January 7, 2017

#9 Move and Drink Lots of Water

I know I know I know – I need to exercise. Yes. Yes. Yes, Get off my back.

I know I know I know – I need to drink more water. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Do you feel like this? If you say “no”, you’re lying. Even writing this I’m fighting the urge of checking out Facebook; getting up to see what Kurt is doing; making the bed, cleaning the kitchen – ANYTHING but writing about how important it is to exercise and drink enough water every day.

We KNOW what to do. We just don’t DO IT.

We all KNOW it’s important. It’s not that anything I write here will make you KNOW it any better. What can be written (or read) that WILL make a difference and lead to ACTION?

Candidly – I don’t know.

What I do know is that being honest with yourself is important if you want to make a change. For some, the community and socializing aspect of going to a gym is the key; whether it’s some type of class – spin, yoga, CrossFit or just getting on a treadmill or using the free-weights in a group setting. For others, the act of getting out of the house and going someplace dedicated for exercising is important.

For me, it’s just a discipline thing. I just need to make myself “do it”. I won’t participate in classes more than a few times. I won’t go to a gym after the first few weeks. I know it. I’m over 60 years old and my history proves this is the case. Every 5 years or so I would test the “but THIS time I will be consistent and use the membership.” Nope. Yoga, Barre, Planet Fitness, nope. Not going to happen.

Bottom line, there’s no special gym, class or coach that will magically make you love going to a gym if you don’t like gyms, nor make you love group classes if you’re a loner, nor make you love working out at home without strict discipline.

I wish it were different. But it’s not.

How to Cowgirl Up

There’s no secret, sorry.

Step 1: Be honest with yourself.

Me? I know I won’t go to a gym after the first couple of weeks. That hasn’t kept me from joining gyms – and paying for the privilege to not go. I know I won’t go to classes consistently – yoga, barre or otherwise. That hasn’t kept me from signing up for classes – and not going. I wasn’t honest with myself. I thought “this time…”. But, no. I have, however, been successful at working out regularly at home using DVDs and online memberships. Not recently, but I know that’s my best shot. I won’t join another gym or exercise class.

Step 2: Commit.

Think about WHY this is important. If you don’t think it’s important – then you shouldn’t care and you shouldn’t torture yourself. Go back to Facebook or cleaning the kitchen or whatever. If you DO think it’s important to workout/exercise – to NOT sit all day, then commit to making it happen. Every day, think about why it’s important and recommit to yourself that you will actually go to the gym, attend the classes, USE the DVDs and do the workouts. Have the discipline to get in the car and drive to the gym, the classes; have the discipline to put your workout clothes on, put the DVD into the player and DO the workout. Regularly. No special trick here. As much as I procrastinate, I ALWAYS feel better after working out, even a simple walk around the block. You’re probably the same. Once the workout is over, it’s a great feeling; physically AND mentally.

The next day when, like a little pouty child, your inner voice is saying “but I don’t WANT to work out!” think about why you’re doing this and recommit.

Step 3: Make only 10-minutes mandatory

Commit to ONLY 10 minutes. If you really don’t feel good, have too much to do, or whatever… you’re only committing to 10 minutes. 10 minutes is only 0.7% of your day, less than 1% of the day. 10 minutes out of 1440 minutes. Give it just 10 minutes and chances are you’ll get into it and finish the whole thing; a complete, effective workout. Nine times out of ten, it’s not the work out that you’re avoiding, it’s the getting started. Once you get started, the rest is “easy” (figuratively).

Again, I wish I could share some secret that would make you just love spending time getting sweaty, out of breath and … hey, hey, hey… that’s not what I meant…. I meant exercising. Unfortunately, I haven’t learned that secret. If you have, PLEASE, by all means call me immediately.

So, the secret formula to success is … not so secret.

#1. Be honest with yourself.

#2. Commit. Every day. Over and over And. Do. It.

#3. 10 Minute milestone. All you HAVE to do every day is 10 minutes.

Drink More Water

As for they hydrating… that’s another “just do it”. I’m rarely thirsty, but I know how important it is to overall health; digestion, skin, blood pressure, etc. etc. At least 64 oz a day is optimal. That’s a lot of damn water. That’s a lot of bathroom trips, too. But for me, surprisingly, the trips to the bathroom for #1 do subside a bit. I’m not sure why, exactly, but I have a theory. Again, for me, it seems that after a while of drinking the 64 oz+ of water every day, the #2 trips get easier and a bit more regular and the #1 trips aren’t as inconveniently frequent. The water may start increasing the moisture in the solid waste rather than just running through as increased #1 output.

Ha! How THAT for tackling a challenging discussion about pee and poop? You’re welcome.

Please know – if you didn’t already – I am not a medical professional and haven’t been approved by the FDA. What I’m sharing here is based on my own research and experiments. Let me know what you think!