Hi Reader
I hope your week was fantastic and you were able to enjoy some time to yourself even if for just 5 min.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of watching a friend cross the finish line of an event she set her mind out to do at the beginning of the year. Watching her fight through the mental barriers and the physical barriers was an incredible experience to watch and I was/am so proud of her for continuing to fight for herself and make this goal happen.
BTW, she is 55 y.o.- proving your are not too old to do something if you put your mind to it.
She has run 5K and half marathons, about 12 years ago was her last one. Then life happened and she stopped, this is pretty normal. Life gets lifey, our passions change, our health changes, our circumstances change so we have to reroute.
She knew this was something she needed and wanted to do so she figured out what she needed to do so she could complete her event. I had the privilege to be asked to coach her for her strength and mobility but that training lead to her capability to do the 5k. We started slowly, progressed, regressed, changed up workouts on days that were not going as planned, took a few days off, progressed again and pushed through those physical AND mental limitations.
AND then- she completed the event like a champ!!! She was smiling the whole time, I could see the pure "I accomplished this look" on her face and felt the joy coming from her as she realized that she was actually out there doing this.
Doing the thing isn't always about being in physical condition, ALOT of it is pushing through those limiting beliefs we have about ourselves, those things our brain wants to tell us we are not good enough for. It's scary AF, it's hard, it's full of tears, laughter, joy and frustration. BUT most of all it's full of "holy shit I am so proud of myself for pushing through when I didn't want to or didn't believe I could"
You know what else- you never know who you are going to encourage when you "do the thing".
Watching her accomplish this made me realize I may be limiting myself too. I have been "nursing" an injury for almost a year now (June will be a year) that has forced me to stop running.
Running is a thing I do to clear my mind, it's something that no matter how my run goes, I feel exhilarated and it feels like a win for me. Have I been intentionally not healing because I don't deserve to feel that win? I think that maybe I haven't been nursing it right to actually get better because I didn't feel like I was good enough to deserve to run again. Now that I am aware of it, I will change it.
What are you not doing(or doing) that may be sabotaging yourself. You feel as if you don't deserve to feel good, exhilarated, like you had a win for the day.
Now for your 1% better in
Physical, Nutritional and Well-Being Health
Physical: This week, I'm going to encourage you to do a movement that most people have a hard time with.
A lunge.
We need to be able to do these for our daily life, it's one of the 7 functional movements of life btw. Lunges are beneficial for muscle stability, and static and dynamic balance as they require, and help you to develop, hip, knee, ankle, and foot mobility and stability. Lunges require you to balance on one leg at a time, which helps improve your balance and stability.
They are beneficial for reducing low back pain, building strength to reduce knee pain. You need the muscles this works in order to climb stairs, walk, go downhill and uphill, step on and off curbs, to sit and stand, to bend over and much more.
Even if you struggle with doing a full lunge you can always modify until you are strong enough or have the mobility to do a full lunge. Here are 2 ways to do your lunges, forward lunge and reverse lunge. The reverse lunge is sometimes easier for those with knee pain. The videos also show modifications so be sure to watch the whole thing
Aim for 10 lunges per day. If you start at 2-4 per day and work your way up, that is totally fine but your final goal would be 10 per day on each leg. Good Luck- make it happen.
Nutrition: Let's read labels this week. Look for hidden sugars in your food. This is one of the simplest ways to decrease your sugar intake. For example, I mindlessly bought a can of black beans one day- I was in a rush and just grabbed. When I was cooking and put those beans in the recipe, I happened to look at the label. The ingredients were black beans and sugar.
Like WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HECK, why are they putting sugar in black beans. Well, I know why. It's to feed that sugar addiction so you crave other foods high in sugar.
Seeing sugar in items it doesn't belong in and choosing a different version is a great way to reduce your sugar intake. Start with the food in your cabinet. Take a look at those labels and take note of those who have hidden sugars, do NOT purchase those again. Eventually you will just know what to buy and what not to buy.
Well-Being: This week, think of something you have been wanting to do, to get done. This does not have to be fitness or nutrition related. It can be anything, and I mean anything. Getting that burned out light bulb changed, hanging a picture, going through some paperwork or pictures, literally anything. DO IT!!
This week will be the week that "thing" gets done.
If it is something fitness or nutrition related and it will take a long time to get there, this week make the first step. Learn a few things you need to do and set a plan for next week to get started on those things. Also- you can always ask me, I may have an idea or two for ya.
Let's get things done this week
Get That Goal!
Until next time friend,
Thank you for telling your friends and family about
Goal Oriented Health & Fitness so we can help them too!
Did someone forward you this email?
Click here to join the Newsletter community
