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Do you know the difference between the chicken and the pig in a ham and egg breakfast? The chicken is involved but the pig is committed.
I love this and think it’s a great way to look at all the important things in our life – from our career to our relationships to our wellness routine. Really, it’s a simple question to ask yourself – are you involved or committed?
Are you phoning it in or have you made a commitment to a lifestyle change?
I had a long conversation with a client this morning about lifestyle change. He’s already made quite a few changes. He’s changed his eating habits and lost a boat-load of weight. He does Pilates regularly and continues to work on changing how he stands and moves. He even does his “point and flex” stretch every morning before he gets out of bed. The problem is that he still doesn’t “remember” to stretch after a six mile walk, or to practice his stretches before he goes to bed at night. So I lectured again about making one more lifestyle change. Bless his soul, he listens and agrees he’ll try and that’s all any of us can do. So as proud as I am of him for making a commitment to several major lifestyle changes, but of course I want more. His next step is to go from chicken to pig – to go the rest of the way.
What about you? Are you involved or committed to your wellness program? Do you phone it in when you work-out or do you really focus on your movement and what’s going on in your body? Are you planning your nutrition and eating to fuel yourself? Are you sleeping enough? Are you making time for yourself – even a few minutes each day? In other words, are you committed?
After searching your soul, if you find yourself simply involved, let’s talk about how to take it to the next level.
To me, the best way to go from involved to committed, is to focus. You need to be aware every day of the things you are doing to improve your wellness. You need to create habits. Unfortunately, the only way to turn something into a habit is to force yourself to do it on a regular basis. And I do mean force! That may be what it takes initially. You may need to force yourself to get out there and walk or run or ride on your appointed days. You may need to force yourself to exercise with intention and awareness – not just go through the motions. You may need to force yourself to eat your fruits and vegetables and drink your water when you really would prefer a bag of chips or some Swedish Fish and a soda or cup of coffee. You may need to force yourself to let the phone ring, or the kids fend for themselves so that you have the time to care for yourself. You may need to put a post-it on your headboard or set an alarm for every hour on your computer to remind yourself to stretch. But I promise you that if you begin to practice these things, they will build on themselves and pretty soon, you will have made a lifestyle change. You will go from involved to committed – from chicken to pig.
I know this sounds much simpler than it is, but the reality is that we get to make choices every day. Some days we’ll make good choices and some days we’ll make bad choices, but every day, we have the opportunity to decide to make that commitment to ourselves. And guess what, each day if you simply wake up and decide to commit, before you know it, that too will become a habit and before you know it – you’ve made a lifestyle change.
Okay all you chickens – together, let’s take one more step towards becoming little pigs!
Don’t be fooled by the title, this post is for you too. But let me get started with this comment, “He’s not the love of your life, I promise you.” I found myself saying this to a friend of a friend about a year ago. She had recently ended a relationship and felt the devastation that enormous heartbreak can bring. We’ve all been there and my guess is that you are picturing a very young woman, someone who hasn’t experienced love and loss – right? Change the picture in your head. This woman was a 45-year old divorced mother of two. She was beautiful, until she fell into my arms crying – seemingly confident, and vivacious. She was also getting over the guy she believed was the love of her life. I’ve been there, we all have, but I had just come out on the other side and felt I needed to share my newly minted revelation. He is not the love of your life – if he was, it wouldn’t have ended.
So why does this matter to you? As you read this you are either a) in a wonderful committed relationship or b) not in a relationship but not pining for a former love. It matters because it’s a great metaphor for all kinds of things in our lives.
He is not the love of your life. Your child will not wet the bed or get up three times a night or struggle through math or stay in puberty or college or that horrible job forever. Your boss, who is a moron, will not be your boss forever. You will not be in the job you hate, or unemployed, or in school, or anything else that feels too difficult to face every single day forever. Your currently flabby tummy is not terminally resistant to muscle. And that five, ten, fifteen or even fifty pounds you must lose to be healthy is not destined to never go away. The same goes for the knee, back, shoulder, foot, neck, etc. injury you are suffering from. In other words, there will be an end to your misery.
The proof of all of this is every miserable or challenging thing you’ve ever been though. The key being that you got through it. You came out on the other side and you lived to tell about it. But in the midst of it, frankly, it sucked.
