DAY 22- Traditional Exercise

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015 | Robynn Coates

When it comes to exercise, I prefer the traditional kind. Working out is actually enjoyable to me. That doesn’t mean that I always want to do it, but for the most part it is something I look forward to. I think that may be because of the good memories attached to it.

When I was in high school I loved sports – the camaraderie, working towards a similar goal, the fun times a team experiences–it hooked me.

But exercising with my teammates was not the only form of exercise I got. During the summers I ran down country roads with my dog as I experienced the smell of fresh cut hay, beautiful sunrises, and the peaceful and quiet country sounds of birds chirping. It was addictive and as a result, I’m still running.

My affinity towards exercise may be just a part of who I am, but I really think the biggest reason I like exercise is because, early on, it was associated with fun, friends, peace, and enjoyment.

Are you looking for a physical activity that will keep you in the game? How you can you find a physical activity that includes elements that will hook you? It may take thinking outside the box, but when you can find something you love to do, you may not even think of it as exercise. As the saying goes, “It’s not work if you love to do it.”

All the best as you find the perfect fit!

P.S. Just thought I would share what my “traditional” exercise looks like lately: For me, variety is the name of the game. Especially in the winter. That is when I mix it up with whatever I feel like doing at the time: Insanity DVD workouts, walking or running on the treadmill, 21-Day Fix DVD’s, or Pilates. Because I don’t necessarily love exercising inside, I always multitask by listening/watching a motivational talk or I do the exercises with a friend. In the spring, summer, and fall I love exercising outside, enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of these seasons. My exercise of choice during these seasons is running or walking. 🙂

Posse Discussion:

Part 1: If you have not found an exercise that you love, what are some steps you can take to find the perfect fit?

Part 2: What level #peace does traditional exercise give you? (Use the Peace Chart below)

DAY 21- Non-Traditional Exercise

January 21, 2015January 22, 2015 | Robynn Coates

When you hear the word workout or exercise what comes to mind? I imagine most people would respond by saying, “running, going to the gym, playing a sport, or training for a marathon.” Believe it or not, none of those things sound appealing to me, at least at this time in my life. So how am I supposed to burn calories if I’m not willing to take part in these conventional ways of exercise?

My typical day is filled with chasing kids, changing diapers, picking up the house, and running my home business. In addition to those tasks, my favorite hobby is decorating and constantly changing the interior of our home. Call me crazy, but most weeks include me rearranging furniture in a room (by myself), starting a new project such as tearing out flooring, hanging trim, or painting, and fixing broken appliances or furniture around the house. Doing that type of work really fuels me. I love it.

For years I thought this type of activity didn’t count as exercise because it wasn’t the “traditional” way to burn calories. But now I know if it gets me off the couch and excited about doing something, then it absolutely counts. Sure, I’m not going to get the same results I would going to the gym and targeting a specific area of my body, but my main goal is to get active, break a little sweat, and burn some calories.

What sealed the deal for me was when Robynn got me a Fitbit after I had my 3rd child. I began wearing that every day and I learned that, by doing stuff around the house, I could get 5 miles of walking in. Isn’t that crazy?! In order to reach this daily goal I needed to be on my feet a lot of the day–so I purposely made extra trips putting clothes away while doing laundry or taking the long way around to go get something–but it was worth it because I was getting my steps in without really thinking about it. And I didn’t dread it!

The point is, you don’t have to limit yourself to traditional exercise in order to burn calories and walk several miles. Here is a list of a few more non-traditional ways to exercise:

Walking: My sister lost ten pounds by walking in her living room. Yes, that’s right, just walking in place in front of the television!
Timed Test: Growing up, I absolutely hated timed tests in school. Now that I am older, I’ve found a timed test that I benefit from and somewhat enjoy. After putting my tennis shoes on—to get myself moving quickly around the house—I time myself when needing to complete tasks. I know I can clean off the kitchen counters and unload/reload the dishwasher in four minutes and fifty-four seconds! If I am dreading going through the junk piles of mail and randomness, I set the timer for five minutes and see if I can get through everything before the timer buzzes. Sometimes I even ask my kids to challenge me on tasks for moral support and accountability to finish. They hold the timer and give me the countdown. I literally run through the house in order to beat the clock. If I don’t finish it in time, I set the timer again. This not only gets my heart rate up but it helps me be more efficient with my time.
Phone Time: I don’t enjoy walking on the treadmill but I learned that if I call someone and talk when I am on it, I can easily get 2 miles of walking in without really realizing it. I wear an earpiece for my phone, so I don’t have to hold it up to my ear, and I chat away as a walk. Is there someone that you call every day that you could do this with? If, for instance, you call a family member and you usually visit for 20 minutes a day, could you walk around the house or on a treadmill while you do this? Many times we eat while we are on the phone or we sit down. I know eating is a waste of calories for me because I can’t truly enjoy the food since I am distracted by talking on the phone. Now that I have replaced my phone time by walking, it is a win-win.

