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Things that are on my mind,
besides drafting (and drafting) my novel, of course.
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Ditching the All-or-Nothing Mentality
Moving and Eating for Joy
All credit here to my trainer Briana Peterson for gently teaching me the concepts of moving and eating with flexibility and joy.
I used to believe exercise meant getting up at 5 a.m., putting on all the right workout gear, going to the gym, killing myself sweating, then taking a complete shower, and doing full hair and makeup. If I couldn’t do all of those things, it wasn’t exercise. Also, I would skip working out altogether, if I couldn’t meet one of those criteria.
Briana convinced me with a little nudging over the years to give up the all-or-nothing mentality. What if I oversleep, so an afternoon works better for exercise on a certain day? What if I’m in jeans, but I’m out with my dog, and I feel like running for a block? So what? If it feels good (and it won’t cause injury because you’re in flip-flops or something), why not? Run as far as you feel comfortable. Walk. Run some more. Who cares? What’s the worst that could happen? My clothes get a little sweaty (they wash) or someone judges me (no one cares or notices you, really, and so what if they do)? Also, maybe today is just a walking day and a podcast, but tomorrow is running to heavy metal. Let it be whatever you need that day.
Also, I can do my hair and makeup, sweat quite a bit, change clothes and do a little touch up and do almost anything, short of a really formal event. Do I look perfect? Maybe not, but it’s good enough. Maybe that means I take a five-minute rinse-off before I get into bed that night, but that’s fine.
Being flexible is a mindset. I also had to abandon all-or-nothing eating. Starving is not sustainable and overeating doesn't feel good either. Eating slowly, enjoying my food and recognizing when I’m pleasantly full is great and helps me lose weight. It means being mindful and eliminating all distractions when I eat. Do I really have to look at a screen while eating and to what detriment? The negative effect is on my waistline and the “work” I might be getting done is negligible.
Fruits and vegetables make me feel better, along with my vitamins, but a piece of pizza is fine, too, and I really enjoy that pizza, now, when I eat it. I don’t feel deprived because pizza is “off limits,” so I don’t feel the need to eat a bunch of it, because I may not get to eat it again. I’ll eat it again soon enough. In moderation. Drinking water also makes me feel great, as does a few cups of black coffee, but a pot of coffee makes me irritable and maybe a decaf tea will do the trick instead…
It’s easy to say “balance” is the key, but it’s harder to actually do. If you can start asking yourself what’s the worst thing that happens, if you are more flexible and more mindful with eating and moving, and try a few experiments, I think you’ll be happy with the results. It’s certainly made me move and eat with more joy and less stress.