I guess the questions are how do we deal with our misery while we’re in it and what do we need to do to find ourselves happily on the other side?
You may have better tips on the getting through it than I do. I’m not sure I ever handle the in the midst of as well as I think I will when all is right with my world. But it seems to me that changing your lifestyle and physical condition is about the small steps. I like to believe the other stuff can benefit from some of these too.
We’ve talked about some of this before, but the first issue you need to tackle is just getting over being mad or disappointed that you have some work to do on your wellness. As you are working on that, start breathing. And again, I mean deep belly breath. You don’t have to walk around “shushing,” but relax your shoulders and stop hyperventilating. Next, evaluate your situation. Are you sleeping enough? If not, try to make that a priority. It really does make a difference in your decision making and in your body’s ability to operate properly. Consider your caffeine intake and if you are eating too much fat or sugar. Are you stretching each morning before you get up and again before you go to bed and throughout each day? If not, add it to the mix. And in the morning before you get up and at night as you drift off to sleep think about the good things to come in the day ahead and rejoice a little in something that went right in the last 12-18 hours.
Now approach your nutrition and exercise the way we should approach everything in life, one step at a time. A few weeks ago you made a plan, right? Well every day your job is to work on that plan. One of the things I love about Pilates is that if I practice the things I have learned or am in the process of learning daily, I will get better at it and in a number of months, my body will change (dramatically) for the better. But it’s about that daily, mindful attention and practice. And I’m not ever talking about hard core hours of Pilates – I’m talking about practicing your breathing technique, sitting properly in your desk chair, minding your foot centers and inner thighs as you brush your teeth and stand in line, and about stretching throughout the day. Before you know it, your body has changed. But the key is to make your wellness a part of your daily life. To be aware of how well you are caring for yourself to and make your expectations about what you can do one day at a time. Pretty soon those days add up to months and before you know it, you have changed your lifestyle. And if you are recovering from an injury – this too I know from experience – you can be healthy and pain-free again one day – believe it and take steps daily to allow your body to heal.
So if your chronic back pain feels like it will never go away, if your jeans are too tight, if you feel like you’ll never get your pre-baby body back, remember – he is not the love of your life. In other words, this too will pass.
I’m in my car quite a bit as I travel from client to client. As a former advertising executive I love radio. Well, I love good radio and am blessed with having great radio to keep me company here in Denver. I also have been blessed with having known and worked with one of the best radio ad writers on the planet (Rob Simpson) and so I listen to the commercials – listening for that beautifully written and acted spot. What I’m noticing more than ever lately is the number of ads that are promoting a pill. There is a pill for “a good day,” a pill for weight-loss (and a shake too), a pill for stress, a pill for every ache and pain, a pill to make each bodily function do its thing. You name it, there’s a pill for that.
It made me start to think about taking the easy way out. We all want to have a magic pill to solve our problems. And why wouldn’t we? I mean, if I could have taken a pill to instantly or easily lose the 28 pounds I spent two years gaining, I’m certain I would have. If I could take a pill today and make my chronic knee injury disappear or be able to solve my gluten allergy I’m sure I would – or at least I would consider it. But that pill to make me lose weight wouldn’t have solved the issues that caused the gain. I wouldn’t have had to focus again on my own wellness and making it my job to take care of myself. I would have taken the pill and then probably gained the weight back or done some other damage to myself by ignoring my wellness – which was the primary problem to begin with.
I was at an event this spring with a plastic surgeon. She sucks the fat out of butts and injects it into faces – solving two issues at once – and making their fat “sustainable.” Really, I can’t make this stuff up. I’m all for looking and feeling our best but I still refuse to believe that liposuction is going to solve anything.
What about the “good day” pill? Now let’s stop for a moment to mention that I’m no Tom Cruise – I believe in Western medicine (and was taught not to jump on the furniture). I believe that if you cannot lower your cholesterol through diet and exercise, if you can’t lower your blood pressure via lifestyle changes, if you have a chemical imbalance or are suffering from depression, if you have any medical condition and your physician feels you need to take medication – for goodness sakes take the medication. It’s the idea that we should take a pill a day to have a “good day” or to lose weight or to deal with our mother-in-law that bugs me.
Every day isn’t going to be a great one – but I have a good day by exercising, surrounding myself with good and positive people, doing work I love and that fulfills me, and having friends and family who love me and allow me to love them. If it weren’t for any of those things, I don’t think a pill would allow me to have a “good day.”
