Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

It’s that time of year that we’re all emerging from our winter hibernation and beginning our outdoor workouts again.  It’s also that time when we’re finding out just how much progress we’ve lost if we’ve been less active during the winter.

I just completed my third outdoor workout in eight days.  Last Saturday I biked 17 miles on a hilly trail, realizing I had tackled a bit much for my first ride of the year.  Monday I returned to Blue Mountain for a few hours of skiing, complete with some hard falls on some challenges I wasn’t quite ready for.  Today I rode my Trikke almost 7 miles in 37 degree weather, and felt about as fatigued as I did after my epic 21 mile ride last fall.

When you’re out of shape, exercise doesn’t make you feel energized and happy like the experts say it should.  I struggled with my first rides last year, often wanting to throw in the towel, but I overcame it in about two months.  I’m thankful I persevered and got over that hurdle, instead of retreating back to my couch like I did so many other years.  I have to stay focused on that, and I have to keep telling myself I’ll get over that hurdle much quicker this year.

But the reality is, despite my best efforts with my indoor kettlebell workouts, I have lost a lot of ground since last fall.  And for now, exercise isn’t a whole lot of fun.  I had expected to enjoy the biking, Trikking, and skiing this week, but I’ll be honest when I say it was more of a chore.

So how do you push yourself through these rough patches?  How do you get yourself to keep going when your lungs are gasping for air and your legs are turning into useless stalks of rubber?  I stumbled on this helpful article over breakfast this morning, and its advice helped me through my Trikke ride this afternoon:

How to Stay Mentally Tough During a Workout

Everyone is apt to like some of the ideas better than others, but for me the most poignant advice is that we have to “get comfortable being uncomfortable.”  When my muscles start to hurt, my heart starts to race, and I find myself dripping with sweat, my gut reaction is, “STOP!!”  When you haven’t worked out in a while, this can feel like a decidedly unnatural state.  But it’s important to accept that this is the price of progress, and that you just have to deal with it.  It’s temporary.  It will pass.  And you’ll come out a lot stronger for getting through it.

I had gotten better at accepting this last year, and even embraced some of the times I got my heart racing because I knew that meant I was making progress.  But this year, my body is back to crying uncle every time it faces the slightest challenge.  So I will keep this advice at the forefront of my mind, along with the memories of how strong and capable I felt last summer.  I will power through these first tough workouts of the year, and I’ll bet in another month or two I’ll be back here telling you all how energizing a good Trikke ride can be.

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But I Can’t Do It!!

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season.  The time has come for my obligatory New Year’s Resolution post.  I have to confess that I normally don’t set resolutions, but if I’m seeking to inspire others with my writing, then I feel it’s the right thing to do.  I also feel that after a wildly successful 2012, I owe it to myself to stay on track with my health and fitness goals.

I had a quiet evening at home last night, still recovering from my head cold.  I spent some time reflecting upon 2012 and journaling about my successes.  Once that was done, my thoughts inevitably turned towards 2013.  That’s when the stat-junkie and project manager in my head began to run amok, crafting all kinds of lofty goals for me to achieve.  “How many miles would I Trikke?  Bike?  How many Kettlebell workouts would I do?  How often would I walk?  How far?  How fast?”

“ENOUGH!!” shouted the voice of reason.  “You’ve got to keep it simple or you’ll be overwhelmed and discouraged.”

So I back-pedaled, dug to the core of my ambitions, and came up with just three simple resolutions:

1. Exercise a minimum of three times a week
2. Count calories and stick with my high-protein diet
3. Have fun and be Kid-Like

Why these three?  Because if I do these specific things, I will achieve my more elusive goals of losing weight, having more energy, and being happier.  For the sake of clarity, here is how I will achieve each of these goals.

Each exercise session will be one of the following:

• Trikke 1 hour minimum (approximately 7 miles)
• Bike 1 hour minimum (approximately 11 miles)
• Walk 1 hour minimum (approximately 3.5)
• Kettlebell workout (25 minutes including warm-up and cool-down)

The stat-junkie in me will track and report my progress as always, but allowing myself this flexibility can better accommodate the unpredictability of the weather and my otherwise jam-packed schedule.  It also allows me the freedom to do what excites me most on that day.

I had previously used the free Lose-It! app (http://www.loseit.com/) for counting calories with great success.  A few months ago, I simply got lazy and stopped inputting my data.  It was little coincidence that my weight loss plateaued around the same time, and I’ve gradually let junk food creep back into my diet.  So today I’m going to recommit to using this app.  I’m going to set it to guide me towards losing one pound a week.  That is a very achievable goal, and if I lose 52 pounds this year, I will be very close to my ideal weight.  For reference, I lost about 40 pounds last year, but didn’t start working on that until late February.

