Best Of
Re: Getting Back into Your Workout Routine
@Peter Schultz first off, I'm glad you're feeling better - that's great news!! In terms of returning to exercise after COVID, currently the data is minimal right now (like everything right now with COVID). We do know there are some people who really struggle residually and other people don't. It seems to be somewhat consistent with symptomology related to the virus in general.
With that said, based on everything I've read if your case of the virus was less severe you probably don't have as much to worry about. Regardless, when you're progressing back I would just listen to your body very carefully (as you are it sounds like). If you notice you're symptomatic on any level (especially pulmonary) I would scale things back quickly and then reassess.
Overall it sounds like you're being smart about it and scaling things when needed, as long as you keep doing that I think you'll be fine. Making sure you're getting a little extra sleep and making sure your nutrition is solid will certainly expedite recovery as always.
Good luck getting back into things and I'm glad you're doing better!
Mike Stack
Re: Self Care/ Not putting us first!
Mom here 🙋 My kids are 6, and almost 3. Before I get in to self-care, first I must share them- here they are!
This is a little bit of a hard question for me because i feel like I've always worked pretty hard to prioritize self-care. There have been times it is has been harder for sure though. A disclaimer - I am fortunate to have a very supportive spouse. I have seen with friends and co-workers times when people have wanted to take more time for themselves but if they have kids and don't have a supportive partner it makes things FAR more complicated. My kids grandparents are also close enough to help and love to do so - so I have a good village on my side, and I am thankful for that every day.
When it comes to physical health and fitness it helps me to know that time I spend making healthy food or getting/staying fit will benefit my kids in the long run. I try to talk to my kids about why this is important to me and always keep it framed positive. There are times they say they don't want me to go to the gym/go for a run/still be in the kitchen cooking - and that can be hard. But I didn't grow up in a very healthy house and I had to do a lot of reversing course as a young adult to learn how fuel my body with healthy foods and to take care of and honor my body with exercise. As hard as those moments are when I am at the door and they say they don't want me to leave, the harder moments for me are related to balancing all the relationships/roles that I play.
In addition to being their mom, I also work full time in a career I love (that I commute 45 min to), I am in a healthy marriage, I am a friend, a daughter, and I am also an introvert and really need some down time by self. I am also the cook in our house and manage our schedule/calendar. There have been times when I am so overwhelmed that when I ask my husband to do something as simple as packing my son's lunch that I apologize when he does it. And he doesn't mind doing it. What is that about? Why do I feel like I have to do it ALL, ALL the time? A while back I heard something on a podcast that has actually really helped me come to grips with this.
*Instead of thinking of this all as a balancing act, think of it as juggling. You might drop one of the balls here or there, so just try not to drop the same ball over and over.*
To make the juggling possible, I try as much as possible to 1) plan (ex. creating a weekly meal plan), 2) set boundaries (ex. sometimes saying no to Sunday events knowing we need some time at home on Sundays to get ready for the week), and 3) prioritize (ex. I have a deadline for work and can't cook tonight, we'll just get a pizza instead this time). Having these three parameters in place helps me take care of my needs, and the roles I play in relation to others. They are the unsexy side of self-care (I think Corinne wrote a blog post along those lines once). I would rather get a massage once a week or get a pedicure every few weeks, but I just don't have the money for that so for me self-care is more focused around being mindful about what I need to exit the day or week feeling good, and trying to prepare myself for success. Sometimes it's more surface level like watching a sitcom with a beer or a glass of wine after the kids are in bed, because I LOVE sitcoms.
And sometimes the ball I drop is taking care of myself, I just try not to let it be the ball that gets dropped over and over again.
Sorry that got long-winded! I thought my answer was simple but when I started typing it went all over the place 🙃
Shaina Tinsey
Just starting at AFS: What I Wish I Knew
Try putting yourself back in the shoes of your previous self, just starting off at AFS. What are 1-3 things you wish you knew about AFS, fitness, exercise, nutrition, or even yourself, that you know now?
