Health Archives - Page 2 of 2

The Minimalist Mom Workout

December 7, 2015 By Heather 3 Comments

If you’re like me and can’t seem to figure out a way to make actually getting to the gym part of your reality, then I think you might like to hear about my two favorite workouts.

First, a little backstory: I don’t know why, but for some reason I’ve gained a lot of weight over the past year. It’s crazy, and it’s not something I’m okay with.

So, I’m taking action. For one thing, I’m recommitting to regular exercise.

And I’m enjoying my workouts and feeling so good about them that I’ve really been wanting to write this article for you. So, here it is, and I hope it inspires you.

High Intensity Interval Training (aka HIIT, aka My New Favorite Workout)

I had been noticing articles in my Shape magazine about high intensity interval training workouts. I was especially interested since this type of workout is known for its fat burning magical powers and speediness. Both making it good in my book. AND I wouldn’t need any special equipment, AND I could do it at home. All awesome!

So, I tried it, and I loved it! The first time I did it, my daughter and I did it together. We put on some music in the living room, and I used my phone to time the intervals. I did 60 seconds on (exercise) and 90 seconds off (active rest).

For the exercise parts, we did different fun things… I just mixed it up according to whatever I felt like doing and whatever would get my heart rate up quickly. We did

jumping jacks
burpees (Thank God there aren’t hidden cameras in my house!)
dancing/aerobics
running around/high knees/attempts at butt kicks
kicking and punching

For the rest intervals, you need to let your heart rate come down quickly, but still move a bit, such as stepping side to side or swaying. I have been known to do a little decluttering or small tasks during the rest periods. Sometimes I just enjoy the music.

I LOVE this workout!!! It is so fun. And I love how you only have to exercise hard for about a minute at time, and then you get a break. And I love that the whole thing only takes about 20 minutes. (We tacked on a few minutes of warmup and cool down at the beginning and end.)

It leaves me feeling great. I honestly feel like a badass after doing it. And I don’t usually use or think the word badass.

After the first time, I wised up and searched Google Play for a timer app. I found one called HIIT Interval Training Timer (who woulda thought?). It is free and super simple to use.

I set my phone on my mantle so I could see it easily. The app has numbers for the seconds counting down, and when you’re in the active phase they’re green, and when you’re resting, they’re red. You can also program in a warm up and cool down. I tried doing 60 seconds on, 60 seconds rest, but I for now I’ve switched back to 60/90.

You can play around with your intervals so that you’re doing what makes sense for you at this stage, and then adjust it as needed/desired.

Weight Training (aka, My Tried and True Old Faithful Workout)

This is the workout I’ve been doing for years. (And a secret tidbit for you, I actually became an Ace certified personal trainer at one point. But that’s another story.)

It meets my requirements of at-home friendly, short, and very little equipment required. I think it takes me about 30 minutes, but maybe less.

Doing weights builds muscle and strength, and having more muscle leads to higher metabolism, which leads to being able to lose weight more easily and/or eat more without gaining weight.

Plus being fit and toned looks good… not that I’m all that vain, but I do want to be fit and toned. Also I want to feel “normal,” and this extra weight doesn’t feel normal to me.

I do two weight training workouts per week because it’s just as good or better than three times a week and less is more for my life.

By the way, I think women are more enlightened these days than we used to be, but just to be clear, there is no worry about getting huge muscles and looking like a weight lifter. That would take some serious effort involving the actual gym, tons of time, tons of protein and a strict diet and who knows what else. So no worries about buffing up. (Okay, mini rant over.)

What You Need

All you need are hand weights that allow you to do 8 to 12 reps per set. I’m currently using 12 pound weights. I was using ten, but when I found out my wonderful mother was using 12, I had to move up. :)

It’s a good idea to keep an exercise journal or make notes in your calendar to keep track of your workouts and look back on what you’ve done.

My Weight Training Workout

Without further ado, here is my at-home weights workout as of late, but it’s pretty much what I’ve been doing off and on for years.

1. Walking lunges around the house holding my weights. I do a total of around 24 (12 per leg). I can and probably should get heavier weights, but this is what I’m doing now.

2. Overhead Press I think right now I’m doing about 10 reps per set.

I do one set of lunges, and then one set of overhead presses back to back without a rest, and then I rest for just a minute or two (I don’t time it). Then I do my second set of lunges and overhead presses and a short rest again.

3. Squats I try to use really good form, not sticking my knees out in front of my toes, and yes sticking my butt back far without toppling over backwards. I hold my weights kind of at my sides near the tops of my thighs.

