As things continue to ever change with lockdowns and stay at home orders, one thing is for certain – this will eventually end, you and I will eventually return to work, and our previous schedules will slowly become the norm once again.
How quickly, or to what extent, is the big question. As I stated in my newsletter this week, many of my clients have improved their health during this time.
Why and how? Well in an article from two weeks ago I covered the reasons why, and maybe some of these apply to you.
As we shift back into a new, new normal, how will you take what you have learned from this time and continue to apply it if you found it especially helpful?
Maybe you found more time to sleep, and feel amazing. Maybe you cut back on processed foods because you weren’t eating out. Maybe you cut back on your alcohol consumption because you didn’t have happy hours to go to (because that stopped us from drinking 🙂
Maybe you took daily walks, not looking to get a sweat on, or a calorie burn, but just to move. Maybe you developed a workout routine, found something you enjoy, and makes your body feel better than what you were doing before. Maybe you realized you needed more mobility, and fewer burpees (finally!)
Whatever you learned and took away from this time in the positive sense, you need to figure out how to apply it back into your normal schedule as we slowly shift back into that.
Start by listing out the positive changes you made during the last 60 days.
Rank them in order of how important you think they were to improvements in your health. From what I have seen with many of my most successful online clients, its been 3 things:
- More sleep (7 hours+)
- More daily steps (NOT more exercise)
- More attention to food intake
If you focussed on improving any of these things over the last 60 or so days, that is awesome! If you didn’t, ask yourself why?
It’s okay if you didn’t, but what prevented you? Your job? Your kids? Even the busiest, and hardest working people I know made time to focus on at least one aspect of their health over these past few months. Because if you fear this virus, and you don’t focus on SOME aspect of improving your health, I honestly don’t know what else to tell you.
What improved? How can you make it fit within your old schedule?
Be honest with yourself, and realize that YOU made significant improvements during this time. You prioritized things that you didn’t have time for before, and you have seen the benefits of these things.
Make damn sure that you find out how to keep them up going forward to some capacity.
Sleeping More?
Is it because you are sleeping in more, or going to bed sooner? Likely, if you are like me, you are sleeping in more. How can we keep this rolling?
Well, I have no choice – I have a 5 AM group that is ready to get back to work, so I will have to suck it up and return to my normal “old man” bedtime.
But what about you? Can you sleep in al little bit more? Do you HAVE to go to the gym at 5 AM, or can you find a new time that still works? Do you HAVE to stay up and watch that same late-night show over and over again? Is that show worth reversing the health that you have gained?
More Steps?
Have you been moving more in general and feeling better, and maybe even losing a little bit of weight?
Look at your step count, make that your goal. When you return to work – can you walk and talk on a call? Can you shave 10 minutes off of lunch to walk for 10 minutes afterward?
Make a nightly walk a priority after dinner. Pair your new habits with an old habit that has been in place since pre-Corona to make sure that your new habit really sticks.
It doesn’t have to be more exercise – frankly, many of my clients have exercised LESS during this time, and gotten BETTER results! (train SMARTER, not HARDER)
More Attention to Food?
Not eating out? Not buying as much junk food?
Keep that going! If you found that it benefitted your health, why would you stop? Because “normal” people eat out to lunch every day and go to happy hours Wednesday through Saturday? Well, do you want to be a “normal” person? Look up the average health stats of Americans…it’s not that exceptional.
You can still socialize. You can still go out. But just take a second thought, be honest with yourself. Maybe now is the time that we rethink our social coupling with unhealthy behaviors.
Maybe you finally started tracking your food because you had more time?
What did you learn? What foods add up quickly? What foods are high in various macros, and low in others? Apply your new habits and knowledge into the future.
What if you DID NOT improve your health?
You didn’t fail. You didn’t suck. You just didn’t make it a priority. That is a fact – neither positive or negative, intentional or unintentional – it’s just a fact.
How can you make it a priority? – Because again, now more than ever, we NEED to take our health seriously.
If you need help getting started, look no further than online coaching – training and nutrition – let me help you find the best plan for you – from anywhere in the world.
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Stay healthy my friends,