Is exercise a challenge for you?
If so, I hope you know that you’re not alone!
Getting regular exercise wasn’t always easy for me, either.
Yet nowadays, people often ask me how I stay so fit and trim. (They don’t know that I use to be 15 pounds or so heavier).
I wasn’t an overweight kid, but I wasn’t skinny either – as much as I wanted to be.
(My mother would describe me as cute and round. Which I didn’t like at all.)
I also wasn’t the least bit athletic.
That all changed about 30 years ago when I went to my very first aerobics class.
I was instantly hooked.
Or rather, I was SO sore the next few days – every muscle in my body ached and I could hardly move.
I decided, in that moment, that I would never again let my body get to the point where it would be so PAINFUL to get back in shape!
Regular exercise instantly became non-negotiable!
And I’ve never gone back on my word.
(I continued with those aerobics classes almost till the end of my pregnancy and picked right back up again as soon as my doctor said I could).
So, yes – that’s basically how I live my life.
But like I said, it wasn’t always this way for me, and it may very likely be a journey for you as well.
Cause lets face it – if you don’t always feel that great, and you’re more worried about where the nearest bathroom is at all times – it becomes that much harder to schedule in some much needed exercise.
Much of it, I’ve found, depends on habit, and this works in the same way that you’ll no longer give a lot of thought to those foods, which you know don’t serve you well.
For example (speaking for myself):
- I will never, ever intentionally eat any food that contains gluten – those days are long gone
- Likewise, I also avoid dairy – due to extreme sensitivity – and will likely not resume eating eggs either. (As much as I would like to).
My coach and mentor, Andrea Nakayama calls these your “non-negotiables”.
Then there’s stuff on your “bike lane”, as she likes to call it, and those are the foods you’ll allow yourself to eat once in awhile – usually dictated by mood and availability.
It’s your typical “I had a bad day” mentality – or “I’m on vacation.”
And yes, things like snack chips would likely fall in this category. (The “healthy” kind, of course.)
What this means, is that even if a particular food isn’t ideal, it’s not going to do significant harm, either.
(That’s why gluten isn’t an “I’m on vacation” option – because it’s never ideal for anyone with a sensitivity, let alone Celiac Disease, and it WILL cause you undue harm – which wouldn’t be much of a vacation, in my opinion).
That leaves you with your ‘Path” – those foods which you’ll be eating 24/7, day in and day out; they’re the ones you can always rely on.
You’ll build your eating plan around that Path.
(To get you started, I provide a basic Healthy Aging Eating Plan with all my Coaching Programs).
And yes, it will be completely personalized to YOU – based on you unique physiology, along with any known sensitivities to specific foods.
Including gluten, of course.
And whatever else you happen to uncover along the way.
Those last two items?
They happen to come under what Andrea refers to as the “Poison Ivy” patch, i.e. your non-negotiables. (You can download a Free copy of her “Stick With It” Guide here.)
In other words, those foods that absolutely don’t serve you, and will only cause further inflammation throughout your body – the exact thing you’re working so hard to minimize so you don’t end up old and sick.
Remember your goal, here – to help you look and feel better than you have in years!
Does this mean a lifetime of deprivation?
Well, that’s one way to look at it, but I prefer not to.
After all, isn’t it best to focus on the foods that will nourish you and support your healing?
While celebrating the unique person that you are?
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