Tag Archives: healthy living

Choosing or observing?

How much of our lives are passive?

We observe the world, watching through our eyes, hearing through our ears, feeling through our skin, and tasting in our mouths. Each of these senses giving us feedback about the world around us. But how much time do we spend really choosing what those senses share with us, versus passively accepting what those senses are exposed to?

It is our action or lack of action that determines what our senses observe or endure. Is there a hobby you’ve always wanted to try? A food you’ve always wanted to taste? A place you’ve always wanted to visit? (Maybe somewhere you can walk or hike to, while travel is restricted.)

How much time do we spend being observers of this world, mere victims of our circumstances, versus creators of our world, choosing our path and seeking out new experiences, new things that our senses can take in?

This is a choice. Not realizing this is also a choice.

Workday morning routine

I have a pretty good internal clock, and on most days I will wake up before my alarm. Doesn’t matter if I set the time for 4:30am, 5, or 5:30, most days I’ll wake up about 10 to 20 minutes before my phone’s alarm starts to chime. Usually this is great, I can sneak out of bed without disrupting my wife’s sleep too much.

But sometimes this can be a challenge too. When my body wakes me to at 4:10 because my alarm is set for 4:30, it can be hard to get myself out of bed. When my eyes open and I’m exhausted, I find myself hoping that I’m 2 hours early, so that I can justify going back to sleep just a little while longer.

This morning I’m up 15 minutes early. Meditation is done, daily write just about done. This morning’s exercise will be treadmill for cardio then some push-ups and a quick workout of chest and triceps, because that’s what I feel like doing today… 20 minutes aerobic exercise, listening to an audio book, then 2-3 sets of weights/body weight exercise listening to my workout playlist, and not-quite enough stretching added in. Then my shower and grooming before heading to school to start my work day.

Other than an email check including a daily news report that I subscribe to (the only news I get these days, since I don’t watch tv and minimally use social media), and that’s my usual morning routine… A routine that very often starts with me checking the time a few minutes before my alarm goes off.

Now it’s time to go to Pixabay, to choose a cover photo for this post (I limit the search time to 2-4 minutes), then schedule this post and start my exercise routine. And there is my usual start to my workday.

New fitness goal

About 4 years ago I was the heaviest I’ve ever been. I did 3 months of the Ketogenic diet and lost 15lbs. I loved how I felt but I hated how antisocial the diet was. It is a lifestyle that’s hard to keep. I also started intermittent fasting and that did wonders for my mood. I used to get ‘hangry’, angry when I was hungry, but intermittent fasting seemed to change that and evened out my sugar levels and my mood.

I’ve been on a fantastic healthy living journey since I started my sticker chart at the start of 2019, (here’s a post and video after a year on this journey), and I’ve kept this up. But at the start of the school year I dropped a bit too much weight and actually ended up lighter than my university weight, despite working out 5-6 times a week. So I started drinking a protein shake in the morning and worrying less about fasting.

Now, 6 months later, I’ve gained about 5-6 healthy pounds back, but considering how hard I’ve been pushing myself, I should have gained more muscle mass by now. So I’m going to change a few things.

My plan:

1. Eat more and more often.

2. Two protein shakes a day.

3. Add creatine monohydrate and BCAA supplements.

4. Train with a focus on strength and pushing my muscles to fatigue… but also giving different muscle groups more rest between workouts

5. Stretch more and make sure I maintain (and hopefully improve) flexibility.

6. Drink more water.

My goal: Gain 7-10 pounds in the next 6-8 weeks, then reduce my food intake and go back to lighter weights with higher reps, and probably lose 2-4 pounds. I hope plan to end up at least 5 pounds heavier than I am now.

That might seem like a lot of work for 5 pounds, but it will be 5 pounds that I want and that I know that I can keep on. I was the same body weight, give or take just a couple pounds from about age 26 to my mid 40’s, if I got fit or unfit, the weight just shifted but didn’t change. It was only when I approached 50 that the unhealthy weight gain started.

