Week Four

What a week it was…

I started out energetic – ready to do more, eat less, and continue to de-stress. Then my lower back and hips started hurting. It took me several days of rest to get the inflammation to settle down. It was hard to sleep, and even harder do the exercises that I’d been doing in week three.

I had to stop and re-evaluate my entire exercise strategy. It dawned on me that maybe I was looking at this all wrong. Using my NLP techniques, I reframed my goals.  I’m not the spring chicken I used to be. Then I remembered something from my time as a wellness coach – focus on “functional” movement.

 What is “functional” movement? My physical therapist taught me to use everyday tasks – vacuuming, sweeping, even standing at the sink – as opportunities to strengthen my body. I can do my squats while picking up clutter. I can do lunges while vacuuming or sweeping. I can do leg lifts while washing the dishes.  Suddenly, my home became a gym I was already using every day.

Bottom-line? I realized I already do a lot of physical work every day.  I don’t need to stress about adding more and risk hurting myself again.

I was reminded of a 2007 study by Harvard psychologists Ellen Langer and Alia Crum called “Mind-set Matters.” One group of hotel maids was told that their daily work actually counted as exercise. Simply shifting that belief led them to lose weight, lower their blood pressure, and reduce body fat—without changing anything else. That’s the power of reframing.

I’m shifting my mindset and reframing all the physical work I do everyday to include that into my exercise routine. All of the physical work I do each day counts.

Unfortunately, I didn’t lose any weight this week-but I didn’t gain any either!

I also experienced frustration to the point I was considering giving up on all of this. Having to write out these blogs each week, helped me stay accountable to myself and my readers – if any of them are out there. So, thank you. Your presence – silent or not – helps me keep going.

Hopefully week five will be better! Talk to you next week.