Once a Week Exercising is Not Enough

After exercising at least four days a week in Chile--three days biking to the top of cerro san cristobal, two days at the gym (yes I know it's five but normally I miss one of these somehow)--not exercising as much comes with some serious side effects.

I went to a three hour dance class/rehearsal last Saturday which was beautiful and fun. But I was sore, sore, sore all week long after. Then this week, I skipped the class but went running and same thing--sore, sore, sore.

Plus, my ability to emotionally handle some hard decisions that are coming my way (do I stay in the US or go back to Chile?) seem insurmountable when I haven't exercised. When I have exercised, they seem difficult but not overwhelming (and here's the other thing, walking which used to help doesn't anymore--it's got to be a hard workout!).

Why do I take off these weeks from exercising if I KNOW that I emotionally I'm a wreck without exercising?

Cuz I'm human. And humans aren't robots. They don't always follow schedules. They don't always do what they're supposed to do.

So, I guess my lesson today is to be a human. If you'll feel better exercising, do it. If you won't today, don't. Be human. Don't be a robot.

Fitness Tests for Home

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for health tests. Really, I want statistics to show that I am a healthy individual.

This article on simple health tests you can do at home is really interesting because it reveals the risks of having a poor result for each of the tests. Even though it doesn't offer many solutions if you do get a poor result, I'm going to offer you one big solution: move more. Find an activity you really like to do, and do it more often.

You may not be able to change how you look on the outside, but you can change how you feel on the inside.

Good luck!

Cerro San Cristobal

I have recently begun biking up the hill here in Santiago, with a goal of three times a week. Not because I think it's good for me (I do) but because I love it. Somewhere beneath my heavy breathing and pounding heart, after I pass through that threshold of ten minutes of suffering, it feels, how can I say it, if not good, it feels right. It feels like medicine.

Check out what I wrote about it at my other blog.

Vacations--Death to Workouts

Vacations are essential. Essential to your mental health, and I believe physical health, too. If you work fourty hours, or have kids, or are basically alive, you probably aren't getting the amount of sleep you really need. Having vacation to finally sleep in for more than two days in a row can be a livesaver.

But...vacation can also interrupt your workout and movement routines. We go on vacation with the best intentions: we'll workout every day, or every other day. But vacations are for relaxing and for getting away from your normal life. Certainly you'll benefit from moving, but since you're taking a break from your normal life, take a break from exercising too...or at least the way you normally exercise.

I recently went to the beach for two weeks. I took my exercise mat and foam roller, thinking I would workout every day. I worked out once in two weeks. It just didn't happen.

I did take my bike and every day rode for a half hour to an hour--not because I felt I had to, but because I love biking, and my absolutely favorite is biking by the ocean. So I biked because I wanted to, and because it was the most convenient way to get to the little town by the beach where all the cinammon ice cream was.

So maybe instead of going on vacation with the best intentions, we should go on vacation with realistic intentions: that we're not going to do what we normally do, but that, when we want to, we'll move our bodies. It certainly beats feeling guilty about something we weren't ever going to do.

Fat Thighs are Good

Check out this article. All fats are not made equal.

Getting Back to the Chispa (spark)

Have you ever just felt off-kilter? Like you're going through the motions of your life but you don't feel entirely like yourself?

Perhaps it is just the reaction I've had lately. I've been living in Chile for a year and a half now. Lately, it's been hard. The whole thing has been hard, but this is a different kind of a difficulty. I've lost my spark.

I've been making up jokes in Spanish to push my mind toward funny things. I also recently went back to a Bikram Yoga class. It helped tremendously. If you're ever feeling down or confused, I highly recommend this type of yoga. It is so engaging that you really can't think about anything else except the present moment. It's hot yoga so be warned--you'll sweat a lot! You might not resolve your problem right away but you'll feel at least calmer about not knowing the solution.

New realization; New Year

Just yesterday, after an hour workout, I was stretching and thinking about how exercise continues to change my world. I could be in the worst mood, and after an hour of sweating, I feel fantastic. What was bothering me before doesn't bother me after.

And so I thought, if working out changes my perspective to a happy one, why would I not want to be happy as early as possible each day. With this in mind, waking up to go for a run was surprisingly easy today. Before I was working out to relieve stress. But lately my life has very little stress.

What better motivation to workout than one's own happiness?

Each day, when I feel tired or lazy, I'm going to ask myself a simple question. How early do I want to be happy? If the answer is now, then I'm going to exercise.

For a long time now, I've understood that in some way I'm like a child. With a good night's sleep, good food, and movement every day, I'm a happy camper. It's so simple and yet, sometimes, I have trouble fulfilling even these three requirements. If one has the secret to one's own happiness, why, oh, why, don't they do what it takes to be happy?

If there's any New Year's resolution I have for this year, it is to fulfill the three simple things on my list to be happy. Every day. Wish me luck!