Fire away in the comments below. Maybe your reflections will help another as they get started on their fitness journey with us. 🙂
Re: Antibiotics and Exercise
Thanks for tagging me @Sawyer Paull-Baird! @Nicole Porter, your concern is a valid one if you do a quick Google search, the good news is there is likely little concern given the type of activities you engage in. Certainly if you were performing more high-intensity, reactive, sporting activities this might be a bigger concern (but even then, as you mentioned, the incidence is low). I would suggest you continue exercise like normal and listen to your body. As Sawyer said, if you start to notice anything abnormal I would scale back intensity, or maybe even terminate exercise for that session.
In terms of exercising with overall illness, I have a good general rule of thumb, if your symptoms are neck up, exercise is likely very appropriate, if your symptoms are neck down, it's best to take some time to recover until you are symptom-free for 24-36 hours. Maintaining this rule will prevent you from getting sicker. That being said, I think your overall orthopedic risk is very minimal being on Cipro.
Mike Stack
Re: Just starting at AFS: What I Wish I Knew
I was already exercising regularly when I joined AFS, but of course weight loss is mostly about diet, and I was struggling with this big time because my job is very time-intensive and sometimes I wouldn't get home until late and certainly wouldn't feel like cooking at 8pm.
So, I started prepping all my meals for the week in advance, on the weekends. It has allowed me to portion out my food in advance and to always have something healthy and ready to eat when I get home from work. I focus on lean protein and vegetables and minimize the processed carbs. I credit the majority of my weight loss to this single lifestyle modification. To answer the question, I wish I knew how much easier it is to just make everything at once and that I didn't have to make something healthy every night (plus who has time for all those dishes every night)!!
Also, listen to your body. While the trainers at AFS are super motivating and want to push you to do your best, if there's a day where you aren't 100%, or have a pre-existing injury that you know certain exercises will exacerbate, that doesn't mean you HAVE to do it. AFS is great about providing modifications to those who need them, just speak up if that's you!
And if @Kemper Sosa comes at you with an excited look on his face at 6am, it might be because that means you're about to do 105# barbell 1-leg RDLs so buck up and get ready or run far, far away!
Beth Manoogian
Re: Focus on Fitness- Going Beyond Body Composition
This is an extremely important topic and one that I think can't be stated enough. Fitness is way more than body composition. Actually, physical fitness is just one component of overall wellness, and body composition is just one component of physical fitness. Thus, body composition is actually just one small shred of overall wellness, which, when it comes down to it, is truly what I believe most people seek in life, whether they realize it or not.
I actually wrote this blog early on in my career at AFS. If I were to rewrite it now, I would focus not just on physical health, but on the interaction that body composition has with overall wellness..
As fitness professionals we see how the pursuit of body composition comes at the expense of other areas of wellness all of the time (often social/relational/experiential, and psychological/emotional)... and countless more people, fitness pros or not, have experienced it. When you look at wellness more holistically, you realize that if you tug on the string of one area of wellness too hard, it has the potential to pull some other areas out of whack..
Now, that's not to say that working on any one area of wellness is bound to detract from another.. Certainly losing body fat, gaining muscle, etc. can be a massive life enhancer for a lot of people.. That being said, the way by which we make the change.. the mindset with which we approach the change.. and the degree to which we take it, all determine whether that change, is, as a whole, a life-enhancer or life-detractor.
More simply put, I think we would be well-off by keeping in mind how our quest for body composition is impacting our overall wellness. For a lot of people, the body composition changes and sacrifices made are a net positive in life. For others, sometimes, if they really dig deep and look closely at it, I suspect that is not the case. I think if we took the time to simply check in with ourselves on this more frequently, we'd avoid a lot of potential suffering.
This is a place where I think the "5 Why's" or "7 Layers Deep" exercise can be super useful. I think a lot of times people default to body composition as a goal because it is something we have been told to value as a society, but truly, what that person is seeking deep down is not body composition at all, but something deeper.. joy, meaning, happiness, fulfillment.. something along those lines...
Anyways, I know that got deep, but this is something I am pretty passionate about.. Thanks for starting this conversation @Tricia Nault
Re: Intuitive Eating Much?
@Kemper Sosa - I am so glad you shared this! Thanks so much for the tag :)
Like @Sawyer Paull-Baird mentioned, it sounds like @Rachel Egelhof is describing Intuitive Eating or the non-diet approach, which as you know, @Mary Balog & I are huge believers in. So happy that this is helping you in your food journey Rachel!