I should mention that I’m also going back to the challenge I had with my brother-in-law. The goal was 60 push-ups and 30 pull-ups. I got to 60 push-ups (barely and not prettily) but I had to stop the pull-ups for a while. I have started back and last night I did 21. I want to hit 30 in the next 6 weeks as well.

So now I have set goals. I’ve made them public, and I’ve started on my path. I’m putting a reminder in my calendar for every Sunday to weigh myself, and a reality check reminder with a link to this post on May 18th. I believe that I’ll achieve my goals as long as I remember my age, and be smart about not pushing my body (and especially my back) too hard. On with the plan!

Sore from workouts

There are different kinds of soreness that your body can experience, and one of those is the soreness that comes after a hard workout. It’s an ache in your muscles that says to you, ‘these muscles were pushed hard’! And, it is felt even more the second day after you worked the muscles than it is felt just one day after.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of archery recently and so I hadn’t been doing a lot of hard workouts, because it’s hard to pull a 50 pound bow and aim it well when your arms are fatigued even before you get started. But this past week I knew I was going to shoot less and so after a couple months of taking it easy with my workouts, I pushed myself. Right now my triceps, my lats, and my quads are workout sore. Yesterday my chest was too, but that has subsided.

While it’s a feeling that lets me know that I’ve done a good job increasing my strength, it can also be a bit much when I’m feeling it in too many places at once. That’s a reminder that I don’t have to go into ‘all or nothing’ mode. That becomes a challenge as I get older. I cruise for a while, working out but not pushing myself too hard, then I go speed boat and full throttle for a bit, before going back to cruise mode. Overall, I’d have to say that I’ve been good at balancing this off, or evening it out, over the past few years. I think this is a lapse rather than a pattern.

So this morning I’ll focus on stretching, and moving my muscles with lighter weights to help the lactic acid move out of my sore muscles. And I’ll remember that while a little muscle soreness can be good, there really can be too much of a good thing.

Lessons from a 97yr old

This 2.5 minute video is an absolute gem! Meet Charles Eugster:

I’ve been on a fitness kick since the start of 2019, and I feel younger than I did in 2018. I know I won’t win the battle against old age, and that my abilities will decrease. But, I also know that I can live more vibrantly in my old age if I keep this up… and quite frankly the alternatives suck.

There are so many take-aways in this short video. Watch it again. Think about how Charles’ attitude could benefit you, no matter how old you are.

Silver lining vs grey cloud

I recently wrote this in a comment on LinkedIn, in response to my post, ‘Cruise ships and education‘:

“…the pandemic also has many thinking about coping and not thriving, being safe and not being creative.”

The pandemic has opened the door to look at things differently, but a year into this, my creative juices have slowed. I think about ideas and I see roadblocks. I tell students they can’t do things because of safety, rather than trying to get to ‘Yes’. I hold off on interesting projects that would add things to other’s plates. I feel my excitement wane when I get together for another online meeting, even if I like the topic of discussion.

I feel that opportunity is meeting fatigue. There is a saying that every grey cloud has a silver lining… but some grey clouds hide that silver lining. Sometimes the rain doesn’t even let you see the clouds. Right now the metaphorical rains are pouring for me. I’m getting work done, but I’m not thriving at work. I’m exercising regularly, but I’m going through the motions, in maintainance mode, rather than pushing myself. I’m writing daily, but I’m not getting lost in the creative act. I’m listening to a book, but not feeling like I’m enjoying it, and bouncing to podcasts that I’d normally love, but find my mind wondering, unfocused as I listen.

On Monday there was great news about how fast the vaccine would be coming to all Canadians that want it. It should have been exciting news, but I find myself doubting the timelines. In all honesty, I don’t know if I’m truly doubtful based on facts, or if I need to be doubtful because it would be painful to see that silver lining ahead of me and then be crushed that it does not come to fruition. I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than devastatingly disappointed.

“…the pandemic also has many thinking about coping and not thriving, being safe and not being creative.”

‘Many’ includes me. I’m seeing a lot of grey and not a lot of silver right now. I need to give myself permission to be in maintenance mode… To focus on caring for myself and those around me, and not beat myself up for coping rather than thriving.