I’m a firm believer that our lifestyle is the key. We know that proper nutrition has an impact on our wellness – there is no amount of vitamin supplement that will allow us to eat garbage every day and still have our body perform correctly. We know that exercise – moving our bodies and moving them correctly – has a positive impact on not only our body but also our mind. We know how we perform with enough sleep and how things go when we are sleep deprived. We know that social interaction – having a friend to talk, laugh and cry with makes every problem seem easier to handle. So why are we looking outside ourselves for a pill to cure all? I refuse to believe that we are so lazy that we can’t take responsibility for our wellness. But if we are – I bet there’s a pill for that – I’ll let you know when I hear the radio ad for it.
We need a plan. If my dearest friend Kristin is reading this, she recognizes the phrase she used throughout our college career. We waited for her to use it each time we were preparing ourselves for – well – anything. It has stuck with me for over 20 years. Of course it doesn’t hurt that I’m a planner, a list maker and someone who probably isn’t spontaneous enough, but in this case, it will work to your advantage.
I’m writing this on Labor Day and like all of you, feeling like it was yesterday that I wrote your Memorial Day post. Three months flies by faster than the speed of light. This is precisely the reason we need a plan.
Have you noticed how anything you want in life – a new job, that great vacation, the remodel of your home – all seem to require some planning? I mean think about it. What goals have you achieved without planning?
Today is the day to figure out if your lifestyle is working for you? How do you feel about your nutrition? Have you given up dieting and instead decided to fuel your body correctly? Have you made a habit of getting cardiovascular exercise at least 4-5 times a week and some form of strength and flexibility training (Pilates?) at least twice a week? Are you taking time for yourself and finding a way to focus on your wellness? Are you getting enough sleep? I’m hoping the answer to all those questions is a resounding yes!
If you can’t answer all of the above in the affirmative (say it with me this time), you need a plan. What are you waiting for? When will you be less busy or stressed? When will the time be right to make these changes? And how do you expect to successfully develop a healthy lifestyle if you are flying by the seat of your pants?
The bad news is that summer is over. Before you know it, you will be in the middle of the busy holiday season, at which point you’ll tell yourself you might as well wait until the New Year. Is any of this familiar?
So how about this – evaluate your wellness today. Make a plan – call it your lifestyle resolution – and (here’s the catch) implement the plan. Make small changes. Focus on wellness. Make it a habit today.
Oh, and one more thing, if you slipped a little this summer or didn’t achieve your goals, do me a favor and don’t beat yourself up. Tomorrow is a new day, a fresh start and with the right plan, there is nothing you can’t achieve. Right Kristin?
In my view, Pilates is about increasing your strength, your balance, your flexibility. It’s also about making a mind, body, spirit connection. And finally, it’s about body awareness. When I think of body awareness, I don’t just mean your body mechanics. To me, body awareness is also about paying attention to how everything from your nutrition to your environment to your stress level impacts you.
The fact is that only you can determine what is or isn’t right for you on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The more aware you become of when you feel great (and when you don’t ), the more you can set yourself up to feel, react and perform your best.
I think watching small children can inform us about our own needs and teach us to heed them. For example, if you have an infant or toddler, think about when he/she is happy or even just content. Generally things like being hungry, being over stimulated (either by sugar, activity or noise), tired, cold or hot, frightened, etc. cause a child to cry or act out in some fashion. We learn that it’s not appropriate to cry when all our needs aren’t met, but I think we also learn to ignore many of those needs. Let’s face it, we are all just big kids and we still have those needs and yes they are more complex as we grow but some of the basic stuff never changes. What I think changes is that we don’t have someone making the unpopular decision for us to do what’s right for us instead of what we want to do or feel we have to do.
Not sure if I’m making any sense here so I’ll try with some examples. How often over the last three months have you been exhausted and kept yourself up longer to finish a project or even to watch a movie? How often have you chosen a bag of chips or fast food instead of some fruit and nuts or some other complex nutrition choice when you are suddenly starving and need something in your belly? How often have you forgone a workout because you don’t have the time, energy, or push to get it done? How often have you chosen coffee or a soda to quench your thirst even though the only water you swallowed that day was accidental as you brushed your teeth? Am I making my point? It’s almost easier to keep on an even keel as children than it is as adults. Somebody else is doing the planning and making the decisions when we are children. As adults we frequently have our own children to take care of as well as ourselves – or a job and a boss/employees. But the results are the same. We put our own needs last until our shoulders are permanently attached to our ears and we’ve developed all of these tendencies or habits we have to break.
