It’s a new week and a new start. When last I wrote, I’d packed up the car and was headed off to a week’s worth of Commencements. I’m delighted to report that the trip was a total success! My cooler stood me in good stead, and I was able to keep up a semblance of an exercise routine, thanks to hotel treadmills and my own DVDs. I had everything aced … until I got home, and then I fell prey to some vicious virus, which held me in its evil clutches for nearly four (!) weeks. My friends, I was ossified. No workouts. In fact, some mornings it was all I could do to toddle off to work. No energy. And, I’m afraid, my clean eating went the way of my lifting. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
I’d say I’m recovered, but the routine’s been lost. So, the rebuilding begins. However, all is not lost. Once again, I’ve learned a great deal, and I stumbled across two excellent pieces of advice that I thought you all might enjoy reading.
The first popped up in the June issue of “Oprah.” In “What I Know for Sure,” Oprah talked about a recent trip to Africa, and the havoc it played with her schedule. She ditched her workout schedule and ate unwisely … and paid the price. “Unfortunately for me,” she wrote, “the resolve to work out is directly tied to eating healthfully.”
Drum roll please: for me, this is a light bulb moment. When I work out, I eat well. When I don’t, I don’t. The exercise determines the course of my day, in a way that clean eating all by itself does not. To put it another way, with exercise, the food just falls into place; without it, eating is a struggle. Oprah closed the loop in the conclusion of her column when she wrote, “When you nurture and support your body, it reciprocates. The basis of that support is exercise, like it or not. The most essential benefit is more energy. The bonus is weight control. Taking care of your body, no matter what your age, is an investment. The return is priceless.”
Who says Oprah isn’t a 21st century sage?
Then, Geneen Roth turned on another light bulb in the current issue of “Prevention.” In “About the ‘E’ Word: When Did Moving Our Bodies Go From Fun to Work?” she quotes the poet Galway Kinnell who said, “Sometimes it is necessary / to re-teach a thing its loveliness." And she adds, “The reason to move is to re-teach our bodies their loveliness. We live most of our lives in our minds, but the fact is that we are spirits clothed in flesh and blood and bones. By not moving our bodies, we are depriving ourselves of connecting to that long-ago child who loved running, dancing, and jumping in the sun and air. We've replaced the singular, personal joy of moving outdoors with grin-and-bear-it machine workouts.”
She adds, “The truth is, moving your body isn't about any goal other than physically connecting with the fundamental pleasure of and gratitude for being alive. The rest is just gravy.”
When I was sick, I simply felt too lousy to move. There was no question of “powering through.” But then the most remarkable thing happened … as the virus abated, my body started screaming for exercise. My aches and pains, which miraculously go away with exercise, had returned with a vengeance, but because I felt so lousy, I just couldn’t stir my stumps enough to answer that clarion call. I heard it though, I heard it. For me it was as much a breakthrough moment as was Oprah’s.
Exercise means health. Exercise means vitality. Exercise means the simple ability to go through the day feeling complete, feeling whole, feeling well, feeling healthy. Exercise is a blast and a blessing.
I know that many of you have discovered this for yourselves. I thought I had. But I hadn’t. I had to learn it on a visceral level. And this time, I have. And so I thought I would share. Now, how about you? What have you discovered about the connection of mind, body and spirit?
Hi Robin You have bben missed. Sorry to hear you were so sick.
I'm probably in the minority, but there is NO link between workouts and food for me. I workout no matter what I eat. Unless some body part is actually lying on the gym floor, I do long, hard workouts. That doesn't stop my inappropriate eating. For me, there is no link.
Robin! I was just thinking about you and your graduation festivities. Glad to hear it went according to plan, and sorry to hear that you are sick.
I can really relate to your story of being sick though. I just have the last dregs of a bad cold hanging on for a month now, and I've been struggling through, but there just isn't much more left. I'm going to the doctor today to see if she can cure me. Maybe my 4th round of antibiotics for the year. But it is amazing to me how much it changes a person's outlook. That single step away from health and I start feeling hopeless, desperate.
