Six months in, my fitness experiment has flatlined.
Unexpected lessons and surprising results along the way.
I started a fitness experiment six months ago.
The plan was simple:
Tape lips shut when I sleep, keep them shut all the time (including when I work out)
Breath work, diaphragm training on the daily
Increase cardio
Track my health data and watch my stamina and endurance improve. Even partner dance again!
But here I am, half a year later, and the results are... flatlined. Well, except for a slight increase in sleep minutes. That’s something, right? Heart rate variability, blood oxygen, and everything else? Status quo. Some things have gotten worse — those are the things that may in fact take me out. Did I actually think I was gonna live forever?
I did try partner dancing again — twice. Can’t make it through a moderate tempo 3-minute lindy hop. Sigh.
I really thought taping my lips shut while sleeping and all this breath work would turn things around dramatically. Spoiler alert: it hasn’t. It may someday, or it may never.
So I planned to vent and whine here in this newsletter.
Lucky for me — and you! — my perspective changed. I went out to the garden this morning, took a walk around the neighborhood before the heat kicked in, and remembered something crucial: I have options besides complaining. I can choose gratitude.
Gratitude’s been a game-changer for me. It took years of practice to shake off my deep commitment to a negative POV. Entitled, deprived, victimized... Sound familiar? It was my default mode. When I finally sought help, the first assignment from my mentor was to write a 15-item gratitude list every day without repeats. I did that for years. I appreciate the practice so much that I published a gratitude journal to share this gift. It’s called Fierce Gratitude.
I don’t have a 15-item list today, but here’s what got me grateful this morning:
I’ve been using strips of torn-up t-shirts to tie plants to stakes, give them more air, encourage growth. Not so much bondage/domination, more like suggesting and encouraging. Although I gotta say I love seeing them bend to my will (so to speak).
And then there’s the sweet pleasure of hanging the wash in my small garden. The joy of the mundane.
And seriously? I’m composting now? Making my own compost tea and top dressing? I’m from Brooklyn!
And the joy of the neighborhood gardens.
About these flatlined results:
I’m not giving up, but I’m also not pushing myself as hard. My devices show I’m not clocking as much exercise as I was. I’m inclined, even habituated, to push myself to overcome and go hard. But now, I’m embracing a gentler approach. It feels different, uncomfortable (always chiding myself for my laziness), but maybe that’s a good thing. More time in the garden, honoring what is, and finding what there is to appreciate.
For a deeper dive into how gratitude transformed my mindset, and how it might tranform yours, check out the Fierce Gratitude journal. Try a season of apprecation and grow your ability to see things in a positive light. Once you know there’s always light behind the clouds, you’ve added appreciation to your badass toolbox. And that’s a very good thing, especially now in the third third of life.
I’d love to know what you think. Join the conversation
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