Health Check in the Box

Hello Hip Huggers, hope your morning has been swell.

I was reading thru old journals this morning and came upon some rich entries from a couple years back and realized something; I haven’t had a legit fitness goal since I ran 100 miles in a month back in summer of 2014! 

I mean, I literally wrote about goals to run, walk, lift, stretch, lose, drink more water, drink more green tea, eliminate processed food, eat out less, veggies with ever meal, upping my protein, cutting back on cheese, and my God to stop sweating the small stuff in life! 

And the key in every entry was, I had a strategy! 100 miles in a month? Join a Nike challenge. Lift 3 days a week? Set up weights in room night before. Eat more protein? Meal prep on Sunday’s. I was on IT!!!

One just can’t have a goal of losing weight… we must implement the ‘How?! What specifically can we do to reach that goal? What’s it going to take? What will we have to sacrifice? What is our mantra? Who is our accountability partner? We must make it plain and write it down but further more, take action! We can only plan so much! Eventually, we must put one foot in front of the other and make things happen. 

In life, and often fitness, I overthink way too much. I can make 5 grocery lists and not leave the house. Sometimes, it’s throwing on clothes, sitting in front of Kroger and making it right then and there to get it done!

Sometimes, it’s putting on workout clothes after clocking out from work, driving to the gym and making a B line over to that leg press, before talking myself out of it.

Sometimes it’s walking into that yoga class, being the heavier girl, or the one with ashy feet, or the one who sweats a lot and saying, “forget these bougeious  chicks, I need centering! 

Sometimes, it’s walking past those neighbors you never talk to. Or getting over the fear of an encounter with a stray dog wild animal, or sweat spots between your legs and pits and just getting your dang stroll on! 

One word comes to mind, courage! Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one; strength in face of pain or grief. Sometimes not hitting those health/fitness goals is less about lack of time, lack of finances, lack of motivation… but lack of courage. Waiting too long to jump back out there after previously overcoming the anxiety of judgement in the first place. Constantly sitting yourself back down too concerned of what others “might” be thinking. Forgetting, how courageous we once were when we write out goals in the stone, not the sand. If that is you Hipster, let’s get back to that!

I have refocused my goals since gaining weight about losing weight, this time: 

If I can manage 30 minutes a day of walking and 10 minutes of some strength training, and just 5 minutes of stretching afterwards, I get an earned check in the box. 

That’s it! Some days, I’ll run an hour, did last week! Somedays, I’ll strength train 45 minutes, did last week! I’ll even get thru a full yoga session without losing my focus 15 minutes in and ending up in savasana, did that too! 

But especially food. If I can track more meals than not a day, check in the box! A couple days, I’ve hit 1800 cals and hit my macros. A couple, 2200. Some days I tracked my water intake, only. Seriously. 

But it’s been 2 weeks of something!  I may not have lost a lb. but I’m creating once again good daily, healthy habits and that will catapult my progress. When my body is ready. 

Today’s workout was perfect! 3 rounds (err, 1 round) of 20 kettlebell swings with a 20/15/10 squat superset found, as fast as good form allowed. Took 5 minutes, but quads were so worked! Then hopped on the ol’ treadmill and walked 30 minutes at a 5% incline. Stretched a good 10 minutes, to make up for the short strength training.

  
Done. This is progress, Hip Huggers! What did you press thru to get your health check in the box today?