Progress Not Perfection: Reclaiming Your Routine After the Holiday
Happy Monday.
Said no one, anywhere, at any time, especially after a three day weekend.
If you did have a long weekend, I hope it was filled with all of the things you enjoy about summer.
I had the good fortune of floating in a lake and soaking up the sun and then watching fireworks over the water.
The neighbors did shoot off a cannon about 10 times and I now understand what it means when someone yells "fire in the hole...."
One of the themes I've noticed since becoming a fitness coach, is that people, mostly women, will say the same thing after a holiday.
"I was good on Friday, but Saturday at the picnic I was really bad. I ate everything and just sat around and did nothing."
First of all, yay for doing nothing. Most of us need to do more nothing. All of the nothing is good sometimes.
There's also a general theme around working out harder today, or this week, because you indulged over the weekend.
So here's your reminder.
Food has no moral value. And you are not good, or bad for eating food. You are a human. You ate some food with less nutrients.
I ate Snyder's cheesy pretzels. A lot of them. Like, I had orange fingers. Zero nutritional value. They were delicious. I am not working out harder or longer today because I ate cheesy pretzels.
Today, I'm doing what I recommend for all of my clients - getting at least five fistfuls of veggies, a palm size serving of lean protein with each meal, and I'll get in at least a 30 minute full-body strength training session.
And if you don't get back to it today, that's ok.
Last week was hard, for a lot of us, for a lot of different reasons. The loss lives in Texas, especially those little campers. The impending loss of healthcare for so many people, and even less food security for kids. It's hard to know what to think, or say or do, especially in situations where we have so little immediate control, or control at all really.
I've recently been using this meditation on compassion quite a bit, and I'm sharing here in case you might find that helpful.
May all beings be held in the heart of loving kindness. May all beings be free from inner and outer harm. May all beings have ease of well-being.