But even once we make lifestyle changes that impact us for the better, life can get in the way and before we know it, we’re racing through our lives again – sure we might be eating properly and exercising but we’re pushing everything too hard because there isn’t enough time in the day or we’ve overcommitted ourselves.
I’m certainly guilty of this – as much as any of you are. And yes life is busy and we all have many balls to juggle and that is part of being an adult. So I think maybe the key is awareness. I have begun in this phase of my life to recognize how my body, mind and spirit feel when I’m in that overdrive mode. I’ve learned that I need quiet space and time to regroup. I understand that when I’m struggling to make decisions or figure out a problem, or making silly mistakes, frequently it’s because I’ve spent too many weeks without space and time or haven’t been fueling myself properly (be it with food, sleep, exercise, or the company of a good friend). And that’s when I need to intervene. That doesn’t always mean I can stop everything and just change on a dime. But it does mean I need to start saying no to something in the future. You see I might have already overscheduled myself this week, but once I recognize that I’m going down (so to speak) I am learning to look at the following week and to put my needs on the calendar.
Again, I’m not sure if this makes sense but as we head into the last part of this year, things will only get busier. Your kids are back in school, new sports have begun, you’re trying to make your Q4 goals and your headed, before you know it, into the “busy” holiday season. So all I’m suggesting is that you try to take stock. If you can’t stop and sort of do a fully person scan daily, do it weekly. And then make a plan, write it down and (here’s the big part) implement it.
So now you know how I spent the 15 minutes before I began writing this – Labor Day weekend – I already have some quiet time on the calendar.
Recently I was reminded that when it comes to – well – everything in life, one size does not fit all. The reminder came from a client as we were discussing her personal trainer. The trainer, who I’m certain is excellent, wasn’t having a discussion with the client on a regular basis about what the client needed from her personal training sessions. She didn’t set up an atmosphere where her client understood that they were partners in their work together. She was following her company’s plan of action, a great plan that I’m sure works for many individuals, but it wasn’t working for this particular individual.
You see my client has some goals she wants to achieve and some areas she needs guidance and as it turns out, she’s not seeing results or feeling like her trainer is dealing with her specific needs. This is one of my greatest worries as an instructor – am I serving my clients as individuals?
I don’t really worry about this as much with my private clients. Each session is about their individual needs on that given day. I’m hands on and can make changes and revisions as needed. What about my group clients? That’s a slipperier slope. As I get to know the individuals in my group classes and their bodies I do learn the specifics of their hip flexors, their necks, their commute, their children, etc. The issue is that in a group, I can’t cater to every detail of every client. Would I rather fire up the low belly of my very strong and young client who can’t stay out of her hip flexors before I get into any leg movement? YES! But I know that’s not what is best and safest for the majority so I have to compromise. Another issue is time. We are all rushing in and out and I worry that they aren’t getting the opportunity to share with me their needs and if I’m meeting them. So I’m hopeful that I am keeping an open line of communication and they will ask for what they need.
I think it’s important to continuously ask ourselves if we are getting individualized attention or one-size-fits-all training. Frankly, not only are our bodies and needs different from each others, but we are different daily, weekly, monthly, etc. I harp a lot about listening to your own body and knowing what it needs on a daily basis. Sometimes that is about backing off or taking a day off, sometimes we need to be pushed harder and sometimes we just need to get it done. The point is in keeping a focus and doing what’s right daily.
Our nutritional needs are no different. Ten years ago I wasn’t gluten intolerant – or if I was I didn’t know it. Today, a little bit of gluten makes me extremely ill. I have a dear friend who up until a few weeks ago was a vegan. She hadn’t been all her life but had become one when her body led her in that direction. Recently she was noticing difficulty recovering from her workouts and decided to give organic chicken a try. Bingo – everything is going better. It’s all about paying attention and not being afraid try something different.
Another piece of your individual puzzle is how you learn. I learn by doing, through experience. I believe I teach in the same way. But that means I may not be the right instructor for every student. Of course, my job is to find a way to teach all of my clients, to connect with them and to learn the cues and techniques that allow them to be their best.