My final resolution of having fun and being kid-like is aimed at restoring some happiness and balance to my life.  I may have achieved a lot in 2012, but it came at the cost of becoming a borderline workaholic who feels guilty about doing anything that doesn’t have the word “work” in it . . . work, school work, house work, yard work, workout . . . can you see the problem here?!  Over the holidays, I rediscovered the joy of my sedentary hobbies.  For better or worse, they have always brought me joy and helped me to relax.  Yet in 2012, I struggled with the guilt of knowing they had led me to become an overweight and out of shape sloth.  So I avoided them completely, despite the emptiness that left in my heart.  For 2013, I am giving myself permission to enjoy these things in moderation, maintaining a balanced approach to the other aspects of my life.

To tie up one final loose end, last week I had set a goal of doing a 6-week kettlebell workout program.  My plan was derailed after just one workout due to catching a bad cold.  I had said I would publish my new schedule for it, but in light of my new resolutions I’m not going to.  Why?  To allow myself the flexibility to pick an outdoor exercise should mother-nature gift the Lehigh Valley with some pleasant winter weather.  Odds are that most of my upcoming exercise sessions will have to be indoors, thus meeting the original kettlebell goal anyway, but I’d rather stay flexible should a Trikke-able day present itself.

I intend to hold myself accountable to my resolutions by posting about them weekly.  I think most of us have grown cynical of resolutions, because the vast majority of them are abandoned within weeks.  So every Monday evening, I will share my progress here.  Why Monday evening?  Simply because my “weekend” is Saturday through Monday, and that’s when I have the most time to exercise and write.  Just knowing I have to keep this public should keep me on course.  More so, I hope by sticking with my resolutions I can prove that it can be done, and can inspire you to stick with yours too.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?  And how do you plan to stick with them?  We’re all in this together, so let us all know your plans so we can encourage each other.  And by all means, please hold my feet to the fire should I fail to do what I’ve said I would.

Here’s to wishing you a safe, successful, and prosperous 2013, no matter what your resolutions are!!

Related Articles:

A Year of Progress

My Winter Workout Land

Calling Out Sick

Have Fun and be Kid-Like

Have Fun and be Kid-Like

Waiting for better weather to ride my pride and joy so . . .

Many of us have fallen into lives of all work and no play.  Between a full-time job, part-time classes, a long commute, and a home to care for, I know I’m guilty as charged.  It’s part of why I love my Trikke so much.  It gives me my “must do” workouts, while being fun and feeling like a kid a heart.

But admit it, don’t you sometimes feel guilty for letting yourself feeling like a kid?  You enjoy playing, but there’s something deep inside you that says that it’s time to “grow up” and “be responsible.”  I’ve come to loathe that inner voice, and while I know that it’s healthy to kick back and have fun, I’ve often had difficulty banishing those disparaging thoughts.  That demon inside tells me I don’t have time for fun; I must work harder if I want to be successful.

At our company Christmas party last month, our soon-to-be-retiring CEO gave an inspiring speech, part of which included qualities he felt we should all have.  In amongst the usual bits about working hard and being a part of a team, were two qualities that more of us should embrace:

• “Have fun.”
• “Be kid-like.”

As the words came out of his mouth, they struck right at the heart of my inner demon and laid him to rest.  Here was the ultra-successful CEO of a company that has achieved double-digit growth through the Great Recession and become an iconic mid-Atlantic chain, telling us that it was not only okay, but actually essential to enjoy ourselves and let our inner child see the light of day.  If he can be successful with that philosophy, then heck, so can I!!

I’m one of the lucky few who work for a company that embraces such values, and I really took his words to heart.  We all talk about work-life balance, but few of us actually achieve it.  I’m terrible at letting myself become overloaded in the work department, but I intend to keep his words close to my heart as I learn to feel less guilt for letting myself indulge in my childish pleasures more often.  This will be on my list of resolutions for 2013 for sure.

I need to make that mental shift because as I’ve embraced becoming fit in 2012, I’ve unfortunately started to feel guilt towards my sedentary hobbies which were responsible for getting me so out of shape in the first place.  I’ve sort of come to feel that riding my Trikke is the only fun that I’m “allowed to have now.”

I got out early from work yesterday, and I’m off for the Christmas holiday today.  As much as the house needed cleaning, I decided that I deserved to have a break and a happy holiday too.  I won’t stray too far down the path of talking about how tough Christmas can be for us single-folks, but let’s just say this year I’m really determined to beat the blues that usually accompany my holidays.  So I let myself be kid-like for a few hours, and pulled out some toys I bought a while back.

