Why You’re Not in Shape (Yet)

“Why can’t I do this? I know what I need to do to get in shape, and I just can’t get myself to do it. I’ve yo-yo’d for years.”

I’ve been running Nerd Fitness for 8 years now (holy crap), and I have seen some of the most dramatic success stories from people of all walks of life that give me the biggest smile.

Single moms working two jobs, married couples that got in shape together, people who have been overweight their entire lives, and others who began powerlifting at the age of 50.

In that same time, however, I have seen tons of people who have been reading NF for years and struggled to find success. They might succeed for a short amount of time, or even a few months, before backsliding into old habits, and they just can’t seem to make things stick.

What’s interesting is that with both groups, they knew what they needed to do: more vegetables, more movement, less junk food, fewer calories on average, and a healthy exercise routine.

This wasn’t surprising: we all know what we need to do to get fit. So what separates the group of people who have fundamentally changed their lives and become new people from the other group who continue to struggle with little to no results?

I was curious, so about a month ago I sent a survey out to NF Rebels asking them for their honest answers on why they have (or haven’t) succeeded, and the responses really surprised me.

For starters, we had over 10,000 responses with people pouring out their hearts, proudly proclaiming their successes, or honestly sharing why they believed they hadn’t found their path quite yet.

About 25% of the responses came in saying they had made permanent changes, while the other 75% were still working on making enough progress and building enough momentum to make changes permanently.

So, why is it that some are kicking ass, and others are still warming up their kicking legs?

Newsflash: You Are Not A Unique Snowflake

You are not a unique snowflake.

I don’t mean this in a bad way, and I’m not saying that your problems aren’t real! But I mean that we all have baggage that we are dealing with:

• Some people are working crappy jobs with bad hours.
• Some people are working multiple jobs.
• Some people are raising children on their own.
• Some people have genetic challenges thanks to unhealthy parents or medical conditions.
• Some people are struggling with behavioral or psychological challenges that sabotage any efforts to live healthier lives.
• Some people just feel down and out, like they can’t change because they’ve lived this way for so long.

These are all VERY real problems that can help explain why people haven’t succeeded. These are the things we all grapple with (in different amounts) every day. However, I noticed something when studying the answers of people who were struggling to get results.

People who weren’t seeing the results they wanted wrote that many of their issues were UNIQUE to them.

So often we think our problems are special, unique challenges we’re facing. We feel like we’re in a boss battle with no hope, fighting an overpowering beast with no weaknesses. “I can’t succeed because of [insert VALID and REAL excuse here].”

We feel powerless trying to stand up to the momentum of our lives. Reading through the thousands upon thousands of responses we received, we saw the SAME things over and over again. It felt like an episode of Black Mirror – everyone feeling so alone, but they’re all fighting the same bad guys.

Here’s a word cloud of the responses: the bigger the words, the more often it was mentioned.

When we asked the question: “Why do you think you haven’t achieved success yet?

Some people assigned blame to the physical things in their life: “my job” or “my kids” or “my medical condition.” Others went down a level, and tried to explain their root feeling:

• I get bored and then find excuses not to do it even when I know I should.
• I have no accountability for when I mess up my healthy routine.
• I’m really good at self sabotage, and I get frustrated very easily when I don’t see immediate gratification.
• It’s hard to say…Probably energy and motivation.
• I find it really easy to lose my momentum – I’ll start an exercise plan, but then if I get sick or some personal family drama comes up, or a million other things that throw a wrench in my planned schedule, then everything unravels very quickly and no progress is made.
• I haven’t set myself up for success; there’s no discipline to leave my comfort zone.
• I believe that I am scared to change, so my commitment to starting to eat better is pretty much nonexistent, leaving me with no motivation to succeed.
• I feel defeated before I even start. Hate to exercise. I stress eat.

Most us feel like this: we’re so sure of our situation. Sure that we’re doomed. Sure that there’s no hope. Sure that we know what there is to know. We feel beaten. We feel buried.

We feel like Sisyphus, climbing a never ending mountain with a boulder too large to bear. Like we don’t have time. Like our kids have to come first, and we can take care of ourselves later. Like we lack motivation.

Like we can’t get ourselves to do the things that we want to do, and that’s just the way it is. It feels like an insurmountable battle that we can’t win.

And then something happens.

