Fitness Friday (Yes, I know it’s Saturday!!)

No, I have not lost my mind nor have I invented time travel.  The first assertion in that opening sentence may be disputed by certain people I know and the second is just plain sad!  I really would love to time travel! 😛

I know today is Saturday and not Friday, as alluded to in the title of this post.  However, I am a day late (and likely a dollar short) with my #HAWMC post for the aforementioned Friday.  I’m late because when I looked at this topic I thought….hmmmm…what can I really offer here?….not much (came the reply).

What a minute!  What?!  I have a gift for the gab.  I am overflowing with opinion and knowledge and happy to share!  I could talk the leg off a chair or under water with a mouth full of marbles (probably with my hands tied behind my back, just to make it interesting)!  What do I mean I have nothing to offer?!  Have I met me?

Well all of that is true but it was the topic that got me at first.  Fitness?  Hmmm…what do I do to keep fit?  Would anyone really care what a recently diagnosed type 2 diabetic had to offer on the subject?  I thought not at first, but then I sat with it for a while (ok, sure, it was more than a while….it was 24 hours…but I got there in the end people!) and during that period of pondering I was reminded of something.  Ever since being diagnosed with diabetes I have taken heart, received support, built a community, and made friends with people all over the world.  People who have been brave enough to share their experiences, their ups and downs, and their hard won knowledge freely with me and so many others.  These people are not writing as ‘experts’ they are simply sharing what their journey has been like for them.

I could do that, right?  Ah, hell YES!  And not just ‘could’ but ‘should’.  I have learnt so much by reading other people’s experiences of their journey living with a chronic disease or as a health advocate, or both.  I should  really be paying that forward…giving back…isn’t that why I started this blog?  So I decided to stop being lazy about this topic, take it to the gym, go a few rounds with it and share the outcomes with you all. (Geez, I have done the imagery to death tonight!)

Ok, so here goes….be gentle with me people!

In my opinion most fitness gurus suck!  Not because they are wrong or anything like that but because they are like most ‘diet’ gurus; it’s their way or the highway!  Well, you know what?  I say NO to that….I say no to your highway and to your ‘my way’.  I am smarter than that.  I am my own unique person, with my own unique body (many would say ‘very’ unique…but I just don’t listen to those haters!).  I am not a ‘one size fits all’ body or person.  I want something that is for ME!

I’m not saying that the fitness gurus and fitness industry don’t have valuable things to say and to teach us.  They most certainly do, but get a grip ‘guru’ people!  We are not sheep!

I say – read, research, study, learn, test, try, experiment….with everything Dr. Google and Fitness Guru Google has to offer. Hell, you could even try breaking out a fitness book from the library or watching a fitness DVD (Do they still have those?  DVDs  I mean, not libraries!)  Once you have worked your way through at least some of the mountain of information out there, start to narrow things down by using my simple ‘anti-guru fitness protocol’ (Please note this protocol is very carefully named.  It is not anti-fitness….it is ANTI-GURU.)

The Anti-Guru Fitness Protocol

1. Take out a piece of paper and a pen, smart phone, tablet, or stone and chisel for recording purposes.
2. Start to make a list.  You might like to give your list a title such as “I’m Doing it My Way Fitness List”!
3. Begin your list with all the ideas you liked from your research.
4. Add to your list any physical activities that you actually enjoy doing (Don’t limit yourself to the traditional ones like the gym and running.  This is NOT a test!  Think outside the box.  Really think about what you LIKE to do.  I love to dance, so that figures prominently on my list).
5. Now review your list.  If you start laughing hysterically, peeing your pants, or snorting loudly at something you read, you should probably discard it.  This is your mind’s way of telling you that you’ve over-stepped! (But ‘A’ for effort)
6. Now review your list a second time.  How does it feel to you?  Yes, I mean feel.  Can you see yourself actually doing the things on your list?  If the answer is yes, then you have your list! If the answer is no, repeat steps 1 – 5 (more research may be required) until you have a list that you actually want to do.
7. Allocate some days of the week and amounts of time that you could set aside for the ‘doing’ part of your list.  Don’t do crazy here.  If you have not been doing much physically activity for a while don’t expect yourself to be able to do 60 minutes of hard core fitness work every day (or even one day).  Allocate time by asking yourself these questions – Is it more activity than I was doing yesterday?  Will I commit to this much time?  If the answer to both is yes, then you’ve nailed it!  If the answer to either is no, then you need to review your time allocations until you can answer yes to both.
8. Put your list somewhere that you will be reminded about it.  Add it to your calendar (if you used an e-tool to make the list), put it on your fridge (if you used pen and paper) or cement it to the wall (if you used stone and chisel).
9. Act on what you have decided to do!  (Simple I know, but this is the one that really catches people out!)
10. Review your list often.  Once you feel comfortable doing what you have set yourself to do – add more time, more days and/or more activities.
11. If you find you don’t like something or you get bored with it, swap it for something that you do like and can commit to.
12. Repeat steps 9 – 11 until you reach the fitness level you want to be at.

So, there you have it, my Anti-Guru Fitness Protocol in all of its wondrous glory!

What’s your fitness plan?  Do you think my protocol could work for you?  Let me know…..