• The Recovering Pessimist | My Favorite Ways to Move My Body | www.therecoveringpessimist.me | #amwriting #recoveringpessimist #optimisticpessimist
    My Faves

    My Favorite Ways to Move My Body

    Exercising is one of those things that I know I should be doing, but I’m not consistent enough to make it a habit.  The first thing I needed to change was my mental approach. Instead of calling it exercise, I’m calling it moving my body. It may not seem like it matters, but I’ve realized that physical changes don’t happen if my mental isn’t aligned.

    Second thing I did was discover fun ways for me to move my body often. Here’s what’s working for me so far:

    Up to the BEat (YouTube)

    Gina B’s walking videos are so much fun to move to. She’s energetic and encouraging. Her workouts are organized into playlists on her channel, making it easy to explore.

    FitOn

    FitOn can be accessed as an app (Google Play, App Store), or their website via the free or paid versions. I use the free version, which is really good. FitOn has a vast variety of workouts (e.g., HIIT, yoga, no equipment, cardio, pilates, etc.) that can be filtered by time, intensity, trainer, etc. The FitOn trainers are personable, which is very motivating.

    Dancing

    On days when I want to move in a less-structured way, I dance. I play some high-energy music and start moving. I usually dance for 15-30 minutes and work up quite a sweat. It also feels good after a long day of work.

    That’s how I’m moving my body these days. What are your favorite ways to move your body?

    Until next time,

    Joy

  • Back to Center

    Back to Center

    From April-July of 2011 I dealt with high blood pressure as a result of  bad eating habits. My option for resolving this issue was a lifestyle change because medication wasn’t an option. I ate my way into this predicament and I will eat/exercise my way out of it. In mid-July, I started the first of several lifestyle changes. Better habits, better me. In order for those habits to stick, I need to gradually work towards the goal versus stopping cold turkey. I wanted to share what I’ve accomplished on this journey and perhaps someone will get inspired to begin a lifestyle change of their own.

    With that out of the way, here are the five changes I’ve made to my lifestyle thus far:

    One: Eliminate Soda

    I used to drink at least one soda each day. I craved soda. As a baby step towards elimination, I would have a soda every other day or every couple of days. Over time, my infrequent consumption of soda led to not craving it period. Success!

    Two: Track Progress

    I downloaded MyFitnessPal, a food journal app, to my phone. MyFitnessPal allows me to log my meals, water intake, and exercise. It also allows me to record weight and measurements. A genius way to keep myself accountable.

    Three: Hello Water, Goodbye Juice

    Perhaps years of sugary beverages stunted my taste buds, but I hated the taste of water. For someone who rarely drank water, I started drinking about three glasses of water a day. As that became routine, I increased my water intake to at least eight glasses a day.

    When I started drinking water regularly, I slowly decreased the amount of juice I consumed. If I wanted juice, I cut it in half with water. Now, when I want a glass of juice, I aim to get a single size serving versus a full container. I’m too afraid I’ll backslide down the sugary mountain.

    Fourth: Red Meat

    I loved steak. Ate it all the time. At some point, I noticed how sluggish and heavy I felt after eating it. Not a good feeling by the way. I began incorporating chicken and turkey into my diet while lowering my consumption of red meat. Now, I rarely eat red meat.

    Fifth: Exercise

    Exercise is the last on this list because I’m still working on making it a habit. If I had started exercising earlier, my eating habits would have changed. I downloaded Workout Trainer, a fitness app, to my phone to keep me accountable. Workout Trainer has workouts and fitness programs that I can choose from. The app calculates calories burned so I can plug them into MyFitnessPal. Right now I’m a fan of short, intense workouts at least 3 days a week.

    A year later, I look back and I’m proud. So far, I’ve lost about 17 pounds. Yes, the weight loss is awesome, but I’m more concerned with how I lost that weight. While I’ve gained a couple of pounds back, I’ve managed to create and stick with habits that have improved my overall health. My blood pressure is normal now. I don’t feel sluggish and I don’t get out of breath when walking long distances. There are some other things I want to work on, but I need to get the major goals accomplished before I do that. Doing too much could result in a setback that I don’t need.

    Getting back to center feels damn good.