Newsflash: Somebody with your challenges HAS succeeded before!

With 10,000 responses, I saw something powerful in the messages from people who HAD succeeded.

Everyone has their own set of unique problems, but we saw it was the same 10 or so problems in different amounts, over and over again.

Those who succeeded ALSO have their unique mix of baggage. They also work shitty jobs. They don’t have a lot of time. They struggle with mental health issues. They are single, divorced, and raising kids.

They have bad parents and unhealthy habits. They love to eat junk food and struggle with motivation. The things that kept them unhealthy before are NO different than the things that keep the other 75% unhealthy.

So what’s so different between those who succeed and those who don’t?

There’s a few key things that happen:

• There’s no drastic declaration. Life changes just a little bit. A small win here and there. Or they wake up one day and do one thing. And then do that one thing again.
• They kept at it. Some people we heard from had to fight through 10 boss battles in order to find the solution and final habits that worked for them. Some people had larger, longer boss fights.
• They start to see cracks in their previous “limited mindset” of themselves. “Hey, look! I DID do something and changed. Maybe this time CAN be different…”
• Instead of seeing excuses as to WHY they aren’t in shape (“I can’t find success because [insert valid excuse here].”), they instead see those things as obstacles to overcome (“Okay, I have [insert same valid excuse]. What steps can I take to overcome it?”). They stop believing their own excuses and start to step up to the plate.
• These small victories build momentum. Changes become permanent slowly over time.

As one Rebel replied, “Once you find a rhythm, it’s not actually that hard. And it feels sustainable.”

Now, I hear ya. If it seems like there is a LOT in your way, it might seem unsustainable. A dream.

But remember, that person who said “it’s actually not that hard” was surprised. For years and years, it WAS hard. They didn’t believe they could change…until they found a rhythm of small changes and had the epiphany: “WOW!” Until then, they were part of the “still searching” group. They found some momentum and started to see how change really happens.

Remember, we’re all in this together. What if there was someone in this Rebellion, with a life just like yours, who found a way to slay the final boss?

Your reasons ARE valid. They are a real part of your life. However, we have to acknowledge them and move beyond them to see any lasting results. That’s what it means to change. 

But if someone else with your same types of challenges (from genetic, to habits, to job and family) has succeeded, MAYBE there is a path to success if you attack it the right way! If they can change, you can too.

Yup, even with the shit you’re dealing with in your life. With your disadvantages. With your limitations. Yup, even with the limited amount of time you have.

This response in particular really jumped out at me. I GUARANTEE you can relate to this:

The biggest surprise is that it was possible in the first place. You spend your whole life thinking “I can’t do that, I can’t get up in front of people and tell them things.” And then you take a class and you start doing it and suddenly you can get up and give a speech.

You spend your whole life thinking “I’m a quitter, I can’t finish anything to completion let alone actually build (and keep!) healthy habits” and then you just decide to start and suddenly you’re on day five and you know you can exercise every day for a week, and then you’re on day 27 and you know you can make it to the end of the month, and then you’re on day 42 and you know you can do this for the rest of your life because it’s changing you, it’s changing who you are.

Your back is straightening out for the first time since you were a child, your scoliosis is fading away, you relish the sore muscles, and you know you can do this.

Read that response again. This is somebody who had told themselves all their life that they couldn’t do things, and success was light-years away. So they stopped worrying about light-years and instead just did the things they could control that DAY. Then that somehow became Day 5, which became day 27 and then day 42 and then counting was no longer necessary because it just became part of their new persona.

This is a brand new person. And change happened so slowly and in such small ways that it wasn’t until they looked back months later and said “holy crap, I’m a different person! That was easier than expected.”

Your success will come as a surprise to you.

Response after response from the people who HAD made permanent changes stick used the same word over and over – it was “surprising” how it happened.

You see, when we have lost hope, we can’t even imagine eating healthy and working out feeling fun. So when we give half-efforted attempt, we use the lack of success to reinforce our mindset of, “this won’t work…I’m doomed.” It’s easier to tell ourselves, “This is the way it is.”

But then you find a tiny bit of success, and cracks start to form: “Maybe I DON’T know everything. Maybe… Maybe change is possible.” And we develop a tiny bit of hope. Hope that we were wrong, and we weren’t seeing the whole picture before.

