Grounded For Life
July 6, 2008 by Kelly Turner
Filed under Fitness
When I was told this site would be called Grounded Fitness, I knew we would be a good match. Like Britney Spears doing a campaign for Cheetos.
Ba-ZING!
I think people forget why we exercise. The sheer volume of questions I receive about equations, percentages and metric equivalents is enough to make a mathematician cry. People get so bogged down with numbers that they lose sight of why fitness is so important. Let’s all take a step back.
Exercise is not the antithesis of food. It should not be used as a punishment for overeating or as an excuse to allow you to stuff your face like a musket. Exercise isn’t just the annoying “calories out” part of the weight loss equation. Its much more.
The negative connotation of exercising “because I have to” is a huge contributor to why people can’t adopt a healthy lifestyle for more than a few days.
Enter classic song lyrics: Accentuate the positive.
The immediate effects of exercise:
-Stress reduction
-Feelings of accomplishment
-Better sleep
-Improved mood
The long term effects of exercise:
-Better health
-Weight loss
-Reduction in cardiovascular risk
-Increased bone density
-Increased self esteem
Still not convinced?
If anything, workouts allow you to be selfish. Even if its only for half an hour, you can just get away: go to the gym, go outside, lock the kids in their room and pop in a DVD, whatever, and focus on yourself. This is your “me time” to decompress. It’s the best stress reliever you don’t need a prescription for. Added plus: its ok to get addicted.
You can even be rude. Pop in those ear buds and shut out the world around you. Being able to ignore that pesky neighbor asking you to pick up after your pooch again is reason enough to go for a walk.
So, put things back into perspective. Exercise shouldn’t be an exercise in algebra. Crunch your abs, not numbers, as I always say.
I actually just made that up, but it sounds good.
Your workouts are a time to slow your racing mind and let your body reap the benefits. Get grounded and stay grounded. Your health will thank you.
I can’t say the same for your neighbor.
yay! new blog – congrats!
Exercise is literally my only effective form of stress release, a fact I recently figured out when I hurt my back and was deprived of workouts. I became a near-lunatic. It’s become so effective for me that I think I’m over-reliant on it and need to find some other forms. But it is darn good stuff when it comes to reducing anxiety and blowing off steam.
I like how you focus on just DOING the exercise, and being active in general, instead of fancy gadgets and numbers. I’m the same way. I don’t care what my heart rate is, or how fast I just ran a mile. I DID IT, and that’s all that matters. :)
Congratulations on the new blog. I look forward to staying grounded with you!
Karen Lynch @ another b5media site:
http://www.pinkribbonreview.com
such a great initial post! Exercise is therapy for me and when I get deprived of my daily workout, I am not a happy mommy! I definitely need it to stay grounded.
Congrats on the new blog! I love exercise for that “me time”. Its really nice to get away from the world for a little while and be lost in my own thoughts. And like Workout Mommy, exercise is totally my therapy! It keeps me going and helps make me really happy.
amen… numbers are confusing….and I got in A in Calculus.
Hey, you’re live girl! Nice site!! And yeah, I love my exercise. So much so that I’ll do nothing but if left to my own devices;)
yeah.
my neighbor is pissed and Im sending her your way.
Miz.
Like the snazzy home-away-from-home, and I’ll be printing out this post for a friend who spends more time looking at her wrist and doing math calistentics than she does, you know, moving.
weightinggame- me, too. when im sick, or when i threw my back out, i was a basket case. I always get the urge to run for miles when i cant. but when i can, i dont, so go figure.
Zandria- no wonder people are scared of working out, if you read any fitness articles recently, it sounds like the most compolicated thing in the world. you only have to worry about that stuff if you are an athlete, which most of us aren’t.
Karen- thanks! And I’ll be catching up on all of your blogs soon!
workoutmommy- its good for you and your kids, what more could you want?
sagan- once my ipod is in, theres no talking to me. and, yes, i do ignore small talk sometimes. They dont know i can actually hear them and I h ate small talk more than anything in the world. small talk, and people that say, “i could care less.” its “i couldn’t care less.”
gliding calm- learning all those equations and whatnot for my certification was the worst part- and we rarely ever use them.
charlotte- you need a little shock collar for when you start to move TOO much.
