If you told me five years ago that I would be taking 2 minute ice cold showers and moisturizing my entire body every day I would have punched you in the throat. “Blasphemy!”, is what I would have said to you in an aggressive fashion.
But sometimes things happen in our lives that cause us to re-evaluate and/or try new things. Getting sucked into a Wim Hof Youtube rabbit hole caused me to find cold showers and the incredible benefits of them. I made fun of friends for doing them years ago, and now I can’t take a shower without finishing it with ice cold water.
Lotion? I didn’t even put on sunscreen until I was like 25. But one day your wife walks into the bathroom and lovingly tells you that your face looks like it’s getting wrinkly. So after you have a good cry alone in the basement, you start to realize how important putting lotion on your entire body really is.
Both of these things, as ridiculous as they are, are entirely true and have become part of my daily routine. They have become habits, and if they do not get completed every day, something feels wrong deep, deep within my soul. It takes roughly 21 days to form a habit, good or bad. This blog is here to discuss a few bad habits, and what we can do to change our mindset and recreate new, good habits.
There are two bad habits that I see all too often in clients, family, friends, and to be honest, myself. Those habits are:
Needing to have an intense workout everyday in order to keep their sanity.
Justifying their night ahead of shit eating and drinking because they crushed it in the gym earlier that day.
The problem here, is that some people associate an addiction with habit. “If I don’t workout everyday and sweat, I can’t function and I feel like I’m losing my mind” - probably a quote being said in a CrossFit gym near you as you read this. The main issue within the world of fitness and nutrition in 2021 is that there is too much information. Everyone has a platform. A lot of people use their platform the right way and don’t shove their beliefs down your throat. But there are people on social media who are giving out unsolicited information, and a lot of it is wrong.
Just because someone on instagram is doing an insane workout and posts everyday that they woke up at 4:25am, followed by a photo after each workout of the blood and sweat on the ground doesn’t mean it is right for you, or for them for that matter! Excessive exercise can be an addiction, and it can be a dangerous addiction to have.
If you have told yourself, your buddy, or your trainer, that you want to work out every day so you can get a good routine down, and build good habits, you’re either lying to yourself, or you are misinformed, or are trying to out-exercise a shit diet. The body craves routine, but it also craves rest, and proper nutrition to perform optimally. Killing yourself in the gym every day is so counterproductive for everyday life. More often than not these are the people that can’t allot themselves 7-9 hours of sleep each night, and/or drink two 8 ounce glasses of water throughout the day, and wonder why their body hurts (probably wouldn’t hurt to get them on a moisturizing plan as well). 3-4 days of strength training, with adequate mobility work to make sure everything is running properly, and you are getting stronger is ideal. Those other 3-4 days that you aren’t in the gym should be used as your rest days.
Did you say REST?
Rest days doesn’t mean sit on your ass the entire day and scroll through 12 seasons of a show on Netflix. Resting with some form of active recovery on those days is what separates the injury free from the injury prone. If you normally workout in the morning, you can allot yourself 15-20 minutes for some active recovery on non-gym days. If you hate working out in the morning and normally go to the gym at night, suck it up (kidding, but seriously get your shit together its 15 minutes. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier). I promise by starting your morning, even on days that you are going to the gym, with 10 minutes of foam rolling, mobility, light yoga work, etc. to get the body moving is a huge win for the day. Not only are you engaging muscles and waking the body up, you are also teaching yourself that you don’t need a death workout to feel an energy boost. In the afternoon, now that the weather is getting nicer, get outside and go for a walk. If it’s raining, do whatever you feel you need to do, but if the sun is shining and the weather is over 40 degrees, GET YOUR ASS OUTSIDE.
People that say they are going for a walk, but go to the gym and go on a treadmill make my blood boil. Yeah let’s go for a walk in artificial light on an artificial surface at a slight incline and people watch for 30 minutes. Get your ass outside and soak up some fucking sunlight. Woah. Sorry about that. Bit of a tangent there, but we’re back.