And we all know how powerful hope is. After all, Rebellions are built on hope, right?

And that tiny bit of hope combined with a little bit of action, repeatedly, eventually results in surprising, drastic change when we don’t even realize it.

We asked what surprised those of you who have found success:

• I’m happier!
• Once you create the habit, it’s so easy to maintain. The habit of working out and eating healthy is easier to keep than going out of your way to eat poorly or not work out. It becomes like a self-perpetuating machine.
  How I started liking foods that used to be absolutely disgusting, but now help me further my goals of becoming stronger. Also now I can run off walls and jump off any set of stairs and continue dashing like a free-running freak. That’s nice, too.
• How much of a mental game fitness really is. Mind and body are truly linked.
• Why didn’t I do this sooner?
• Might sound cheesy but it feels good to feel good. Once you accept you are progressing at your own pace, that there will be ups and downs and not let them affect you as much as before, everything is becoming so much easier.
• I feel lighter and more free.

Sitting there believing deep down you can’t change – that your problems are unique – is the very thing that needs to be looked at carefully in order to change. If you are part of the 75% who say you haven’t had success (yet), who just want to get rid of some belly fat, have some more energy in the day, fit into size 8 pants, feel comfortable in your own skin, who just want to be happy….

We have a message for you:

It IS possible, and it is absolutely worth it.

I want this for you so badly, because I’ve seen it happen to thousands and thousands of people in this community. A switch flips, they start to believe, and they then look back months/years later and discover just how much they have changed.

What will be different this year?

Most of us know what to do already. We know we need to eat less and move more. We know we need to change our relationship with food. We know we need to exercise more. At the 4,000 foot level, we get it.

As Morpheus tells Neo, “There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”

Ultimately, only through action can we understand how change really happens. But remember that we are all in this together: fighting against an entire world that seems designed to keep us down.

Looking through responses from thousands of people DID see lasting success with healthy habit changes, I noticed 5 big patterns repeating:

1. A growth mindset rather than a limited mindset.
2. Focus on the day to day habit building.
3. Not relying on motivation.
4. The right environment.
5. They started.

Let’s dig into those a bit more:

1) GROWTH MINDSET – The feeling that change isn’t really possible often sneaks up on us: “I ran on a treadmill and starved myself and I hate my life. I cannot get in shape.”

But when we looked through people who had success, they seemed to view that same event in a different way: “Okay, that didn’t work. Maybe this time I’ll try something different, like eating some more vegetables and going for a walk. I can do that.”

These people told us that they had to make a perspective shift:

“I have kids and a tough job and no time. I can’t get in shape.” becomes “Okay I have kids and a tough job and no time. What CAN I do with these limitations? I shall try that.”

Often, this involves needing to give ourselves a break. We DO have a lot of limitations and a lot of challenges to overcome. We should look clearly at them, acknowledge them, and then acknowledge that we are worthy of change and deserving of a better life. So, let’s work for it.

We then start to see previous attempts at getting fit as just that: attempts, not failures.

I loved this response too: How did you succeed? “By forgiving myself when I mess up but not letting it take over and sabotaging my quest.”

You didn’t fail, you don’t need to feel shame. You tried something, it didn’t work. Move onto the next one. You don’t need to feel guilt or self-loathing. You can change right now. Today.

Sometimes when I work on a puzzle game, I feel stupid when I can’t get it. But when I finally crack it, there’s no guilt or shame. I just change my behavior because I understand how to solve it now.

People who found their path to success said that more permanent changes didn’t get weighed down by their failures or missteps, but instead they turned them into opportunity to find what COULD work given their situation.

2) DAY TO DAY HABITS: The journey to Mordor happens one step at a time.

We cannot control what happened to us yesterday. We cannot control what will happen tomorrow. We can only control our actions today.

This realization is something we heard again and again from those who found success. Like this response:

“I broke goals down in very small steps and made each step ridiculously easy to accomplish.

And it makes sense: We look at our lives… the weight we have to lose. The effort that change will take. How behind we feel… and we feel this dread and impossibility. It’s paralyzing. And that’s where the surprise comes in from those who actually start walking, taking one step at a time… it really is shocking how it becomes effortless.

Just do the next thing that you can control, and try to do it the best way you know how: We call this the “Minecraft method.”