4. Overhead Tricep Extension I hold one weight with both hands and carefully lift it up and back down behind my head.

After a short rest, I do a second set of squats and the tricep extensions, except I do change the hand that’s closest to the top of the weight if that makes sense.

5. Bent Over Rows (2 sets) I use a dining room chair or my coffee table or piano bench for this, making sure my back is parallel to the floor and well-supported. This video shows how to do it.

I don’t stick my leg out to the side, but I do bend it slightly and keep it firm. I might try the out-to-the-side position. I also like how he pointed out to make your hand a hook rather than squeezing your hand in order to keep the focus on your back and not your bicep.

6. Seated Bicep Curls I sit in a dining room chair. If I’m working my right arm, I rest the back of my right upper arm against my right thigh. My left forearm is resting against my left leg. I do one set on each side, take a short rest, and then do another set on each side.

7. Plank Lately unless I laze out I do a plank as a nod to my stomach and back muscles. I just hold it as long as I can and then collapse in an exhausted heap.

I do a forearm plank because I still don’t completely trust my wrists after they got super weak following my first pregnancy. I really need to add more of core strengthening component to my workout, maybe several planks or crunches. But at this point I’m just glad to be doing my workout again.

Warm Up and Stretch

It’s good to stretch afterwards and warm up beforehand, but I’ll confess that I often don’t really do it since I’m in a rush. I do want to do more stretching though, and after a workout is a great time since your muscles are nice and warm and loosened up already. I recommend that others warm up with a little movement at first and stretch afterwards.

Use Good Form

The teacher in me cannot resist telling you to please use good form when you do your weights. And in fact, the slower you move the better and harder you’ll work your muscles anyway.

Use your stomach and back to stabilize, and keep your knees slightly bent. Exhale during the effort part of the exercise.

If you have any questions about how to do these exercises, you can look up videos online or get a friend or a trainer to show you, and consult a doctor before beginning a new exercise program.

Super Tips and Why These Workouts Work So Well In My Life

1. Do it whenever.

Yes, ideally you will create a regular habit of working out at a certain time of day on certain days of the week to help you make sure you do it. But life as a busy mom isn’t always conducive to that, and until you get to that point, or if your normal routine has been shot to hell, I suggest seizing the bull by the horns and doing it whenever.

I mean, I’ve been known to start my workout at 5 p.m., lunging around the house between my little girl doing homework and my other one making block castles, just for example.

2. Wear what you have on.

I love athletic wear, and I want more (Athleta! Title 9!), but you can often find me lunging around the house in my signature outfit of Level 99 “Lily” skinny jeans, whatever shirt I happen to be wearing that day, and the tennis shoes I normally wear anyway.

When the urge to work out strikes, I like to just do it. I don’t feel the need to change clothes. If it stretches, it works for me.

3. Start even if you’re not sure you have the time (or energy).

Seriously, even if you only have 15 minutes, if you know you need to ideally get in a workout, just do it. You could do legs today and arms tomorrow, or just do half today and half tomorrow of whatever your workout is, if it turns out you don’t have time to finish.

Or just be so happy you did something rather than nothing and don’t worry about it tomorrow.

And about the energy… if you start, you’ll probably get more energy, and if you don’t and want to stop, that’s okay. You are so cool for trying and apparently you do really need to just rest right now.

4. Minimize your gear.

Doing a weights workout? All you need are weights. Although if you have wood floors like me, you might need a yoga mat or towel for your arms if you’re doing a forearm plank. But the point is, keep it simple, at least at first.

Create Your Workout Plan

Here is the main thing to remember: You need at least a day of rest between weight workouts to give your muscles time to repair.

Here’s another thing: Unless you’re just sprinting around in your HIIT workout, or if you’re already in great shape, your HIIT workout may qualify as a weight workout, too. If you feel super sore after your HIIT workout, take that day of rest afterwards. My own goal is to get in two weights workouts and two HIIT workouts per week.

So here is an example of how I might do it:

Monday-Weights
Tuesday-Rest
Wednesday-HIIT
Thursday-Weights
Friday-Rest
Saturday-HIIT
Sunday-Rest

Also try to be active in some way every day. My favorite everyday activity is walking. I haven’t been taking as many purposeful walks as I used to, but I still get in a good bit of walking through school dropoffs and pickups. I want to get back into more walking again.

What to Do If You Miss a Workout

End up not doing it? So what. It doesn’t “mean” anything. Stop beating yourself up and creating stories in your mind about how you’re not good enough or you’re not committed enough or you’re bad in some way because you didn’t make it happen.

The truth is, you’re a mom and a human with a lot of responsibilities, and it’s a wonder you ever do it at all. :)

Just kidding, but just think of it this way: If you skip a workout, all that means is that you skipped a workout. Nothing more.