This is a concept that is based in creating more awareness in how & why we eat as well as what we are eating. It is shifting from external cues to internal cues. Or what I like to call our inner wisdom.
External cues to eat would include diet plans or prescriptions, calories goals, time on the clock, or social pressure. Whereas internal cues would be our hunger and fullness levels, our taste preferences, and our bodies nutritional needs.
This type of eating helps us to get what our body truly needs because we are tuning into these biological ways that our body communicates with us to let us know when we are in need of fuel & when we have had enough. Something that we are born knowing how to do & over time lose the ability to tap into due to the "diet-focused" culture we live in.
Ways that we could start taking action on this type of eating starting TODAY would include:
- Start checkin in with your hunger before, half way through, & at the end of your meal. Notice if you are physically hungry, comfortable & satisfied, or slightly over full. This skill gets easier with time & practice & can be a highly valuable tool to determine when, what, and how much to eat.
- Take the time to slow down & appreciate your food. May sound silly to some... but this is shown to help prepare your body for physical digestion & metabolization efficiently. It also gives you the time to raise awareness as to where your hunger is truly at.
- Choose foods you actually enjoy! If you are craving the salty pretzels for a snack, but try to grab the sweet fruit instead, your body is likely not going to be satisfied. So you end up seeking more & more food until your body gets that fix. May have been easier to listen to that craving from the start right?
- Remind yourself that there is no "good" or "bad" foods. Food holds no morality & every food can serves a purpose. So take this ideology out of your language and focus on the nutrient-density of foods.
There are sooo many more ways that we can start to incorporate Intuitive Eating principles into our eating. I hope this helps some & if it resonates with you & you want to hear more, I would love to dive deeper with you!!
Bella
Bella Diaz
Re: New find in the (non)dairy aisle/Looking for Recommendations
I would likely commit a crime to get my hands on Treeline. It is atrociously expensive since it’s made of cashews, but no crumb of it is lost on me and I have probably spent money on much less satisfying things before.
I do like Chao for slices, but my favorite is Violife smoked provolone style slices. Amazing taste, just harder to find (I think I have only seen it at Whole Foods, whereas Kroger has Chao). While Daiya is great for shreds and sauce like Nicole mentions, I would caution against their slices; they taste odd for some reason.
For frozen treats, I like the both the Magnum non-dairy ice cream pops and the ones Haagen Daz makes that are peanut butter chocolate. Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy pints are also wonderful.
Also a hidden vegan gem at Kroger: white cheddar quinoa puffs! Tastes just like regular cheese doodles but no actual cheese is involved. 😄
Chris Firlik
Re: What's your BS story?
Love this @Mike Stack "I think the point is, our choice is NOT in if our mind will create BS stories, because it will (it's its job to do so), the choice is whether or not we choose to give those stories any attention whatsoever. Indeed, the choice is not in the authoring of the BS story, the choice lies in if you choose to read the story."
I love these conversations because it exposes everyone to new ways of approaching suffering, which we all face. I actually dont think some people have a choice if they read into the story. I think some people lack the tools to engage with the stories their mind is creating (hence why I love that we get to expose each other to these ideas). I know since discovering mindfulness, Buddhist teachings, and a few different books my ability to engage with these stories has improved significantly.
I love the ACT approach to these thoughts:
1) Defusion: See the thought as an attempt to make meaning, but not as a fact.
2) Self- The thought is just a story that we have created through the lens of our various experiences, paradigms, relationships and the expectations they have set for who we are supposed to be. Take success for example, our paradigms immediately relate success with monetary wealth. We get stuck on that as the only measure of success and ignore everything else.
3) Acceptance- Look at the situation with curiosity and acceptance instead of as a victim. I actually think you can do both, some people are victims of very unfortunate and uncontrollable circumstances. However, you can still be curious and accepting about the circumstance.
4) Presence- Focus on what can be done now instead of ruminating on past mistakes or future possibilities that may not be in our control.
5) Values- Is this issue one of compliance to social expectations, or your values? Your values are create endless motivation and have no end. Compliance to perceived external mandates is fleeting and frustrating.
6) Action- The process needs to be a moment by moment journey aligned with our values.
Jared Freeman