Posse Discussion:

Part 1: What are some ways you can get 5-10 minutes of non-traditional exercise in your day? i.e. Timing yourself as you clean to get your heart-rate up, create an obstacle course for your kids that you participate in, volunteering to walk you neighbor’s dog.

Part 2: What level #peace does non-traditional exercise give you? (Use the Peace Chart below)

Click Here for Day 22!

DAY 20- The Marathon Myth

January 20, 2015January 22, 2015 | Robynn Coates

Being a runner, one of my goals was to run a marathon. It was one of those things on my bucket-list – or what Lara and I call our Live-It List.

And although I wanted to run a marathon for the purpose of accomplishing a worthwhile and challenging goal, I must confess I also had ulterior motives.

To lose weight.

I was convinced that a marathon would solve all of my weight issues. So off I went following a training schedule to a T. I was committed and focused. I would run a marathon and be set free from my weight problems for life!

Wow, was I misguided. On marathon day, my weight was actually up nine pounds from what it had been just weeks before. I didn’t fare much better the second time around either. Two weeks after the marathon I had gained all my pre-marathon weight and more. *sigh*

What a valuable lesson. As awesome as marathons are, they (and all other workout programs) are not the magic bullet for my weight issues. I had to get to the heart of the matter and deal with the reason I struggled with my weight and food in the first place. It wasn’t because I wasn’t working out enough, it was because I had an unhealthy relationship with food.

Until I dealt with that issue, my weight issue would continue to be lurking in the shadows.

Now, I’m not telling you exercise isn’t important because it is for so many reasons – it helps you live longer, strengthens your heart and lungs, makes you feel better, improves your confidence, improves your brain, helps you look better. . . Need I say more? So if you are not exercising, please consider finding some physical activity that you love to do and then do it regularly.

But don’t expect it to do something it was never designed to do – fix your food issues. That, my friend is up to you. 😉

Posse Discussion:

Have you ever signed up for a workout program in hopes it would be the magic bullet? Share your answer with your posse.

Click Here for Day 21!

DAY 19- Week of Exercise

January 19, 2015January 20, 2015 | Robynn Coates

This week we are talking about exercise! And just as there are foods that fall into the Love-It or Leave-It category, so too are there physical activities that fall into these categories. It is now time to find out what type of physical activity will best fit you and your lifestyle. Of course, our first step is: Know yourself to improve yourself.

So with that, let’s answer the following questions:

What are your favorite physical activities?
What are your least favorite physical activities?
What are your hobbies that involve physical movement? Could you turn it into exercise?
What is your physical condition? Have you had a physical? Do you have physical limitations?
What exercise do you enjoy enough that you could do it for life?
What are some examples of exercise you would like to explore?
When would be the best time (or times – don’t discount 5 minutes here, and 10 minutes there) for you to exercise?
Do you prefer a “tight” workout routine, “loose” workout routine, or something in-between?
Do you prefer a workout that is led by someone else or do you prefer coming up with your own workout?
Do you prefer to workout alone or with others?
What time of the day do you prefer to workout?
Where do you prefer to workout? (i.e. in my home, at the gym, at the beach)
Who is someone you would like to workout with and can ask?
What exercises will keep you in the game?
What people will keep you in the game?
When throughout the day can you get what we call Power 5’s, 10’s, and 15’s? These are times throughout the day when you can catch 5 minutes of exercise here, 10 minutes there, and 15 somewhere else. It could be taking the steps instead of the elevator, walking as you talk to a colleague, or using your break time/lunch to get a quick dose of physical activity. If you use the resources you have (in this case time and opportunities throughout your day) you may be able to get in a 30 minute workout within your work day just by taking advantage of your Power 5’s, 10’s, and 15’s!

After you have answered the above questions, pick one physical activity or exercise that you either are doing or would like to do and then try it on for size. Give it a fair shake and then evaluate and determine if you want to continue or try something else. If you already know what exercise is the best for you then go with it. Just make sure you find something that will keep you in the game and something that gives you peace.

Posse Discussion:

1: What one activity are you going to try?
2: What is your current level #peace in regards exercise? (Record date and # in your notebook)

Click Here for Day 20!

DAY 18- Recap on Body Image & Scale

January 18, 2015January 22, 2015 | Robynn Coates

Great Job!!

As we wrap up the week of Body Image & the Scale of the Peace with Food challenge picture this: You now and you at the end of your life.

The truth is, you are going to spend that time – the time between now and the end of your life – some way. Of course, you get to choose. So, the question is, how do you want to spend that time? Here’s a couple options:

Option #1: Spend the time focused on your #PEACE which will bring lasting results and impact every area and relationship of your life. OR
Option #2: Spend the time focused on your body and the # on the scale which can’t bring any lasting peace and satisfaction.

We hope that after going through this week, if you struggle with your body image or the scale, that at the very least you have been challenged to take a different perspective. Why not change from # on the scale to #PEACE? We did and wouldn’t go back for nothing! 😉

Here is a summary of the posts from this week’s discussion (click on underlined words to read that post):

-An overview of your Body Image & the Scale.
-How to have Peace with Your Body.
-Sharing Strategies with the Scale.
-Discussing the Insanity with the Scale.
–What We Obsess About But No One Thinks About.
-Determining What Will Keep You in the Game.

On Day 12, we had you rate your level #peace in regards to your body image & the scale. After discussing these topics this week, we want you to rate your current level #peace again.

Posse Discussion:

In regards to body image & the scale, what was your level #peace on Day 12 ? What is it today? Has your number increased or decreased? Why?

Join us tomorrow as we dive into Exercise!

Click Here for Day 19!

Day 17- What Will Keep You In The Game?

January 17, 2015January 20, 2015 | Robynn Coates

One question we ask our selves often is, “What will keep me in the game?”

That’s because we are in this for life, so it is important to us that we make choices that we will be happy with not just now, not just in the future, but both now and the future.

Now and the future.

Those are two words that could never be used together before our Peace with Food days. That’s because it was always one extreme or the other.

On our binging days our focus was on the now.

On our dieting days our focus was on the future.

And never the two shall meet.

Then came Peace with Food. We learned to look at our life not just in the context of our present, but also in the context of our future. We were able to tie them together, making the wisest choice, resulting in us having peace.

Here’s an example of what that looks like:

No more passing up a holiday meal because of a goal to get to a certain weight somewhere out in the future.
No more foregoing the self-control and discipline today that will impact our health and well-being in the future.

The two act as boundary lines like the lines on the highway. All you have to do is keep it between the lines.

We now frame all our decisions on the now and the future. What will give us peace now? What will give us peace in the future? That’s what will keep us in the game.

Posse Discussion:

In the last 17 days we have discussed peace with food, body image and the scale. Out of these three topics, what 1 thing have you learned about yourself that will keep you in the game in regards to living with peace?

Click Here for Day 18!

DAY 16- What We Obsess About (But No One Else Thinks About)

January 16, 2015January 17, 2015 | Robynn Coates

What we In college, I took voice lessons every semester as part of my music education degree. In order to graduate, one of the requirements was a senior recital. This concert consisted of a solo performance lasting over thirty minutes. Just the idea of singing that long makes a person’s throat hurt, and standing alone in front of a crowd with all eyes on you can bring one to even more of a panic!

My voice professor told me, “When you are up on stage, don’t worry about the audience and what they are thinking. Believe it or not, they won’t be thinking about you. People are too consumed thinking about themselves, they won’t focus solely on you for very long.”

I had never given it much thought, but what he said seemed to be true. When you step inside someone’s new house, you typically think to yourself how you wish you had the same house or perhaps you compare it to your own home. If you see a child acting out in the grocery store, your thoughts immediately focus on how you, “hope my kids don’t do that to me when I’m in public.” Rarely do we pick apart the other person without eventually turning the focus back on ourselves.

The same applies to body image. Despite the stress of singing in front of a crowd, the one thing I was paranoid about during my recital was how chunky my arms looked in my performance gown. If I had asked every person in the audience what they were thinking as I stood on stage, I could almost guarantee no one would have mentioned my chunky arms.

We become so paranoid with certain areas of our body we forget that no one thinks about our bodies the way we do. If you lose weight, people look at you and think, “Oh…I need to hit the gym.” The focus on you may only be for a second but they are mostly thinking about how they need to eat better or improve a certain part of their physique.

So next time you are in a panic over a couple-pound increase, or a specific area of your body, remind yourself that no one else will even notice.

Keep calm and carry on. There is no need to fret over something no one else is even thinking about.

Posse Discussion: This week we talked about areas of our bodies in which we are self-conscious. Are you ready to “let go” of that area? How can you have peace with this part of your body? i.e. accept it, work to change it, change your perspective, etc.

Click here for more ideas on how to have peace with your body.

Click Here for Day 17!

DAY 15- Different Approaches w/ The Scale

January 15, 2015January 17, 2015 | Robynn Coates

Everyone is unique, which means we are all motivated by different things. Check out how Lara and Robynn have completely different approaches to setting boundaries with their scales…

Lara’s Approach to the Scale
To be completely honest, often times I have to ask my husband to hide my scale. Yes. HIDE it. I have a complete love/hate relationship with the scale–I love it when it shows me the number I desire–but I hate it any other time. Not to mention, I hate the way it determines my mood for the rest of the day. If I weigh in as soon as I get up and, before I step on the scale I feel great, but then a number flashes that is higher than expected, I instantly go from feeling great to horrible. This not only causes me to be in a bad mood the rest of the day, but my smart eating goes out the window. At that point, I’ve lost all peace because I am FRUSTRATED!! I especially feel this way if I devote several days to being more physically active and then the scale shows no movement or a gain. Talk about wanting to LOSE IT!!

When I can tell I am feeling this way with the scale, I’ve learned I need to step away from it for a while. I know what is required to maintain my weight–I just need to eat in a way that I have peace and continue to stay as active as I do every day. So why throw a scale in the mix and mess with my emotions when I already know what is needed to successfully maintain? And why chance putting myself in a situation that may cause a throw-in-the-towel moment, leading to inactivity and porking out for days?

The scale has too much influence on me…in a bad way. When I start losing peace with it, I go ask my husband to hide it until I feel like I can handle it again. Call me crazy, but that’s what works for me! By not knowing my weight# I actually feel better and make smarter choices on a daily basis. That being said, I do think the scale can be a good “reality check” so I don’t eliminate it from my life entirely. I just don’t let it control me on a daily or weekly basis.

Robynn’s Approach to the Scale
My approach to the scale is different than Lara’s. Whereas, she loses peace if she is around it too much, the scale serves as an accountability partner for me. Daily I check in with it. And daily I either get to celebrate or cut my losses and move on. Stepping on the scale for me gives closure to the past and a new beginning for each day.

That’s what works for me and what gives me peace – my approach. What’s yours?

Posse Discussion: Do you have a magic weight# in your head of when you think your life will be perfect? How realistic is that number?

Click Here for Day 16!

DAY 14- Insanity with The Scale

January 14, 2015January 17, 2015 | Robynn Coates

How many times have I begun a diet, calendar in hand, marking off three months? For some reason that was always the magic number. I just knew that my dieting efforts would reap the desired results in just three short months. And what started off the first time as three months actually turned into decades! How did I not see the insanity there?

What gets me is the time I wasted. The moments in life I passed by because I was chasing the diet-myth carrot stating diets are the end-all, be-all to weight problems. For years I put my life on hold because I couldn’t really enjoy life until I was a certain number on the scale.

Those days are over. So, now I am focusing on #PEACE. Yes, I still know the optimal weight zone that makes me feel the best, (it’s actually about a 7 lb. weight range) but one thing I have learned the hard way is this:

A number on the scale has no power to give you peace.

Turns out I was doing things in reverse. Trying to get the number first so that I could have peace later.

Flawed thinking. It wasn’t until I settled the peace issue that I could get to my optimal weight zone and do so in peace.

Are you like I was and doing things in reverse? Do you think that if you could just get down to a certain number, peace would naturally be the result? If so, I hope you’ll go for #PEACE. Then and only then will you be able to really enjoy your optimal weight zone when you finally get there. 🙂

Posse Discussion:

Part 1: What is your current level #peace with the scale?
Part 2: How would your life change if you replaced your focus from the number on the scale to the #peace?

Click Here for Day #15!