Letting go of guilt is a beautiful thing, and it opens you up to receive goodness and joy and feel more willing to try again for the next workout.

Just celebrate each moment you live into your intentions, and don’t stress if it doesn’t happen. Life’s too short for that.

A Surprising Way to Deal with Pain, Anger, and Stress

October 30, 2015 By Heather 5 Comments

It came on quickly, pain and tingling in my wrist and arm, going all the way up to my shoulder. It was scary, especially after Googling carpal tunnel and realizing how hard that can be to fix.

I could guess some of the causes… a desk that’s not the right height. Too much time doing Canva. Less than perfect form and posture.

But I’ve had this desk and probably the same poor posture for a long time now, and I have used the computer a ton in the past without problem. So it did seem odd that it was all of a sudden causing all these symptoms.

I took a needed break from the computer, and thankfully it got better. I also tried to use better form when typing and using the mouse and did more stretching and exercises to open up my shoulders and neck.

(I also want to spend less time sitting at the computer, and I’m thinking about getting an ergonomic mouse and keyboard.)

I think all of that was and is helpful and good, especially the stretching, which I highly recommend since it’s so easy to succumb to poor posture in these days of computers and excessive sitting.

Unfortunately, my symptoms came back later (although not as bad as before, thank goodness) and that led me to seek solutions again.

A friend of mine told me that he had had carpal tunnel in the past and had even had surgery for it, but that didn’t fix it for him.

He shared with me the unconventional solution that did work for him, even though he thought I might be skeptical about it. To his surprise, I was completely open to the idea, since it’s based on the mind-body connection, which I am well-acquainted with and am a big believer in.

More about that in a moment… but first, what is it?

The Unconventional Cure

It’s called pain journaling, and it works! I tried it, and I believe it did make my carpal tunnel symptoms go away.

I also notice I just feel better when I do it. I can literally feel myself relaxing and feeling better physically when I do this.

I think it also works well for stress related muscle tension and pain. My neck and shoulders get sore and tense at times, and I feel like pain journaling helps relieve that as well.

Obviously if you are in pain, it’s important to fix any issues with poor form or posture and rule out any structural problems, and of course go to the doctor if you need to… but if you do all that you can and still have pain, then it’s definitely worth a try.

Thankfully I haven’t experienced ongoing, chronic pain, but having carpal tunnel symptoms that are cropping up from time to time is a big incentive for me to do what I can to make it go away as quickly as possible.

So while I haven’t used pain journaling for ongoing, chronic pain, it has helped me get rid of occasional pains.

I also want to mention that I feel like I would benefit from doing it more frequently, but so far I just do it as needed. I might challenge myself to do it for a month and then let you all know the results. (Let me know if you like that idea.)

Why It Works

The theory is that one cause of chronic pain is repressed negative emotions. When you journal out all the negative emotions that you can, it relieves the stress of holding all of that inside, and your body no longer reacts with pain.

When I first heard about this, I embraced it immediately.

It made perfect sense to me for so many reasons. It fits together with so much of what I know and believe already about the the effects of stress on our bodies and minds and the benefits of letting feelings and thoughts through, rather than holding them in and pushing them down.

This concept fits with my understanding of why meditation works. In meditation, we bring our awareness to our thoughts and feelings. We accept them and we accept ourselves as the thinker of those thoughts and the feeler of those feelings, without judgment.

And we let them go.

It’s just as in pain journaling, we bring our awareness to these feelings and thoughts that we have but that are difficult or we think are unacceptable or that we are even afraid to feel or think, and through the act of bringing our awareness to them and writing them down, we let them through. We let them go.

It fits with what I know about the mind-body connection in the context of giving birth… how a fearful, stressed mama can slow down and even stop her labor until she feels safe again, and how being afraid in birth causes more pain, while feeling safe and unafraid allows for less pain.

It also fits with what I know about all the detrimental effects of stress on the body. It’s well-known that stress can cause and aggravate physical ailments, such as headaches, stomach problems, high blood pressure, sleep issues, and more, so it makes sense that it could be a cause of chronic pain.

If you have chronic pain or even occasional pain, and nothing else seems to work or you can’t find a physical cause for it, pain journaling might help. It’s free and easy and certainly can’t hurt to try (pun intended!).

And I also believe that it makes sense to do this in addition to other methods of dealing with pain, since holding in stress can make existing ailments even worse. Releasing that stress may allow other methods to be more effective than they would be otherwise.

How to Do Pain Journaling

It’s simple and free (as so many of the best things are).