As a kid, I was always enthralled with the “lots of assembly required" types of gifts, and this is something I have never outgrown.  The happiest sound on Christmas morning for me was the distinctive rattle of a box of Legos.  Last night, I lost myself for a blissful few hours assembling a Lego replica of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water.

Then this morning I put together a small photo-etched replica of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I am a fan of architecture and construction, so I really enjoyed these projects and felt like I’d come close to replicating the joys of past Christmases.  More importantly, I’m making progress towards realizing it’s still okay to enjoy my sedentary hobbies.  After all, it’s these hobbies that bring most of the happiness into my life.

Like everything, it’s all about balance and moderation.  So go ahead, and let yourself be a kid again this Christmas.  Play with some toys, draw a picture, play a game, ride your Trikke, or do whatever makes you feel joyful and alive again!!

I’d like to take this time to wish all my readers a safe and happy holiday season.  You have enriched my life by being part of it, and I look forward to more of the same in 2013!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post.  I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Don’t be SAD

It’s that time of year again, the time when the days are getting shorter and colder, and we turn our attention to indoor activities.  Although I enjoy the relief of the cooler temperatures, every winter I struggle with my sagging mood and wilting energy levels.  Winter is officially almost two months away, but I am already slipping into the doldrums this year.

Perhaps it’s because the past few weeks have been overcast and rainy.  Perhaps it’s because my long workdays have me leaving the house when it’s dark, and arriving home to more of the same.  Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m only getting a day or two of outdoor exercise each week instead of the three or four I had become accustomed to.  Or perhaps it’s this “Frankenstorm” of Hurricane Sandy pummeling the east coast that makes me want to pull the pillow over my head and go into a prolonged hibernation.

Actually, it’s all of those things and then some that add up to what is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as the Winter Blues.  The malaise I experience each winter is unfortunately common here in the Northeast, but knowing I’m in good company does little to stop its debilitating effects.

Take last winter for example.  Going into it, I was about 90 pounds overweight, and hadn’t done anything that resembled exercise in close to four years.  I was also coming off a positive, but stressful year that involved a job change as well as a return to college.  I couldn’t wait for the winter break to get in some much-needed relaxation, and also to write the short story I had been planning for several months.  I had also hoped to catch up on my reading, and to tackle a stack of video games that had been tempting me all year.

In the six weeks I was off from school, I got some reading done, but I never touched the video games.  To this day, the short story remains just a figment of my imagination.  So what did I do?  I slept . . . A LOT.  And I ate . . . A LOT.  I did need to catch up on my sleep, but the winter blues had me sleeping an excessive 12-14 hours a day.

To my credit, I did start walking along the river trail about 3 times a week from early December on.  They say exercise is one of the best ways to boost your mood at any time of the year, but I was so out-of-shape that it left me feeling worse than when I started.  There was also the further despair that came with the mental thrashing I gave myself for letting my body reach such a loathsome state.

When my next class started in January, I was feeling very angry at myself for wasting my six weeks off.  I kept exercising, but it took another two months before I got over the hurdle and actually began to feel energized by it.

To help myself brace for the onset of SAD this year, I have located some good resources that offer up advice on overcoming the winter blues.  There’s a good chance that you or someone you love is suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I wanted to share them with you as well.  Please use these resources to help yourself or them through this tough time, and know that the longer days of spring will be here before we know it.

http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/beating-winters-woes

http://simplemom.net/3-ways-to-naturally-beat-the-winter-blues/

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-beat-winter-blues-exercise-7597306.html?cat=50

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34509511/ns/health-mental_health/t/lighten-how-beat-back-winter-blues/#.UI3K7sXXaqI

Despite my current sinking mood, I have vowed to myself that this year will be different.  I have reaped the rewards of a better diet and frequent exercise, so I am going into this winter more prepared physically.  I am going to invest in some winter exercise gear so that I can Trikke, bike or walk as long as the trails are dry and free of ice.  I also need to find and commit to an indoor exercise regime that will keep me going through the bad weather.  I still have my kettlebells, although I regretfully haven’t used them in over a month.  I might get back into these, or I might look into some other options instead.

I plan to further investigate the light therapy and air ionizers that have been talked about in the above articles.  I also need to pick out an enjoyable winter project that will motivate me to get out of bed and moving each day.  Writing this blog will help, but I think reconnecting with some of my other hobbies would serve me well too.  Or maybe I’ll finally write that short story . . .