A Friendly Nudge - Find Your Thing
...because we all could use a little encouragement!
Exercise can be intimidating–until it’s not. I know that sounds like something Yogi Berra would say, but bear with me. If you’re not someone who exercises, exercise sounds hard. Sort of like driving a stick shift or riding a bicycle. Once you get the hang of it, something that initially looked so complicated suddenly feels like second nature. But I still remember those first few lurching circuits around the school parking lot learning to drive a stick and it felt anything but natural. However, by the end of the first day I could make it through an intersection without stalling and in short order it wasn’t even something that I thought about. It was just something I did.
There’s one slight problem with my analogy: I didn’t have a choice. My first car was a beater and it was an automatic and when it died my only option was a standard. If I wanted to drive, I had to learn to drive a stick, so that simplified the decision making process and it guaranteed compliance. But it didn’t feel like a chore; I wanted to learn because having a car was the gateway to independence. And in a lot of ways, exercise plays a pivotal role in maintaining our independence as we age.
Since exercise can have such a dramatic impact on our health and our independence, we need to do everything we can to increase our odds of not just making it sustainable but into something that we look forward to.
Cut yourself some slack. I realize after last week’s Nudge that I need to do a better job of emphasizing that fitness and strength is a journey and if you’re just getting started, going for a short walk might be your starting point. And if you haven’t been walking on a regular basis, that short walk might be a high five moment and worthy of celebration.
In order for exercise to be successful we have to start where we are. That means if you haven’t been walking for a while, you don’t start off with a 10 mile walk. We want to give your body time to adapt and we want to keep the process enjoyable.
I’ve talked before about doing the pushup challenge with my sons and while I’m not a big fan of doing a whole bunch of the same exercise every day it was motivating to be doing it with my kids. Getting someone to join you, even if you’re doing it in different towns and at different times, just knowing that someone else is on the journey with you can be encouraging.
Charles Duhigg, the author of The Power of Habit treats himself to a smoothie after he goes for a run because it’s something he enjoys and he views it as a reward that reinforces his exercise habit. He also talks about how he and his wife have become each other’s exercise accountability partners. They enjoy exercising together and knowing that the other one is getting ready to head to the gym can make the difference on those days when you’re wavering between hitting snooze again or pulling yourself out of bed and doing something that you’ll be grateful for in the long run.
The secret is to find your thing. Maybe it’s a treat or a reward, or someone that you work out with or a community that you’re a part of or maybe your reinforcement is just the way that you feel when you give your body something challenging to do. The important thing is giving your exercise habit enough time and support to take root and thrive.
At some point you start seeing yourself as someone that exercises, and suddenly exercise stops feeling like a chore and it’s just something that you just do. In fact, it’s something that you can’t imagine not doing. Your body starts feeling different.
It’s weird to feel stronger at almost 71 than I was when I was 55. I still have aches and pains but it’s the superficial kind, not the kind that keeps me from doing the things that I enjoy. And when I do tweak something, I’m learning how to properly load it to accelerate my recovery, because I plan on doing some version of this as long as I’m on this side of the dirt.
So find your thing.
I’m a big fan of doable, but I’m fairly allergic to fussy or overly complicated. I don’t think everything in our lives needs to be optimized, but the important stuff warrants some of our attention and a reasonable amount of effort. I include a cooking video of some sort every week because cooking more of our meals at home is one of those things that can disproportionately move the needle on our overall health.
This week’s meal is a repeat performance because it’s one of my favorite breakfasts–and although a bit indulgent, there is a non-trivial healthy upside.
Blueberry Plantain Pancakes
The secret to these is green plantains. Green plantains are a lot starchier than the ripe version and they yield the best pancakes and give us resistant starch that feeds our gut biome.
Ingredients:
2 large green plantains
3 tbsp coconut oil - melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 fat pinch of salt
4 eggs
1 handful blueberries
1 handful chopped pecans
1 handful toasted coconut flakes
Put the blueberries, pecans and coconut flakes in a large mixing bowl, you’ll add the batter to this after those ingredients are blended.
Put the peeled plantains, eggs, baking soda and baking powder, salt, vanilla extract and melted coconut oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour the batter into the mixing bowl with the other ingredients and stir to combine.
Place a small amount of coconut oil on a medium hot skillet or griddle. After pouring onto the griddle, turn the pancake once the edges are set and the bubbles in the batter begin to retain their shape. (Your years of pancake making will tell you it’s time to flip the pancake.) Once it’s done on the other side, transfer the pancake to a sheet tray in a 200℉ oven to keep warm.
Serve with maple syrup and whatever else you enjoy on your pancakes.
Enjoy!
Now let’s give you some options to help you build more strength, balance and mobility.
Skip any exercises that you don’t feel ready for and remember that you can do these as individual snacks or as a circuit. If you’re doing snacks, it’s still a good idea to do some form of warm up. I either do an easier version of the exercise, like a set of pushups against the counter before regular pushups or an easier set of pushups well short of my max effort to give my muscles a chance to warm up and to get my nervous system and muscles a chance to get on the same page.