Simplify
There is nothing intimidating about tennis shoes. I don’t know what age I learned to tie them myself but I don’t have any memory of not knowing how. To put on tennis shoes and go for a walk or a run comes with an extremely low barrier to entry. I went into my freshman year of college at my heaviest weight. Four years of eating like an asshole and quitting soccer had caught up to me and I did not feel very good. For whatever reason, a Saturday night memory sticks out in my mind of going to Jack in the Box for food and Steak and Shake for ice cream with my best friend in the same evening….
I don’t remember even thinking about let alone understanding the concept of healthy food as a high schooler. In our cafeteria there was a fried food line, taco salad line, pizza line, and several types of cookies and candy available. In the early 2000s the SlimFast shake was a popular alternative and I might have tried drinking those fo breakfast and lunch a couple times.
After quitting soccer I stopped any sort of exercise and worked extra hours at my job at a homemade candy and ice cream shop… It was owned by an older couple and you could watch them in store making fudge and chocolate. Chocolate rainforest was my favorite flavor of ice cream there, they made a chocolate dipped s’more that was amazing, and if you wanted to deal with cleaning it up you could make a Cappamochacino Shake with vanilla ice cream and espresso….
Obviously, at some point I cleaned my eating up but I don’t feel like talking about food tonight. One day when I’d had enough I started running. My dad was a runner, I ran for soccer, I didn’t need to ‘learn’ how to run. So I just ran.
To start I’d run as long as I could then walk until I could run again. Eventually I worked up to running about 3 miles every day. Sometimes if I wanted to change it up I’d go to the Rec and climb the stair stepper. Nothing about this seemed intimidating because if I reached a point where things felt challenging I could just…go…slower.
But, this did eventually get boring. I had passed a CrossFit gym in town a few times, had heard people talk about CrossFit and decided to try it out. Immediately I was hooked.
The next 3 years I spent as much time as I could at the gym:
learning everything that I could
getting my Level 1 Coaching certificate
going to competitions
watching fitness online
listening to fitness and nutrition podcasts
reading about olympic lifting and gymnastics
And honestly…it was an unhealthy obsession. My body became stronger, my confidence increased, I learned how to trust myself and stand up for myself. But, I truly lacked a good balance in my life. I lost appreciation for rest and relaxation. I couldn’t function if I missed a day. I’d somehow made the gym an unhealthy habit.
Throughout the next few years I would bounce in and out of CF gyms, in and out of coaching nutrition, personal training, and running group classes. My own fitness became a hobby. I’d occasionally sign up for a competition, or a half marathon or a 5k. That ‘all in’ obsessive personality eventually faded. But I have always remained consistent.
And that’s the lesson. Consistency. I have one barbell, a set of 10# plates, a set of 25# plates, a set of 45# plates, a pair of adjustable dumbbells at home and…a few pairs of tennis shoes. I don’t have time to regularly drive to the gym, take an hour class, drive back, eat, shower….etc. I don’t even really have time to give 60 minutes to a work out. Frankly, I don’t want to.
I hit my step goal of 10,000 every day
From warm up to workout to cool down I spend 10-45 minutes on an a planned workout 4-6 days a week
I would consider myself to be in above average shape for my age and being about a year postpartum; the only ‘trick’ I have found is to move consistently. I don’t have time to drag out a ton of equipment, or to think about optimal rep schemes or rest times and I don’t want to. I want to move a bit and decompress from my day. I want my daughter to see me sweat and take care of myself. I want to model that exercise is a hobby and not a chore. —xoxo