So again my question for you is, are you getting what you need? If not, what is stopping you from asking for it? This week, let’s ask our Pilates instructor, personal trainer, doctor, lawyer, hairstylist, supervisor, even dry cleaner to earn their keep, client by client because one size does not fit all.
I’ve been noticing lately the number of people who wear clothes that don’t fit. I know you are immediately thinking that I mean tight or two small – but I actually mean the exact opposite. Why do we think we should wear clothes that are a size or two too big? We all do this, well all of us who aren’t quite comfortable with our bodies or our size or fitness level. And although you may thing this is a “chick” thing – men are just as guilty.
So let’s talk about this. We have a few reasons to dress “oversized.” We think that bigger will make us look smaller, we are more comfortable hiding in loose clothing, and the cost of buying that next smaller size when you aren’t “done” yet seems like a waste of money.
First, I promise that wearing clothes that are too big will not make you look smaller! It will make you look sloppy and all it does is make you appear bigger than you are.
As for comfort, you don’t need to wear tight clothing, simply clothes that fit. And if the clothes fit, you will still be able to move and not feel constricted.
Finally, the cost is an issue. I get it that every time you drop a size you can’t run out and replace your entire wardrobe. But it takes a long time to transform your body! Make a compromise with yourself and buy something new every two sizes, or buy one or two items each time you drop a size and enjoy that victory and how great you look in your new clothes. But if you aren’t losing weight (because you don’t need to!) look at the way your existing clothes fit anyway. The fact is that we aren’t all fit models and so off the rack clothing isn’t going to fit us perfectly. A great tailor can do some minor work and make your clothes fit you, not the other way around. The trick is to buy clothes that fit your “biggest” part and have them altered to fit your smaller parts. And if you are worried about repeating outfits because you have a limited budget and currently a limited wardrobe that fits, let me share another secret – you are the only one who has memorized your wardrobe. Everyone else is too worried about themselves to notice and catalogue if your wore those pants last Tuesday!Just channel your own Tim Gunn and make it work!
My point, and I don’t seem to be getting to it well, is that your shape is beautiful and you deserve to see it! We all have parts of our body we don’t love – but that doesn’t mean we don’t have strong and beautiful bodies. If you start looking at yourself in clothes that accent your shape, you will look slimmer, more pulled-together and all kinds of fabulous. I promise!
Goals. I seem to be hearing a lot about goals lately. Last week the fitness expert on the daily news (who makes me insane because he gives the worst advice I’ve ever heard!) was instructing that you have to have a goal, you must weigh yourself weekly, you must have a goal as it relates to your workouts, you must have a weight-loss goal (a final goal) and on and on and on. I disagree.
Our goals and our need for specific goals are as varied as we are. When I hear someone has a weight-loss goal that is more than 10 pounds, I often suggest they work on the first 10 and then see how they feel and from there, set a new goal. When I hear someone wants to run a marathon but has never tried a 5K, I suggest they train for their marathon and sign-up for a 5K and decide if racing is for them. When I learn that someone is changing their eating habits in a fashion that is completely opposite of the way they’ve been eating, I suggest they make one change (in other words, maybe don’t go off carbs completely – instead be specific about serving size and the nutritional value of the carbs you ingest) or like I did nine months ago – take processed sugar out of your diet and see where you go from there. And when a new client approaches me and states that he/she wants to do Pilates five days a week (yes, it’s happened!), instead of counting the money, I schedule them for two (at the most three) days a week and see how they feel after six weeks.
In other words, I believe in realistic goals and in achieving little victories over a long period of time. But I’m also not opposed to goals that aren’t so specific. One of my favorite clients (who am I kidding, they are all my favorite otherwise they wouldn’t be my clients!) told me today that her goal isn’t a number on the scale or a dress size, but to feel better and be her healthiest and the weight-loss is simply an added bonus. I almost hugged her. I love this approach to wellness and I believe it’s how I now make all my decisions.
Some of this started when I was figuring out my issue with gluten. I accidentally discovered that there was an issue when a wellness doctor suggested I remove all processed food from my diet for two weeks. At the end of week one, I noticed that my allergies weren’t bothering me and that my joints didn’t ache. I ate a bagel and my eyes swelled shut and my allergies attacked, my knees felt like someone was shoving nails in them, and I got light-headed. I made a simple decision. Feel great and don’t eat gluten or eat gluten and feel lousy.