Write down anything and everything you can think of that makes you feel angry, irritated, frustrated, sad, guilty, ashamed, hurt, embarrassed, worried, afraid… anything at all negative.

These can be small things. Or big things. Anything from the past, anytime in the past, even 30 years ago. It could be from today. From five minutes ago. Last night. This very moment.

Anything that comes up when you sit quietly and search your mind for things that make you angry, annoyed, irritated, ashamed, or afraid–that is what you write down. Just write it all down.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve already “dealt with it” or if you feel like it’s over or if (and especially if) you feel like you “shouldn’t” feel this way.

If it crosses your mind, just write it down. (I find that even things that I have worked through in the past and that I do feel peace about, they still sometimes crop up as things that make me angry. And that’s okay!)

Also a note here: It’s okay and normal to feel angry or irritated at your loved ones. Even your children. Even your husband or people who are nice. Even strangers. Even yourself.

If you are worried about someone else reading it, feel free to just put the first letter of words and write in your messiest handwriting. These kinds of thoughts and feelings tend to bring out the messy in me.

You know what you’re writing and that’s all that matters. I don’t even go back and read it. It doesn’t matter. The work is in the process of letting it out, letting it through, no longer holding it in.

You can use a journal or a notebook or just a sheet of paper. You can use post it notes or scraps of paper. You can keep it or you can throw it away. For that matter, you could use a small whiteboard and a dry-erase marker and just erase it every time. (I actually might try this!)

BooksAbout Pain Journaling

If you’re interested in reading more, these two books give a lot more information about why pain journaling works and more details about how to do it as a solution for chronic pain. The first one has more about the science of why it works. The second one is more of a practical how-to guide.

The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain by John E. Sarno, M.D.

View Book

Pain-Free for Life: The 6-Week Cure for Chronic Pain–Without Surgery or Drugs by Scott Brady

View Book

Over to You

How do you deal with pain, anger, or stress? Share your tips or ideas in the comments below.

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Love,
Heather

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I Can Run (and You Can, Too!)

March 3, 2015 By Heather 5 Comments

I can do it! — Lily’s message in the sand.

I did it!

Yesterday I reached my first running goal, which was to run 20 minutes without stopping. I actually ran for 23 minutes. I was amazed and thrilled. I didn’t think I’d reach my goal so soon.

Running has never been easy for me. My first experience with running was in school, when my PE teachers would make us run around the track. I hated it. It was hard, I wasn’t good at it, and I dreaded doing it. After graduating from high school, I happily left running behind.

In college, I discovered all sorts of fun physical education classes, such as swimming, horseback riding, rock climbing, ballroom and folk/square dance, and Project Adventure, a ropes course. I loved all my college PE classes. But I still had no desire to run.

Later on, I was going through a difficult time in my life, and I was inspired to start running and weight training at home. I had done weight training before, but I’d never really run. I did a run/walk program, and I vaguely remember working my way from run three minutes/walk one to running 20 minutes straight. I ran around and around in my secluded flat yard, and I enjoyed it even though it was hard.

It definitely helped me feel better, and I ended up in the best physical condition I’d ever been in. But over time I relaxed my work out regimen and stopped running for quite a few years.

Ready to Run Again

My decision to start again was prompted by my desire to get in better shape, feel better, and have more energy. Plus I have a few pounds to lose, and just eating low carb has only gotten me so far.

I started running in December before Christmas. My intention was to run three times a week, but in actuality it’s ranged from once a week to twice a week for the most part. I may have run three times in one week recently. I also took a long break for a bad stomach bug we came down with.

Shortly after I started my running, I decided to sign up for my first race! That’s been a fun motivator, along with my supportive husband, parents, and friends who’ve been cheering me on.

My goal is to try to run three times a week until the 5k, which is later this month on Pi Day. I know I won’t be able to run the whole thing without stopping. My goal is to do my best and run as much as I can. I am really happy about it.

Starting running has had so many benefits. I feel great after I run, physically and mentally. I feel glad for meeting my goal. I feel good knowing I’m valuing my health in a tangible way. And it’s a great feeling to make real, noticeable improvements in my fitness. It’s kind of magical how our bodies change through exercise.

After Googling beginner running plans, I started with five intervals of run three minutes, walk one. Then I moved to four 4/1’s. Then I made the jump to three 6/1’s, and then a breakthrough to running 10 minutes, walk one, run 13 minutes… ! That surprised me. After I did that, I was just hoping I’d be able to do it again. I didn’t want to go backwards.

Last weekend I was visiting my Mom when I managed to do it a second time. For some reason it was harder run for me, in spite of the fact that she lives in a totally flat area, whereas my neighborhood is a little hilly.