I like the Geneen Roth quote:
Quote:
She adds, “The truth is, moving your body isn't about any goal other than physically connecting with the fundamental pleasure of and gratitude for being alive. The rest is just gravy.”
I'm more like Mel, in that exercise is not really tied to my eating behaviors. This quote kind of tells me why: for me, maintenance is a battle with the very strong desire for instant gratification. I have to use my intellect to battle my more basic instincts/desires to keep the food in line--it is a very tough battle since those desires for me are so primal and so strong. But exercise for me IS instant gratification (well, 90% of the time anyway). No issues there. I have to use my head to tell myself that exercise will be easier, more fun, and more rewarding if I don't gain a lot of weight again. It is one of the few pieces of leverage I have on myself. Probably why I start feeling desperate and hopeless when I can't exercise!
Here's hoping you are feeling better! Great to see you post again.
What great reading this morning. For me, the whole healthy lifestyle does go together and when I waver on any front, it's easy to let the others go. I think that over-sugar'd carb'd state really zaps your energy.
And I AGREE on the exercise thing! For me, long walks especially in wonderful weather just makes me feel so alive and child-like. I even skip a bit sometimes, so glad to be able to move freely and feel so good and energized (well when nobody is looking). This kindof workout may not get you the exact toned look you are after, but it feels so good and is ultra-sustainable.
Welcome back, Robin, and glad the virus has abated and in the meantime you've found some aha light bulbs to get you back into the land of feeling fine.
There is a strong link for me between exercise and eating choices. I eat when I am bored, but on the days I exercise (which is everyday now!), I find that my appetite is suppressed, that I am full of life and energy and that I do not have the time to be bored. I also think that I subliminally do not want to undo the work that I have done.
When I exercise, all is right in my world! (Or at least way better!) Exercise improves my mood and everything else falls into place.
Exercise definitely makes me feel more alive and helps my mood. My eating is more on program when I exercise. I had hernia surgery about 6 weeks ago and I really hated not being able to exercise for a while. I walk outdoors, on the treadmill and have been doing a lot of swimming. I used to love weight lifting but can't do it now due to my liver and spleen enlargement. I am now finding that I feel lazy if I don't get any exercise daily.
Robin - good to see you back,and good to heatr that your cooler strategy worked out!
I had a lot to think about from the mind-body link: YES there is a strong one, and I find that when I excercise my mind is calmer, I eat better, have more energy etc. Bur NO, this has not translated sofar in me putting exercise, or even me-time, first or close to first on my priority list. I hastill have to consciously force myself to do it, and I am now finding it difficult to put exercise into my life with expanding working hours and still ahuge backlog of things to do. I even slacked down on meditation, so maybe I'll work towards a min goad (micro goal?? nano-goal?) of 10 mins of meditation and 10 mins of running each afternoon for the next week, just to establish the habit again.
Hi--thanks for your thoughts. I must admit that if in my world there was a link between exercise and eating well, I'd be a stick. I exercise religiously at least 5 days/week, but I find my eating to be very cyclical. I used to panic and the urges to eat crap for a week, but I find that it usually balances out with 3 weeks of eating well. I've been loving exercise for about 4 years, but I'd say for the first 6 months, it was really a chore.
"When Did Moving Our Bodies Go From Fun to Work?” she quotes the poet Galway Kinnell who said, “Sometimes it is necessary / to re-teach a thing its loveliness." And she adds, “The reason to move is to re-teach our bodies their loveliness.
This is so beautifully said! I too have found a connection between exercising and eating well. For me it is more of a cycle.. If I exercise I eat well and sleep well. When I eat well and sleep well I want to exercise. It doesn't take much to disrupt this.. a change in schedule, and illness, ... and it seems to slowly unravel for me. First the exercise goes.. then everything else will fall apart.
I am working on it. I feel that my journey is only in its infancy. I need to reteach my body its lovliness. Especially a body mind connection that I feel when I do yoga.
Our Bodies, Our Very Selves
You have bben missed. Sorry to hear you were so sick.
I eat clean/healthy every day and still hate working out and make excuses and avoid it. 
