Tag Archives: healthy living

Speed bumps are not road block

For over a week now, I’ve been dealing with a minor shoulder injury. I’m not sure how I got it, but I think shovelling snow and wide grip chin-ups were a bad combination, and I’ve pinched a nerve. Mentally it has been tough because I can’t help but think that this would have been an injury that would have lingered for 3 days if I were in my 20’s, but it has bugged me now for over a week. This “I’m no spring chicken anymore” attitude isn’t great, but I can’t help but think it when even trying to put my coat on makes me feel old.

However, in previous years, this injury would have brought my workouts to a standstill. I would have taken a break from my routine. Instead, I’m sticking to my Healthy Living Goals. In this 2019 year-end post, is a tip that I shared which I’m sticking to. This tip is to ‘reduce friction’, and a key point is:

Don’t exercise at your maximum every day. Some days I push really hard, and some days I go at 75%. A day when you are feeling low, give yourself an effort break, but don’t give yourself a break from actually doing exercise.

I haven’t been able to get on the treadmill because the bouncing causes my shoulder to ache, so I’m getting on the exercise bike. While I love mountain biking, I’ve never loved riding on a stationary bike, and so this isn’t my favourite thing to do. Still, today will be my 8th time on the bike in 9 days. I’m not winning any speed records, I am getting my heart rate up, and getting my minimum 20 minute cardio workout in.

I’ve also stopped weights and chin-ups, but I still stretch and work on my core. My workouts are a bit shorter, but they haven’t stopped.

The simple fact is that an injury like this used to become a major roadblock to my regular routine. It used to break the pattern and I’d stop working out. Instead, I’ve looked at this as a minor speed bump. Yes, it has slowed me down. No, I’m not improving my strength and conditioning. I am maintaining my healthy living routines and my streaks (another important tip from my year-end post).

I’m also trying to stay positive and stop myself from experiencing the “I’m getting old” self-pity party, but it’s easier for me to go through the positive physical motions than the mental ones… And on that note, it’s almost 5:30am, time to meditate and then get in that exercise bike. Remember, we are going to hit speed bumps on our healthy living journey, and while we need to listen to our body and slow down, we don’t need to stop.

Healthy Living Goals with tips by David Truss

My healthy living goals year-end reflection

Today’s daily post was shared on my Pair-a-Dimes blog:

My healthy living goals year-end reflection, with 5 key tips.

Here is the quick version:

My video from January:

My video follow-up that I filmed yesterday morning:

The 5 tips I shared:

1. A year-long calendar poster. You get to see at-a-glance how you are doing and you can motivate yourself to meet your goals at the end of the week if you are not on target.

2. The best time to start a new streak is RIGHT NOW. I mentioned this in the video, don’t wallow in disappointment. There are only 3 weeks (starred) in the chart below that show weeks that I didn’t get at least 4 workouts in. I didn’t let those weeks define me.

3. Reduce friction. Here are 3 examples:

  • My stickers and sticker chart are right next to my treadmill. I make it easy to track and see this.
  • I have a pair of runners and a shoe horn in my exercise room. I never have to look for my shoes, and I don’t need to tie them, the shoehorn allows me to slide my feet in while still being tight enough to run in. Also, my headphones, and all equipment are where I need them… Always ready, and I never need to search for them.
  • Don’t exercise at your maximum every day. Some days I push really hard, and some days I go at 75%. A day when you are feeling low, give yourself an effort break, but don’t give yourself a break from actually doing exercise. If you end up doing 3 workouts at a lower effort, you’ll have the drive to push when you feel up to it. Make the friction about how hard you work out, rather than if you are going to work out or not.

4. Share your goals with others. You are more likely to hold yourself accountable if you have made your goals public. That’s partly why I did my original post in January, and promised in that post that I would do this update.

5. Be vigilant at your busiest times. It is really easy to say, “September is too crazy”, or “I’ll get started as soon as things calm down.” There will always be an upcoming busy time to deal with. Things won’t calm down (sorry, but you know this is true). If you want this to work, make it work when you are busiest and the rest of the year will be easy.

My year long calendar I used to track my goals:

Summary of the percentage of days that I achieved my goals:

Workouts: 63% (57% would have been an average of 4-days a week. I only did less than 4 days a week 3 times during the year.)

Time Restricted Eating: 48% (71% would have been the max, or 5/7 days a week).

Meditation: 100% (possible that I might have missed a maximum of 2 days).

Reading & Writing: 86%, 26 books (listened to), and 168 blog posts (mostly through a daily blog since mid-July).

My challenge to you:

Grab a 2020 calendar from Staples, Amazon, or where ever you shop for things like this, and get the new year off to a healthy start!

Again, here is the full post:

My healthy living goals year-end reflection, with 5 key tips.

7 Sins, Part 1 – Gluttony

The holidays seem to be a time when food comes in abundance. Snacks fill the table and side tables within all the living spaces, second helpings are an expectation, and when you feel absolutely stuffed then desserts come out. Leftovers fill the fridge and the eating continues the following day.

If this only happened once a year, it would be fine, but there is always a birthday or holiday celebration. What makes this challenging is that we have a gluttony of sugary snacks available in stores that make up some of the cheaper foods available. Worse yet, there are food deserts in poor communities that make buying junk food not just far cheaper but also much more accessible than eating something healthy.

Junk food is eaten in sinful amounts. The world is getting fatter. Diabetes is becoming epidemic. And sugary food is probably the addiction that affects more people than any other addiction in the world.

It is said that knowing the problem is half the battle. It isn’t. Acting on that knowledge is the hard part. Here are 3 suggestions:

1. Cut out snacks after dinner. Have a glass of tea, drink some bubbly water, or just go for a short walk instead of having a snack. I’m willing to bet that 99% of the snacks you eat after dinner are sugary and/or unhealthy.

2. Read the label before you buy. Ingredients are put in order of the largest ingredients first. If sugar is one of the first 4 ingredients, look for another choice to fill your shopping cart. If it doesn’t make it into your home, it won’t be able to tempt you later.

3. Eat on smaller plates.

You’ll enjoy the food just as much and can end up eating almost 1/4 less food.

Gluttony is easy to succumb to. It can take effort to overcome. Reduce the opportunities for food to tempt you and you will find pleasure in living healthier, rather than giving in to the sinful pleasure of eating too much.

7 Sins Series

  1. Gluttony
  2. Envy
  3. Pride
  4. Lust
  5. Wrath
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth