February is not quite finished so I will save my final Feb 5 update until later but suffice it to say that the knot in my shoulder created some complications and I had to shift my plans a little.
Speaking of shifting, for March I am moving away from the specificity I used for my February plans and trying a really general approach.
Instead of listing specific types of exercise/wellness activities, I am rolling with the fact that I have a busy schedule this month. So, I am just seeking more movement overall instead of specific types and I am aiming for at least 20 hours throughout the month.
By choosing a time-based goal this month, I make it even easier for literally any movement to “count” – 5 minutes of stretching before my meeting, adding 10 minutes to my walk, a dance break while my tea steeps – am free from other constraints of specific times, places, or equipment.
(After all, to do a specific amount of rowing I have to be where my machine is. Stretching or walking or dancing doesn’t have that limitation.)
A small painting I made as a goal reminder. Image description: a painting of the words March and Move More against a blue and yellow background. The word March is large and in pink letters, the words Move More are in green and they are overlapping the bottom quarter of the the most of the word March. The bottom half of the background is yellow with green vertical pinstripes and the top half is blue with small green dots.
Adding up my hours will be pretty easy because my watch will keep track of my daily exercise minutes. I’ll just have to add up the hours every week or so in my exercise journal.
Right now, my body feels a bit cranky and tight on a day-to-day basis but I know from previous experience that more daily movement will change that.
I accidentally took a Fitbit vacation and it has been swell.
This photo from my Sunday evening walk (sans Fitbit) was taken near my house but it has a real vacation-y feel to it, don’t you think? Image description: a gravel path through grass-covered ground leading between some trees. The sky above is light blue and a a large fluffy cloud is glowing golden pink from the sunset.
Normally, I love my Fitbit.
I love the reminders to get moving. I love the fact that it tracks my steps and my heart rate and all kinds of other stuff without me having to remember to write any of it down. I love how having a timer on my wrist can help anchor me to the flow of actual time -instead of to inside-my-brain-time, an often-entirely-too-fluid concept.
But, I also get frustrated when my perceived effort doesn’t match what my Fitbit has recorded.
Or when my steps don’t register.
Or how an hour of exercise might be recorded as 10 or 20 or 60 active minutes, or, oddly, even more depending on some mysterious calculation…
I can only assume that Mr. Simmons and team are all maximizing their active minutes here. Image description: a GIF of a group aerobics class led by Richard Simmons. The participants are all wearing bright clothing and seem to be having a great time. One participant in the back is even wearing a cheerleading uniform.
Now, to be clear/fair, the Fitbit is operating exactly as it was designed and it can only measure so much from my wrist. The fact that it doesn’t hover around me like a omniscient fitness tracking entity is not its fault.
But it’s still annoying to have been working away for a long time only to have my tracker say ‘Meh, that didn’t count.’
ANYWAY!
Last week, on my first day of vacation, I was packing my bag before heading out to visit a friend of mine* in a town a few hours away and I realized that my Fitbit was still on the charger.
I grabbed the Fitbit and the charger and chucked them both into the bag with my art supplies. They settled to the very bottom of the bag where they stayed for the two days I was hanging out with my friend and for the several days since.
It’s not that I forgot about my Fitbit, it’s that I quickly realized how much I was enjoying not wearing it.
My vacation from work had also become a vacation from my Fitbit.
I went for walks, did some decluttering (lots of heavy lifting and trips up and down the stairs), went on a bike ride, did yoga, and meditated daily, all without any information on how long I was moving (or sitting in meditation), how intense my workout was, how many ‘active minutes’ I had so far, or what my heart rate was during any of those things.
And it felt great – I felt like I was moving a lot and working hard and there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.
How I imagine my Fitbit would present the evidence of my activities. image description: a photo of someone’s hand pointing to a cork board covered in photos and maps related to a crime.
Now, I know that the Fitbit is not the boss of me. I know that there are all kinds of aspects of exercise and fitness that it doesn’t measure (enjoyment and perceived effort are just two of those unmeasured things.) And I know that it’s just providing me with information – it’s up to me to interpret it and to decide what to do with it.
And, overall, my Fitbit has definitely helped me to move more and to work a bit harder. It has shown me that I may not always be getting as much exercise as I think I am – very useful information for my ADHD brain that responds well to good exercise conditions but sometimes misjudged whether I am meeting those conditions.
But this vacation away from tracking has helped highlight how often I was getting annoyed with some of the ways that my Fitbit tracks things and how often my interpretations of the information it provides have been frustrating me. And that, in itself, is useful information.
As of now, I’m still on my Fitbit vacation (and my vacation from work) but when I come back, I’m planning to figure out if/when/how to use my Fitbit in a way that serves me better.
I don’t know if that will mean wearing it less often, choosing different metrics/interpretations, or if I will just use it as a handy timer/reminder tool and forget the steps and heart rate info altogether.
Meanwhile…back to my vacation!
*By happy coincidence, it is my friend’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, J! 🧡💚
Let’s start with awarding a gold star for your efforts so far.
Image description: a gold-coloured glass star-shaped ornament lies flat on a wooden tabletop. The gold paint on the ornament has a crackled effect.
Even if you haven’t managed to make any space for yourself yet, you have been trying to find that space and your efforts count.
Changing patterns and getting into the habit of making space for yourself make take time, and that’s ok.
Maybe today is the day you can fit in one or both of these videos, or even part of one.
Everything counts!
I love this warm-up from Fitness Blender. It’s short, it’s straightforward, and it has enough variety to keep me from getting bored.
A warm-up video from the Fitness Blender YouTube channel. The still image features a person with long blond hair in black workout clothes standing with one foot on the ground and the other foot raised behind her in mid-kick against a white background.
And as for meditation, I thought we’d check out a waking meditation today.
A walking meditation video from the MyLife YouTube channel. The still image is of a light green circle against a darker green background. Text I’m the circle reads ‘Mindful Walking’
Whether you try these videos, try other videos, or try something all your own, I wish you ease, peace, and space today.
If you are having trouble getting in the exercise frame of mind, creating an external cue might help.
Let me give you an example:
Last Sunday morning, I participated in an international online superclass for Taekwondo .
When I registered for the class back in December, I hadn’t noticed that it started at 7:30am Newfoundland Time.
I was excited to take the class but 7:30am on a Sunday seemed really hard. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get into the Taekwondo ’zone’ and that I wouldn’t get as much out of the class because I would be sleepy and uncoordinated.
Luckily, I was wrong.
Even though it was early, even though it was a Sunday morning, even though I was online instead of in a class, once I put my dobok (my TKD uniform) on I was in taekwondo mode.
It was a kind of magic. One minute I was sleepy, grumpy, and vaguely regretful about committing to this. The next, I was awake, interested, and ready to get moving.
My dobok gave me an exercise context, it was an external cue.
After all, I only put my dobok on for Taekwondo. I don’t put it on to lounge around the house or to run errands, I put it on because it is time to go to class.
And, it turns out that any time can feel like class time…if I put my dobok on.
Obviously, most people won’t have a dobok but you probably have a piece of clothing or gear that symbolizes exercise for you, an external cue that will put you in a movement frame of mind.
If you don’t have one yet, it might be a good time to start developing one. Find something you can use or wear every time you exercise so, eventually, that item will tell your brain that it is time to get moving.
(A category of item can work just as well as an individual one, i.e. wearing any bandana around your neck could be an exercise cue, it doesn’t have to be that specific red one.)
Do you have a piece of clothing that puts you into exercise mode?
If so, what is it?
If not, what *could* you use to help you slip into that zone?
Keep up the good work, Team, building habits takes conscious effort and, like I said the other day, it’s okay to give yourself what you need to support those efforts.
Here’s your gold star for today!
Another day, another gold star. Keep up the good work!