I find I pay attention to how I respond to things. This isn’t just food or exercise, but also situations and people. If I’m anxious, overwrought, angry or behaving like a spoiled child, it’s probably that I’m reacting to something. I can’t always avoid those things or people, but I can try to populate my life with the things that allow me to thrive and shine. I think of it as creating the life I want to live – but it’s more than that. It’s also recognizing the life I don’t want and not inviting those things into my life. And if my goal is to create the life I want to live, I can make decisions based on if that will help me achieve my goal or deter it.
Of course I still have goals I can measure and I think we need to know where we want to go before we can map out our route, but this self-awareness has to be a part of the plan.
I always say that the most amazing things happen during Pilates. For me there was the physical strength and the changes in my body, but also a shift in my “energy.” What I mean by this is that people responded to me and I approach situations differently. The other thing that happened was that I started paying attention to what was going on inside my body. First it was simply my movement and the focus I had to have on each repetition to get it right. Then it became finding muscles I didn’t know I had and directing them. Finally I had to start paying attention to what was going on inside me. Was I happy and if not, why? Over the past six years I cannot tell you the number of clients I’ve seen experience the same thing. Focusing on breathing and moving with intension and suddenly aware of what’s going on inside them (body/mind/spirit).
I’m finding that I am spending more and more of my time aware of myself, my environment, and my experiences. This becomes even clearer to me as I’m driving, sitting with a friend, or doing my four-mile walk down Seventh Avenue. I find myself focused on what I’m doing. I see people all around me on their phones (talking or texting) and I want to scream, “Hang up the phone! You are missing so much!” So I guess where I was once proud of being one of the best multi-taskers on the planet earth, I’m now trying to focus on the moment and be aware of myself, my goals, and my life. Do I still often talk on the phone to my parents while eating lunch? You bet – but I won’t answer the phone if I’m with a friend. I don’t bring my phone on my walk or answer when I’m doing Pilates and I try to enjoy even driving instead of trying to entertain myself or multi-task and catch up with friends on my phone.
Just some food for thought as you figure out your goals, how you’ll reach them, and why they are your goals to begin with. And maybe like my client Jennifer, you should make goal number one all about being as healthy as possible. Create a schedule for your workouts, develop a plan for your fitness and nutrition and implement it, but make your number one goal to be healthy and chip away at it daily. And my guess is that before you know it, you will be living the life you chose to create.
I have a confession to make. I woke up this morning and my (relatively) fit and toned body had been replaced by that of a linebacker for the Denver Broncos. Now you are thinking (cup half full) – how cool – Marcia will be playing for the Broncos this year – she’s going to have fame fortune and loads of money. But I’m thinking (cup half empty) it’s not comfortable skin to be in!
So of course I didn’t morph into a professional football player over night – but do you ever feel that way? Like you’ve gained 300 pounds overnight and lost all your tone? Of course, it usually happens when you didn’t even overeat or drink too much the night before. How does this happen? And why can we look in the mirror one day and see something we like and the next day be in horror?
I’ve always known this wasn’t something just I experience, but recently my tiniest female friend (who can’t put weight on to save her life!) and a male friend shared that they were experiencing the same phenomenon.
So what is really going on here? Well, certainly we women know that we’re women so we retain water and not just at “that time of the month.” I can lose 4 pounds between one day and another – it’s crazy! Unfortunately everything we put into our bodies can impact that and sometimes it’s just the weather. But did you know that men experience the same thing? I know, they don’t bitch about it or focus on it the way women do, but it happens. But I’m not really talking about the occasional water weight thing. I’m talking about the picture in the mirror and the way you feel in your skin.
Some days I wake up fat. I know I’m not fat and some of those days I’ll get on the scale (just to check) and there is no water weight or anything else, I just feel bigger and fleshier. So what the heck is that all about and what do I do about it?