MizFit- i’ll send them one door over, and the neighbors can yell at eachother.
cammy- you cant enjoy something when you are gaging your progress every second of it. it leads it a succeed/fail mentality. If you truely enjoy something, yo uare way more likely to stick with it.
Congrats on the new blog! I love the message about being grounded and working out for the right reasons.
Great first post! I’m glad you’re here. :)
kk
Congrats on the new blog being up finally!
I <3 exercise for all the reasons you listed above. And my morning workouts really get the day off to a good start. Don’t know what I’d do without it…
New blog is looking great and what a perfect first post. I just need to print it out and highlight “IMPROVED MOOD” with every highlighter I can find here in my office. So true. And so often my mood needs improving. As a runner, lately I’ve just been feeling like I NEED gadgets to measure my miles, and time myself, and maybe even coach me from my iPod, but you’re right– I just need to do it, and that’s enough.
By the way, I think we are “kindred spirits” because whenever anyone says “I could care less,” I want to say, “Oh, you could? How much less could you care? Like, a lot less? Or only a little? Wait…wait, don’t answer. Because I couldn’t care less about your answer.” (On a similar note, there was a time back when I was a kid when everybody seemed to be saying “So don’t I” when it shouldn’t have been “So do I”… enraging…)
People who make these kinds of grammatical slip-ups really make me want to go do 20 push-ups.
My husband has actually been having some sleeping problems, and as much as he objects i know that exercise will help, even just a little.
I look forward to seeing how this blog pans out! Good luck!
Nice new blog! I’m gonna get nice and comfy here. Mind if my friend crashes on the couch for a month or so?
I know so many people who seem to use exercise as a punishment for “over indulging”… like “oh no, I ate a piece of cake at my kids b-day party yesterday I need to go workout for 8 hours to burn all those calories.” It’s sad, really. I mean yeah, I workout to lose weight/keep weight off, but I also do it to keep me sane and I would NEVER use it as a “punishment” for indulging a little.
And I totally love the “crunch your abs, not numbers” :)
Yeah, another blog!!!
And I love your insight and take on exercise. That is exactly how I feel–exercise is my me time. Even if I am exhausted and don’t feel like going, I know it will make me feel stronger and better about myself afterwards. The weight loss/maintaince thing is just an added bonus.
Can’t wait to see all the goodness from the new blog!
great site… I get so overwhelmed by the numbers… I had to cheat to pass math, so fitness and math – whut the heck? Thanks for the moment to help with refocus!
I am bookmarking this post as a reminder to myself — I know I should exercise regularly for the health benefits and the positive things but too often I do it to try to get rid of guilt from eating a lot the day before which results in not enjoying it at all.
This new blog looks great! Just had to use Twitter to get the word out – i like what the first post is about and looking forward to more great content! I’ve just gotten back into the gym early in the morning and it totally improves my day. I have to practice what I preach in my own blog writing!
Lovin the new website – wonderful post too!
Kristen King- thanks! me too! You’ll get sick of me soon enough….
tfh- i think the mood booster is the biggest for me. mood booster and stress reducer. if ididnt have exercise i would very alone- my friends and fam know when its time to tell me to “take a lap.”
Ashley- just make sure you dont exercise right before, or the endorphins will have the opposite effect.
chris- you have to chip in for beer, and then ill consider it.
chandra- and they wonder why they hate exercise…did you like sitting in the corner when you were a kid?
sweets and sweats- i make a rule that when i dont want to exercise (yes, sometimes personal trainers dont want to exercise) that i will just go and if i only want to do 10 minutes i can leave 9 times out of 10 i stay for a full workout.
addicted2pb- try not to think of food and exercise as opposites. try and start to think of food as FUEL for your workouts, youll have a healthier relationship with both.
and its ok to leave a little in the tank for next time.
andre- thanks! i LOVE working nout i nthe mkorning, but with my schedule id have to get up at 3:00am. NO THANK YOU.