Monday, April 5, 2010

A New Life's resolution - Day #71 (Physical)

If you're just joining us, check out the explanation of my "New Life Resolution"

Day #71 - Physical

According to www.definitionofwellness.com, "The physical dimension of wellness encourages cardiovascular flexibility and strength and also encourages regular, physical activity. Physical development encourages knowledge about food and nutrition and discourages the use of tobacco, drugs and excessive alcohol consumption. Physical Wellness encourages consumption and activities which contribute to high level wellness, including medical self-care and appropriate use of the medical system.

I don't know about you, but the shower is a great place for me to do some thinking.  I think amazing thoughts about brilliant blog posts or make to-do lists as long as my arm or comes up with solutions that will bring us all a cure for cancer and world peace.  Unfortunately, by the time I've dried myself off, my inspiration (and memory) has dried up too.  (I really need a shower dry-erase board or a voice activated recording system to jot down some of these stunning solutions.)

Fortunately for me (and you), not all of those thought evaporated yesterday!  As I was compiling my to-do list for this week, I thought about trying to plan my meals for the week and schedule my trips to the gym.  The mere thought of the forced attention to "eating right and exercising" sent my brain into a tailspin.  These thoughts seem like a broken record that has been playing all of my life.

It was at that point I decided I had had enough of feeling the gloom and doom and dread associated with the need to "eat right and exercise".  That old definition of insanity postulated by Albert Einstein popped into my head.  He said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.


So, for the next two weeks I'm going to try to change the way I think about eating right and exercise in an effort to change the way I act.  It's easy to think of eating right and exercising as only being beneficial to our physical well-being, but I think all of our areas of wellness could benefit from these thoughts.


Week #1 is exercise!  I don't know about you, but because exercise was never integrated into my life as I was growing up, I immediately think that to do it right, I have to drag myself to the gym.

What if, instead, I think about all the ways that I can "exercise" throughout the day?


For instance, spring is (finally!) here.  That means the weather is amazing.  I have legs that work quite well.  I live in a friendly neighborhood where people are outside with their kids and their dogs all the time.  I take Sasha to a doggy daycare place just about 2 tenths of a mile from my house.  Instead of stressing out after work every day about rushing home to pick her up (in the car) and then mentally beating myself up into going to the gym afterward, why don't I kill 2 birds with one stone?  A vigorous walk (or a jog when I'm in better shape) to get her followed by a more leisurely doggy/owner walk on the way back home doesn't seem like such a stressful thing.


Remembering that exercise doesn't have to be perfect and torturous could most definitely help me feel better about the thought of engaging in it on a regular basis.


Have you ever tried to redefine exercise as a positive and fun activity?  If so, what works for you?

1 comment:

joanyspot said...

Heather, I'm thinking that some of us are designed for comfort and not speed. I have struggled with this issue forever...I walk three miles a day - but I listen to audiobooks - it seems to help.

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