In my 20s and 30s I freaked out! I suddenly had to “fix it!” I had to do more cardio or restrict my diet or hit the weight room or whatever my solution of the moment was. But now that I am focused on taking care of myself, I seem to laugh at it a bit more. I know it’s not real. I know what I’m putting in my body to fuel it and how I’m using my body every day. I know that this is an optical illusion – that just because my skin might feel too tight or my belly isn’t as flat as it was the day before – that I am still the same me and that my job today – just like yesterday is to take the best care of myself possible. This means eating all of my meals and snacks, this means getting the amount of exercise my body needs and this means laughing at myself a little and the linebacker in the mirror.
I guess that’s where routine and my commitment to wellness versus worrying about size make a difference. That linebacker had a great Pilates workout this morning and not the fastest walk of her life, but she got the job done. And tomorrow or the next day she’ll be replaced by the other me again., as long as I stick to my wellness plan and don’t dwell on the less appealing picture and feeling. So stick to your routine, take care of yourself and be nice to your inner linebacker when he/she shows up – say hello – offer to negotiate his/her contract.
And on another day we’ll discuss the mornings I wake up old!
A few weeks ago I harped a little on doing cardio in the pool. I even made my regular suggestion to those of you who don’t like to swim that you simply walk in the pool (water at chest level). This urging is something I feel like I’ve begun to do in my sleep but I can’t help it. The pool offers great resistance, the chance to use your core correctly and it has absolutely no impact on your poor little joints. Did you listen? My guess is you didn’t so here I go again. Wait, don’t stop reading, I’m going to tell you how to do Pilates in the pool. Yes, you heard me correctly, Pilates in the pool. And don’t tell me you don’t have time to do Pilates in the pool because you’re there anyway and a little goes a long way!
You can start by doing some plies in the shallow end. Now I don’t mean shallow as in at your ankles. Get in at about waist level and turn-out at the inner thighs and the feet. Make your turn-out small and think about your feet, knees and inner thighs being aligned – the mistake many people make in a turn-out comes when their feet are in a much bigger turnout than the rest of their body allows. The other issue comes in the spacing of your feet. Start with a hip-width-apart stance and remember that your hips are not as big as you think they are. Now squeeze those inner thighs together with everything you’ve got. You’ve been practicing with the ball (right?) so you now have powerful inner thighs! Soften your knees a bit and keep the inner thigh squeezing as you practice a small plie. Resist in each direction and focus on the placement of your pelvis. This isn’t a squat, don’t stick your butt out or tuck your tailbone in. Slow and even. You’ll start to feel those inner thighs and your butt burn and you’ll feel your low belly contracting and tightening. So do 10 or 20, then bring your legs closer together and repeat. Keep this up until you have your heels touching and pressing together. This might be three or four sets.
Now move your little body into water about chest level. This is where you will continue the turned-out inner thigh squeeze and start to use your arms. Don’t forget to pull under your armpits and feel your lateral muscles engage. As you sweep your arms through the water, do bicep or tricep curls, practice an offer up, back row with straight arms or extend your arms out past your sides and pulse forward and then backwards. All of this should be felt in through your back and belly. And don’t forget to move slowly and squeeze those inner thighs and don’t pop your chest (it won’t make your chest look bigger anyway, just cause you to stick out your tummy)!
Next step is some playtime. I love to do jumps in the water. Again you will be at chest level, in your turn-out with your heels touching. Now drop down until your chin is just above water and spring up. Do this for five, 10 or 15 minutes if you can keep it up. It is cardio and it’s all core with no impact! And you can get the kids to do it with you. After you have exhausted yourself with the jumps, go to the side of the pool and with your back to the wall, hold yourself up with your arms (dropping your shoulders and again holding on with your lateral muscles). Now do your thigh folds (early video) in an upright position. Just like the thigh folds on the floor, do 10 on one side, 10 on the other and then alternate for 10 on each side. From there you can do the “can can” or straight leg lifts and lowers. The point is, try all kinds of movement but with control and core focus. And if it’s too difficult to hold yourself on that wall, simply go in deeper and press your back to the wall. In either event, make sure your neutral pelvis is pressed flat on the wall (as if the wall was the floor – get it?) and that you aren’t popping your ribs. Oh, and for goodness sakes, if you are a woman and better endowed than me (pause for the peanut gallery to laugh about how everyone is better endowed than me), make sure you are in a suit that won’t cause a wardrobe malfunction in the neighborhood pool.
Finally, if you still have some more energy, revert to your childhood days and do forward and backwards summersaults! You’ll absolutely feel your core working and you’ll be laughing by the time you’re done.