Ok, let’s get one thing straight before we continue any further. I’m a novice yogi (and am well aware of it!!)…my technique, I’m quite sure, leaves a lot to be desired. So can we look past that? Knowing that I’m simply a new learner, and not trying to pass along any poor poses? Ok, phew, I feel better getting that outta the way!
If you follow me on insta, you might have seen a post earlier this week where I said that I’m approaching this summer differently. I really mean it! This is how it’s gone down past summer breaks:
First: Welcome summer…with non-stop cookouts, gooey s’mores, pretty drinks and chips’n dip.
Second: Call a cease fire with all scheduled exercise classes with the promise that I will be so active I wouldn’t have time for them anyways.
Third: Tell myself that I deserve a break, and I’ll deal with the fallout in fall.
Fourth: Repeat 1,2,3….repeatedly.
Fifth: Find myself on labor day weekend absolutely dreading the first day of school because beyond the kids going back to school I am starting Day 1 of “getting back on track”.
Sixth: To jumpstart the back on track thing, I decide to go super intense and my family welcomes back irritated, hungry, headache-ridden mother.
Yuck. So done with that ridiculous cycle. I don’t know what it is with summer but I just literally refuse to keep doing this. I tend to find fall hard in general and wonder how much this self-punishment contributes.
It’s not rocket science when I see my summer predicament written out above…the answer is pretty obvious. Smarter choices in activity and what I’m putting in my mouth are what I can control. Two things. And while I still have every intention of thoroughly enjoying summer, I also know having a plan is really helpful for follow-through.
Knowing that we are going to be vacationing for three weeks, I knew I needed to be in a solid routine going into summer…that I can jump back into once we are back home. A number of my friends had been encouraging me to come do infrared yoga with them. I was SO intimidated, but went because I’m a sucker for social exercise!!! I’m such a newbie but I left that first class feeling like I had just accomplished something big! How can you not feel like you did good when your clothes could be wrung out? I decided to commit to it for a month minimum…and go 4-5 times a week. I’m in my 4th week and honestly, feeling kinda proud. It’s really hard, but there is a real sense of accomplishment. The other positive is finding something that works with where my body is at…the past year has left me feeling tight, achy, inflexible. Aged. These classes (along with barre classes) really work to help me in those areas so I feel like I’m doing something to improve my well-being on a daily basis.
The other part of the plan is to practice a whole lot more of moderation when it comes to eating. Keeping my breakfast and lunch routine is easy…it’s usually the later part of the day that does a complete skydive. Control what I can, right? My stack of healthy cookbooks is in heavy rotation right now! The list of delicious AND healthy recipes is long. Am I going to still have my cheat moments? Absolutely. But there are going to be more days than not where we will be cooking fresh and wholesome (this includes getting creative for summer bbq’s). And it’s not being a kill-joy. It’s more about settling into a healthier lifestyle. Some of my favourite cookbooks at the moment are here and here.
Wanted to share this new attitude (at least for me) towards summer. Not interested in dealing with the labor day blues and ensuing months of punishment. I know there’s no huge discovery here, but maybe it’s the writing it out here that gives me an added level of accountability. Here’s to an awesome summer of both enjoyment and moderation. Does this resonate with you? How do you view the summer break?? A time of letting loose or a continuation of your routine?
