musical talent. Merriam-Webster Dictionary How well-nourished are you? I’m not just asking about your diet, but am including your mind, emotions, and soul. For many, nourishment may not be something they think about at all. For some, nutrition is what comes to mind. There are few of us who can claim to be well-nourished in all areas of our lives. But if you think about the difference nourishing food can make to your body, just imagine what would happen if you also consciously nourished your mind with information, ideas, and even entertainment that enhanced your knowledge, awareness, and clarity? Imagine nourishing relationships that are easy, loving, satisfying, and fun? Imagine nourishing spiritual practices that lead to richer, fuller, and more fulfilling life experiences? Imagine nourishing activities (such as work!) that are fun, interesting, and exciting? What did you do yesterday? How much of that nourished you—body, mind, and spirit? How much of it drained or depleted you? What are you doing today? How much of what you have on your to-do list is nourishing? What do your choices mean for the overall quality of your life? What choices would you need to make to be truly well-nourished? Together we can do it! Photo by Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
My Secret to Extreme Exercise Commitment
I had lots of excuses I could have used to skip my workout this morning. My folks are in town and our guest-suite encompasses my usual workout area. We have a full schedule with more family visits planned. I have stayed up past my usual bedtime most of this week, and there is work to get done before I can fully relax and enjoy the weekend. But I was committed and I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and did a 30 minute meditation before getting up at 4 to get my hour-and-a-half workout underway by 4:30 a.m. My guess is that many of you think that is just plain crazy. So I asked myself, “Why am I so committed to getting my workout in?” There are definitely things that contribute—I’ve set a physical and time-focused goal that I want to meet, I want to be an authentic example of striving for optimal wellness for all you fabulous readers and my clients, and in all honesty, I want to maintain and improve how I look. But the true reason that makes my eyes flutter open at 3:30 a.m. without the aid of an alarm clock and gets my bum out of a very warm and appealing bed is the anabolic physical energy I get from moving my body, which impacts every single area of my life. Feeling physically well has not been something I’ve been able to take for granted since I was about 10 or 11 years old. I was a sickly and sensitive kid that suffered from food allergies, and later chronic back problems and migraines. Truly this was a gift in disguise as it forced me beginning in my early 20s to begin […]
Keeping Yourself on Track When You Have Been Less Than Perfect
My eating has been less than perfect this week. It hasn’t been horrible, but it hasn’t been spot on, either. What I love reflecting on is that in the fairly recent past, not being perfect would have meant giving up altogether. My thinking would have been along the lines of, “I’ve blown it,” followed by a lot of really harsh self-criticism that would have resulted in regaining the weight I had just lost. That old negative, catabolic assault on my mind, body, and spirit felt terrible! It truly was verbal abuse inflicted on myself. I’m so glad I don’t do that anymore! But this morning, I became aware of a slight undercurrent of catabolic thoughts and feelings (guilt) resulting from a few higher calorie food choices. Since I am aware of it, I’m going to address it right here and right now. The main thing I want to remind myself is that optimal wellness is about taking care of me for the long-run. While I have set some goals for an 18-week transformation challenge, my wellness goals will not end there. I do not have to be perfect to meet my short and long-term goals. What matters most is that I am making progress, and I am definitely doing that. Yesterday is done. Forget about it. Focus on the choices I am making today. Yes, this weekend will be challenging being with my folks, traveling, and it being my husband’s birthday, but I have the skills and determination to make the best possible choices—and still allow myself to have a good time and truly appreciate what I am eating. As Tony Horton says, “I will do my best and forget the rest.” And I am […]
Are You Getting Adequate Rest?
Do you ever feel so tired you have to force yourself to stay awake? Do small problems sometimes elicit big emotional reactions? Do you get things done through sheer willpower even though you’re exhausted? You may not be getting adequate rest. I certainly saw a huge leap in my ability to react appropriately, get things done, achieve physical goals, and see situations more clearly when I made getting adequate rest a priority and worked my life around that. And I see those things deteriorate if I don’t consistently follow my self-prescribed guidelines for getting enough sleep. What I also noticed, however, was that getting tied to a specific number of hours of sleep or type of rest created limiting beliefs about what I could and could not do. If I didn’t get that magic number of hours of sleep one night, I would expect to feel bad and struggle the next day. And so I would. But did it have to be that way? One day I asked myself if getting that certain number of hours of sleep every night was a Universal Truth, meaning it is True no matter who, no matter what? I recognized that it wasn’t. I could actually point to several high-functioning people who consistently got less sleep and did just fine. This meant that a certain number of hours was then generally true for me. Those magic hours were still the goal I wanted to shoot for, but that if for some reason I didn’t get those hours it didn’t automatically mean that my day would be an energetic struggle. In other words, I could occasionally get less sleep and still have a great day. So I began changing my […]
3 Benefits of Exercise You Might Have Forgotten About
While I am at an all-day training today, I thought I would share this great blog on the benefits of exercise. Posted on April 28, 2012 by catherinecaressa Exercise is good for us and we all know it. However, sometimes knowing is not enough to actually get us up off our feet! Here are 3 benefits of exercise that might provide a bit more motivation to get moving. 1. It boosts your energy: When we’re tired, the last thing we want to do is work out. Sometimes going to the gym seems like a chore and we often find ourselves making excuses to avoid going. What I always tell myself when I’m in that state is, “Catherine, remember how good you will feel after!” I don’t think I’ve ever exercised and felt bad afterwards. Sure, I may have felt sore after a work out, but that shows me I’m being productive and makes me feel good. Studies suggest that exercise fights fatigue, so even if it is just hopping on the bike for 20 minutes or going for a 30 minute walk, exercise can give you that extra boost you need to go about your day! You’ll feel re-energized, refocused, and in a better mood, like this girl: 2. It makes you smarter: This Canadian study found that women ages 70-80 with mild cognitive impairment improved their attention, problem-solving, and decision making brain functions by doing resistance training twice a week. Moreover, another study showed that adults ages 55-80 who completed 40 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 times a week increased the size of their hippocampus, the area of the brain involved in memory forming and spacial reasoning. You’re not just working your […]
Are You Having Fun?
For years, I was a semi-closeted dance walker and runner. Under the cover of pre-dawn darkness, I would feel so darn good during a workout that I would spontaneously burst into dance. Granted, I use the term “dance” loosely as it was really more lurching, lunging, hopping, and jumping my way down the road to the beat of a particularly bouncy song. But I felt the music in me and I just had to move. I publicly outed myself as a dance walker in an August 17, 2010, blog on transformation.com. But even at the peak of my dance-walking joy I would instantly resume a more traditional gait at the first sign of another human being because of the fear of judgment. While I was “caught” a number of times, the only person I felt comfortable enough to dance walk in front of was my husband, and even he let me know he thought it was a little weird. The thing is, any time we inhibit our joy, we are also decreasing our wellness and well-being. Think about this from an energetic standpoint. Positive emotions generate constructive anabolic energy that literally builds our bodies at the cellular level. And joy pretty much vibrates at the top levels of anabolic energy. If left alone, the natural anabolic state of our cells is optimal wellness. But when we introduce catabolic energy to our bodies through stress and negative thoughts and emotions, this begins a destructive process that is cumulative over time. The fear of what others may think is about as catabolic as it gets. So I absolutely loved it yesterday when a friend posted the link to Ben Aaron’s piece on dance walking. You can bet […]
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