_____

Postscript: I read this (long but well worth reading) article after writing the post above, and it struck a cord with me:

5 Pandemic Mistakes We Keep Repeating

…especially this part:

One thing that I didn’t balance with my thoughts above is that there are so many people who have handled this pandemic poorly, including those leading us, that in a way ‘coping’ is succeeding. We aren’t just fighting the pandemic, we are fighting misinformation, ignorance, and leadership choosing to follow the science only as far as political and economic agendas will allow… all clouds that hide the silver lining (and the hope for it).

My goal is to see some normalcy in early 2022. Anything before that isn’t just silver, it’s gold!

Cold shower

Unexpected snow has delayed my Daily-Ink today… Shovelling the driveway is taking priority and I’ll get this out tonight. But this is connected to the idea of the post, because I really bundle up just to do something like clearing that white, fluffy, frigid stuff off of my driveway.

Cold showers:

I hate the cold. Can’t stand feeling a chill. I blame it on being born in the Caribbean. In Barbados as a kid, when I was at the beach and it started to rain, tourists would get into the water, since they are getting wet anyway. I’d get out of the water because without the sun shining, the water was too cold for me.

Recently I’ve been turning the hot water off at the end of my showers. I let the water hit the top of my head and wait for it to go cold. Then I move so the water hits my chest and I turn in a circle, getting the water first to hit my core, then down my arms and legs.

By my first turn, my breath is taken away. I actually feel like it’s hard to breathe. I only do this for about 15 seconds but it feels longer. Even after I turn the water off my breathing is shallow and takes a moment to recover.

Then two things happen, first, I feel a tingling sensation and I feel wide awake. This feeling is better than my first coffee! Next, I open my shower curtain and grab my towel. Usually when I do this I feel an uncomfortable chill, but instead the air feels comfortable. So rather than getting a chill from the contrast of hot water to cold air, I feel comfortable.

Fifteen seconds of chilly agony, followed by a huge payoff. I’m going to keep doing this, but I might end up taking slightly longer showers as I convince myself to turn the hot water off.

I’ve got a friend who asks me to join him for a polar bear swim each new year. I’m a step closer, but it might still be a few years before I am willing to take the plunge… if I ever do!

Tracking My Heart Rate

I’ve always had a slow pulse. When I was in my last year of high school I was in a pool training for water polo 10 to 12 times a week. When I took my pulse in the morning, it was usually between 32 and 35 beats per second. Now when I take my pulse, usually after my morning meditation, it tends to sit between 49 and 43 beats per minute.

It’s healthy to have a nice slow resting heart rate, but sometimes it can hinder me too. Sometimes, when I’m not active, I can feel tired and lazy. Especially after I eat a big meal. I think it’s because while my body focuses on digestion, my slow pulse doesn’t feed the rest of me enough to keep me going when I’m sedentary. So, I tend to move around a lot after lunch, because I’m not too productive sitting at my desk just after a meal.

I’ve recently been tracking my heart rate with my phone. As I mentioned, the first time is resting, after my meditation, the second time during my workout. The App works by putting my finger over the camera, with the light on. The problem is that I just had to switch phones and this new phone uses a camera that’s farther away from the light than my previous phone, and my measurement during or usually just after activity tends to fail and force a retry. This can happen several times and my heart rate is slowing while I do this.

I shouldn’t let this bug me. I can calculate my pulse without the App, but I like having it track my progress and it bugs me that I can’t get it to work easily. I’m going to have to try a new app, one that works for me, rather than fight me. I like tools to track my progress, that’s why my sticker chart works so well. So I need to find a new tracker, and surrender the fact that I paid for this App… which, while a nominal fee, wasn’t enough to keep my feeling frustrated on a regular basis. Our tools need to work for us, not against us.

Documenting progress through journaling

When I restarted archery last December, I was told by my coach that I should be journaling after each practice. I don’t know why, but I decided that I’d do this using pen and paper. So when I come home from practice, I open my paper notebook and I reflect and journal. Then I take a photo of this and add it to an archery album on my phone, where I also add photos of my score cards.