Like I was saying, 10-15 minuets in the morning. Foam roll, mobility work, do 5 minutes of some activation work (jumping jacks, push ups, squats, planks, etc.) anything to get you moving and elevate your heart rate a little bit, but do it for at least 5 minutes. If you really want to blow your mind, do it for 10-15 minutes. and end your morning session with some positive affirmations: “I am happy, I am heathy, I am stress free”. I repeat that every day for about 2-3 minutes. Does it work? I think so. Some days I realize it doesn’t when I’m screaming at one elderly woman going 3 mph under the speed limit. But I eventually repeat those out loud with my windows down as I am staring directly in to her soul as I speed past her, and I usually feel much better.
Doing that every day for 21 days will allow you something to look forward to each morning. And then on the days where you aren’t working out, just make it a point to get outside and walk for a bit and I promise you will feel better. If not, you need some mediation in your life, and I ain’t the person to walk you through that journey.
The other issue with exercise as an addiction, not a habit, is justifying horrible eating patterns because you did a crazy workout to make up for it. THIS. DOES. NOT. WORK. Eating a 5,000 calorie meal, and having your pant button explode off your pants and hit an innocent bystander on the other side of the restaurant, just because you did a super intense workout a few hours beforehand is not right. I have fallen in to this a few times (pant button stayed on though) without realizing it and it is a really unhealthy relationship with not only exercise, but with food. You can’t tell yourself that your poor eating habits are ok because of how many calories you burnt earlier in the day. Next thing you know you’ll be home after eating a huge meal of a hot chicken sandwich, a huge plate of French fries, smoked wings, a beet salad, and 4 alcoholic beverages, wondering why you’re projectile vomiting because your body is not used to that much food in its stomach (do as I say, not as I do.)
No matter how healthy we may seem, or how ‘in shape’ someone is, we can all fall in to these traps. Needing to workout everyday to justify a dumpster-fire diet, or working out every day because you need to move or else your mind will race all night is a clear indicator that maybe you should talk to someone. It doesn’t have to be a therapist, but maybe a friend or someone you can trust to meet up with you a few days a week so that you can talk and get some things off your chest. Working out every day will not help you in running from your demons. It may keep them away for a while, but they will always be back unless you can find peace somehow. Walking outside, with someone you care about deeply and enjoy spending time with is such a great way to get some exercise and have a bit of a therapeutic touch to it.
As far as justifying binge eating because you kicked ass in the gym earlier in the day, there are a few ways to combat this. It is a bit more challenging in my personal experience. But if I make sure to have normal meals throughout the day, and make it a point to tell myself to eat until I am 80% full, and do not exceed that point, I feel so much better. We all need to go out, enjoy peoples company, and eat delicious food. That doesn’t give you the right to fast for the entire day, or maybe have one small meal hours prior, and then eat 4 meals worth of calories in one sitting. Have I done this before, more times than I’m proud of. But after throwing up the last two times I did this because my stomach was so full and I felt so sick, I realized pretty quickly that my relationship with food is a very complicated one. I share this because I know I am not alone in this, and people have a similar relationship with food. I realized that I needed to change, and talked to people whom I respect in the field of nutrition, but are also great friends to assist me.
Life is meant to be lived. Life is meant to be enjoyed. There are too many things that we overcomplicate, and stress out over on a daily basis. Habits should be one of those things that make our lives easier and allow us to enjoy the journey. It takes 21 days to create a habit, good or bad. Find a family member, or a close friend, and form a pact that you will create a few good habits before the month of May ends. That could be going for a walk every day for 10 minutes. Could be setting aside 10 minutes in the morning to do some stretching and mobility to get the day started. It could be taking an ice cold shower and moisturizing your body (good choice). Whatever it is, make it a point to do it each and everyday until you no longer have to think about it and it's in your DNA. 2021 can be the year where you finally put effort toward removing the habits that no longer serve you. Stop allowing exercise to be an addiction, and start to allow it to be something you look forward to because it makes you feel accomplished. Look forward to the off days, and look forward to the new sense of self you will feel when you aren’t tied to the idea of punishing yourself everyday.