A Friendly Nudge - Thank You
...because we all could use a little encouragement!
I want to thank all of you who have recently subscribed to A Friendly Nudge and re-thank all of you who’ve been here for a while. I appreciate you joining me on this journey.
I never expected to be doing a weekly food and exercise video or posting exercise snacks on social media. This all sort of happened by accident.
When the gyms shut down at the beginning of Covid, my son suggested that his older brother and I join him in doing 1000 push ups in a week. I have severe arthritis in my shoulder and didn’t see myself succeeding at that one. I said I'd try to do 500, but wasn’t even sure if I could manage that.
Pretty quickly I realized that I could do 10 pushups without too much trouble so I started doing 10 at a time several times an hour and by the end of the week I’d done 1100 pushups. I don’t do crazy numbers of pushups any more, but that experience got me excited about doing brief bouts of exercise - i.e. exercise snacks.
I started applying the snack approach to things like squats, planks, kettlebell exercises and even chin ups and before long I was loving how it was making me feel. I’ve exercised off and on for most of my life, but I’d been stuck in the off part of that cycle for quite a while. Exercise snacks helped me fall back in love with feeling better again.
About that time my daughter posted a video of me getting off the ground without using my hands and I was unprepared for the responses I got. I heard from so many people saying they were struggling with their mobility and trying to find a way back into exercising.
I started posting daily exercise snacks and things just sort of took off. But every time social media adjusts their algorithm it impacts who may or may not see my videos. I finally decided to start A Friendly Nudge and use Substack to publish it, in an effort to provide a more consistent way to get a weekly series of exercises out to folks and to post a cooking video each week.
I try to keep the equipment needed to a minimum, but I do use some basic things like bands, platforms or steps, a stability ball, a slam ball, light dumbbells and kettlebells. The links I post are affiliate links so I do earn a small commission on those items.
If you’re just getting started and you haven’t exercised in a while, it’s never a bad idea to get a “cleared to exercise” blessing from your doc. And most importantly, be patient with yourself and realize that it’s OK to ease in. If an exercise looks a little too ambitious now, pass on it and maybe do it later as you get stronger.
People ask me all the time if it’s too late for them to get started and the news there is fantastic. The research is pretty unambiguous, 80 and 90 year olds without previous exercise experience gained both muscle and strength with resistance training.
We’ll get to the exercises in a minute, but first let’s make some breakfast.
Think of this week’s breakfast as sort of a cross between cornbread and pancakes - hoe cakes!
I thought these had a southern origin, but it sounds like they were part of Native Americans’ diet and are also referred to as Shawnee cakes which may have morphed into Johnnycakes in the northeast. Regardless of their origin, I’m grateful that they crossed my path and I think you’ll share my appreciation of them.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups flour (I used King Arthur Gluten Free)
1 ½ cups corn meal
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
3 eggs - beaten
1 cup of buttermilk or 1 cup of milk + 1 tbsp white vinegar
¼ cup melted butter
⅔ cups water
Avocado oil for cooking
Your choices of pancake toppings. I went with apple butter and maple syrup.
If you’re not using buttermilk, add 1 tbsp of white vinegar to 1 cup milk and let that hang out while you get everything else ready
Add all dry ingredients to the bowl and combine and then in another bowl add beaten eggs, melted butter, water and whatever version of milk you’re using.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined.
Add a little avocado oil to the heated skillet or griddle you’re using and then add about ½-⅔ cup batter mixture. As the edge of the cake begins to look set and you see some bubbles forming in the middle of the cake, use a spatula to turn the cake over. Let it heat until the underside is slightly brown. Transfer to a sheet tray in a 250℉ oven while the rest of the cakes are cooking.
I’ve made these several times and we’re loving them.
Let me know if these are going to become part of your “breakfast indulgence” rotation.
Now let’s explore some ways to add a little doable strength, balance and mobility work into your week.