So, You Really Wanna Know What Moves Me?

Image Credit: Pexels/Pixabay

Okay, so last month our dear friend Michele Lee Sefton posted a “What Moves You” challenge on her blog. Essentially, the idea is to choose a physical activity that you enjoy doing, and then do it! While there were a few things I knew would make me move, she insisted that it needed to be G-Rated. Gee, thanks Michele. So while I am not officially entering this challenge, I thought it would be fun to think about what moved me to get moving. While writing this, I am sitting at my desk as I think about it and as I took a break, it hit me right there. 

I get up periodically throughout my day to dance to something on my laptop, then I put my sneakers on (like a kid the colors alone make me move), and then I lubricate my knees by cycling on my manual portable desk peddler as I lift some light weights. The photo below shows a collection of the things that get me moving as I sit working at my desk. It just breaks the monotony of sitting down for an extended period by giving me an injection of energy to keep me moving. So, there you have it, Michele Lee Sefton. All of the elements that make me move throughout the day when working at my desk. Are you moved to move? 🤔

Image Credit: Kym Gordon Moore – What Moves Me Switcheroo!

This is one of my go-to songs to get up and move to!

I Filed for Separation

Image Credit: James Orr

Don’t gasp. Separation happens to the best of us all the time. I just went through my 7-year itch with my partner who became increasingly domineering and controlling. I won’t divulge the name of my partner (and no, it is not my husband), but it is the long-term relationship I had with my fitness tracker.

In the beginning, it was wonderful. We got to know each other intimately, and it became a trainer that helped me to be better disciplined as I made my fitness goals to improve my health. But something got messed up along the way. I noticed it but didn’t pay attention to what was happening. It was dictating to me what I should be doing, and I found myself becoming a fitness-tracking zombie. I was roped into its clutches of control, and I didn’t realize I was in too deep.

Image Credit: Polina Tankilevitch

It authoritatively suggested what my daily intake of drinking a certain amount of water should be, how many miles I should walk, how many calories to burn, how many hours I should sleep but wasn’t getting, and vibrated when I needed to get up each of the 9 hours of active minutes I had to get in each hour. I upgraded to a newer and improved model during our time together. What we had was wonderful, until it began to get dark, like it was angry because I wasn’t listening like I initially did.

Now grant it, this is not a fitness tracker bashing. But like a baby who no longer needs a walker, I am more disciplined, energized, and confident about thinking on my own without my wrist-wearing technology looking over my shoulders! My codependency became an obsession and an addiction. So now, I am kicking the habit, filing for separation, because I am strong enough to walk on with more confidence and greater discipline.

Am I tempted to pick up my tracker and strap it back on? At times I am, but not as often as I thought. Although it was a hard habit to break, I am liberated now, and oh what a feeling that is! Bye-bye birdie!

If You Don’t Move it, You’re Probably Dead

Image Credit: Sabine Sauermaul

OK, so I am in a “Throwback Tantilizing Thirsty Thursday” kind of lighthearted mood today. I set out to do a few minutes of loosening up and, at the same time, get in a few minutes of cardio to get energized! 🏋🏽‍♀️ Well, wouldn’t you know it, I need no excuse to get up and dance to warmup and kickoff my day fantabulously. So, here I go, and I hope that this throwback video will move your rump-shaker too! Have a Dance-ilicious Day y’all! 💃🏽

Laugh Break: Bikinis and the Red-Eyed Tree Frogs

When an accountability partner comes in handy!

“C’mon Gertrude, STRETCH!” Ethel coaxed. “It’s almost bikini season!”

 

Observing National Staying Healthy Month

More often than not, many people make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight or to get in shape. The problem with that goal is our mindset. If we are not in the right frame of mind to commit to a long-term plan to be our healthiest on a consistent basis, by deleting unhealthy food, mindsets, attitudes and sometimes people, then our chances of success is at the bottom of the totem pole.

We can go on an assortment of diet plans and it will be in vain if we continue to hoard unhealthy choices that cancels us from becoming the best possible us. While National Staying Healthy Month is observed throughout the month of January, do you merely stop focusing on the mission when January 31st arrives? If so, then you are truly setting yourself up for failure.

When making healthier choices the picture is bigger than food. Sit down and write “why” you are striving to live a healthier lifestyle. If it is for someone or something else, besides what is beneficial for you, then you will truly miss the boat, because it can create a great deal of unhappiness and possible depression. If the report card for your overall health is at risk, then seek professional or medical consultation and do it according to your profile and not that of someone else. You are not a cookie cutter version of other people, even if you are an identical twin. What is healthy for one person, may not be a healthy alternative for you!

What is your idea or definition of living a healthy lifestyle? Have you made tough decisions to eliminate things that negatively affect your life? If so, I applaud you, because I am in the same boat as you are. The process of elimination can be a challenge, but when you make the decision to move beyond those challenges, you will feel lighter, more productive and healthier. Here’s to being your BEST you!