I have noticed that some days it’s harder, and some days it’s a little easier, and I’m not sure why that is. I assumed it had to do with my sleep and recent eating, but I’m not so sure.

The run on Saturday was extra special for me, because my daughter Lily ran with me for the first time. That was a lot of fun, and interesting to see how different her running was from mine.

Mother Daughter Duo — Lily and I after our run.

She would run at my pace sometimes, then stop to check out something on the ground… and then catch up and sprint past me, and ask me all sorts of questions that I wasn’t sure I had the breath to answer. And then after a while she was ready to stop, and I kept going.

At some point she scratched the message, “I can do it!” into the sandy road. I was so happy to read that, for her, and also for me.

At the end of the run, she was my teacher, and she led me through some stretching and breathing exercises that she learned in her PE class, which is much better than the the ones I had, for sure.

It was great, especially when we lay down and did savasana, at first looking up at the blue clouded sky, cooling wind on hot faces, and then closing our eyes and seeing swirling red, with tiny darker red dots. I told Lily I thought it was blood flowing through our capillaries.

Yesterday I was hoping I could do it again, the run ten minutes, run thirteen minutes, although I’d slept poorly the night before and felt dehydrated from inadequate water intake.

I set out from my house, and it felt pretty okay. Luckily I’ve planned my course to start out with a downhill to get me going.

One of the highlights early on was spotting Lily on the playground as I ran by the school. Her face lit up, and we waved at each other, and I blew her a kiss. With a final glance back and a wave goodbye, I kept on running.

When I reached ten minutes, I felt like I could keep going, so I did. And at 15, I still felt like I could keep going, so I decided to try for 20. When I got close to 20, I was going downhill, so I just kept going after that, until I decided to stop at 23 minutes.

I am so happy and can hardly believe I ran for more than 20 minutes straight. Woohoo! I’ve always felt like a non-runner at heart, but I can do it. I really can. I can start small and build up.

I am surprised at how quickly I reached my 20-minute goal, especially since I wasn’t running three, or even two times a week. But I do think this may have been a good thing, because it has allowed my body to recover better before running again.

I definitely want to avoid getting injured if I possibly can. My next goal is 30 minutes.

Inspiring Reads

As I began my recent running journey, I read a couple of good books about it.

One was called Running With Curves by Jill Angie. This was really encouraging and had a lot of good tips for beginners. One helpful tip she gave was to point out the difference between discomfort and pain that you need to pay attention to. Although of course you should trust your gut about this, just because you have some minor weird feeling doesn’t mean you need to stop.

The other book was Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek and Steve Friedman. This was the most interesting book I’ve read in a while. It is the autobiography of Scott Jurek, who is an ultramarathon runner. (I didn’t even know what ultramarathons were before reading this book. Anyone up for a 50- or 100-mile race?)

In the book he talks about his childhood, in which he had to take on a lot of responsibility early on due to his mother’s MS, and his wild and crazy best friend Dusty, and how he got into vegetarianism for better health. It has running tips and recipes and a lot of asking why. It was very good.

How I Started

For how-to’s, I just did a little Googling for beginner running plans, and even though they’re a little different, the basic idea is the same, start small with run/walk and gradually increase your running. Basically I just moved up by going longer if I felt like it that day.

For supplies, I had my old “tennis” shoes and clothes that would work, but I needed a way to carry my phone without having to hold it, so I bought a FlipBelt , which works well. I also bought a digital watch so I could time my intervals.

I also ended up trying out the free Runkeeper app for my phone. At first I couldn’t get it to work, but I finally changed a GPS setting on my phone which made it work. It’s interesting to see my pace, and it’s an easy way to track my running.

Reflections

It hasn’t been easy. I encourage myself a lot in my mind. At first when I’d get to the really hard parts, I would remind myself that I’ve given birth twice, so I can do this! I’m sure I’ll use that one again.

At first I felt a little self-conscious about running in public, but I’ve pretty well gotten over that. I know that others really don’t care and are focused on their own lives.

And people are nice. Yesterday an older man I passed made an encouraging remark, and many people share friendly smiles as I pass them walking their dogs.

I run slowly. And that’s okay. Sometimes I consciously try to run as slow as I can so that I can run as long as I can without stopping.

And some days are harder than others, but they’re still valuable. They’re still taking me forward.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kind of love it. I hope it stays that way.

If you’re thinking of starting running, I highly recommend it. If I can do it, you can do it!

I can do things I didn’t think I could do.

I can do things that are hard.

One step, and then another, and just keeping on going will take me places.

How are you doing things you didn’t think you could do? I’d love to hear about it. And if you run or are thinking about starting, please tell me in the comments. <3