At Inquiry Hub we are always telling students to document their journey. For some this is a natural thing that they do, for others it’s a challenge. I remember doing a presentation at a local conference, and I took along a few soon-to-be grads from our first year with iHub grads. An educator asked one of the grads, ‘What would you tell your younger self if you were to start back at Inquiry Hub all over again. (A great question.) One of my grads said, without missing a beat. “Oh that’s easy, I’d say, ‘document, document, document’.”

This student and his twin brother had done some amazing inquiries, however they didn’t journal along the way nearly as much as they should have. For example they assembled a very finicky 3D printer, and watched many amateur user videos to trouble shoot, but they didn’t make their own videos when they came up with clever fixes and hacks. Graduating and looking back, they could see what they missed out on.

Students can learn so much from regularly reflecting on both successes and failures. So too can adults. My journal today didn’t look at the frustration I had tuning my new bow. Instead I capitalized on the idea that, while my site and rest are still off, and I’m adjusting as I go, I can still focus on my shot process and do that well.

I know that keeping a learning journal has helped me with my progress as an archer. For some reason, I also feel that literally putting ‘pen to paper’ has helped me anchor in the lessons that a digital journal wouldn’t. And yet, I tend to look at the journal more because it is also available digitally on my phone. All this to say, that as part of a learning process, reflection and journaling are very effective.

Remember that along your learning journey, it’s a good idea to journal, reflect, and document, document, document.

Balancing fitness and wellness

On January 19th my brother-in-law and I bet that we would be able to do a couple fitness challenges by February 19th. The first one is 60 push-ups, and the second one is 30 pull-ups.

I began at a point where I was regularly doing 25-30 push-ups and 10-12 pull-ups, and felt that 60 consecutive push-ups was easy to get to, but the pull-ups would be a challenge. I was right, and while a week ago I was able to do 60 push-ups (the last 15 very slowly and more vocal than I would have liked), I was only at 18 pull-ups and knew I would struggle to hit my goal by the 19th.

Then my upper back started to tighten up. I have always had to take special care of my back, dealing with issues since I grew 7.5 inches in a year as a teenager. I have mild scoliosis, and deal with discomfort daily, and pain when I’m not caring for myself, or when I do something silly or accidental. This upper back pain wasn’t an injury feeling, just an overall tightness that wouldn’t go away.

So, last week Wednesday I had a very deep massage that was one of the more uncomfortable ones I’ve had in ages, and came home had a hot tub after dinner. In the hot tub, finally feeling normal, I decided I needed to give my shoulders a break and I paused my push-up and pull-up regimen. I’ve kept up my cardio, I took Saturday off, I took it easy yesterday, and will do so again today when I head down to my home gym after writing this.

The reality is that I’m stubborn and I plan on meeting the pull-up challenge eventually. I’m fitter than I’ve been in a couple decades. I’m lighter than I’ve been in a couple decades. And half a life ago I used to do 3 sets of 28 chin-ups with a 25lb weight hanging off of me. I know 30 pull-ups is something I’ll be able to ‘pull off’. The challenge is that I can’t live my life trying to meet unrealistic fitness goals, and feeling like my back is in a constant state of flexing too hard. I can’t sacrifice my wellness for a fitness goal.

I’ve been on a 2-year healthy living path. My back has been better than it has been in years, but I would still be lying to myself if I said my back didn’t give me issues. Stretching and very deep massage help a lot. Staying fit helps a lot. But over-exertion and pushing myself doesn’t help. I can progress and improve slowly, but I can’t race.

At 53, I don’t plan on slowing down and taking it easy. I plan on reaching new fitness goals… but I need to be the tortoise and not the hare. Slow and steady progress is what will benefit me, while pretending I’m youthful and invincible will cause avoidable injury. This will hurt both my overall wellness and my ability to not just improve but also maintain my fitness. I won’t be doing 30 pull-ups any time soon, but I will work to get there, and I believe it’s achievable… without sacrificing the well-being of my back.