3) NOT RELYING ON MOTIVATION: We saw a LOT of responses from people struggling who said they needed more motivation.

We all wish we had more motivation. What’s interesting is that there’s no secret energy tank in successful people compared to unsuccessful people. It’s not like those struggling don’t have motivation while those who have succeeded have TONS of it. They possess the same amount and have the same parts of their lives that zap motivation.

Successful people seemed to tell us that they didn’t rely on motivation!

Motivation pales in comparison to momentum. Here’s one response we received: “Once you create the habit, it’s so easy to maintain. The habit of working out and eating healthy is easier to keep than going out of your way to eat poorly or not work out. It becomes like a self-perpetuating machine.”

Like rolling a tiny snowball off a hill and watching it build size and speed, inertia takes over and it becomes a self-growing, unstoppable force. Check out these articles on building discipline and systems.

4) THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT:

We found a lot of responses from successful Rebels who knew that shaping their environment would lightly “nudge” them over the course of their day to greatly improve their chances of succeeding.

Like the Rebel who “threw [their] junk food in the bonfire and stopped buying it.” That’s a fairly dramatic response. But motivation is not necessary when you don’t have that food in your apartment to eat!

We heard so many different ways that people made their job EASIER. Many of us work hard, stressful jobs. And the natural response for many is to binge eat or quickly grab fast food to compensate for how hard or long we work. But a few tweaks in your work environment can go a long way.

Batch cooking helps to remove the willpower temptation for unhealthy food. Rebels who joined running clubs, The Nerd Fitness Academy or Camp Nerd Fitness Facebook groups found it easier to do their workouts. They cited these groups as huge reasons why they succeeded.

So many who succeeded talked about how they found supportive influences in their life (whether animate, or inanimate objects!). You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.

Choose wisely!

5) TAKE ACTION:

Yes, as we learned from Rogue One, Rebellions are built on hope. But hope without action would have made for a painfully boring movie. We can hope for a better life. We can believe we CAN get to a better life. But action, even if it’s imperfect and incorrect, is better than no action.

Every single person who said they succeeded took action… often with a small tweak to something they’d done before.

This seemed to be the slogan that so many followed: “The idea that doing something, ANYthing, is better than doing nothing has been key.”

Do something different, and do it today.

Hope needs action. Otherwise it’s no different than hopelessness – nothing will happen.

So get started and do something today:

• Try this workout.
• Begin a walk to Mordor.
• Cook an easy meal.
• Join a group.
• One less soda. One healthier meal. One 5-minute dedicated walk.

But do something!

I want to put you on this list at the end of 2017

We asked people who have succeeded what they are most proud of. I want 2017 to be the year you get to respond to the next survey with an answer like the following…

What are you most proud of?

• Feeling better about my body.
• Losing 120lbs. Because I don’t want to die in my 40s.
• I am most proud of allowing myself to be vulnerable within the Nerd Fitness community and ending up with so many friends as a result. I am most proud of this because I have always been embarrassed or ashamed by how I felt about my body and my struggles. Finding this community has helped me understand that everybody has struggles and there is nothing wrong with that. It also gave me the environment I needed to start admitting my goals to myself and start working toward them.
• Fitness wise–hitting a half marathon PR because I trained really hard for it.
• I fixed my relationship with my spouse.
• I finally valued myself enough to leave an abusive relationship.
• I haven’t drank soda in a year. Soda was one of the hardest things for me to give up. I still drink coffee, but I don’t want to give that up.
• Making exercise into a regular habit. I never exercised before I found Nerd Fitness, and now I do it regularly, so that’s a pretty big change. I still haven’t accomplished a lot of the dramatic goals like a handstand and a pull-up, but I now have the framework to make progress and I AM making progress.
• Being able to give birth naturally to my daughter.
• Losing 25 lbs and making exercise a regular and enjoyable part of my week.

I want to hear from you below. How are you going to make 2017 different?

What SPECIFICALLY are you going to change? We’re going to be hitting these topics hard in early 2017 to help you finally crack the code. In the meantime, don’t forget this:

It starts with hope, but it only happens with action.

-Steve

PS: Next week we’re launching our most ambitious premium product yet, that specifically tackles all of the challenges people have mentioned above. I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

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source https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/why-youre-not-in-shape-yet/

Is Seasonal Affective Disorder a Real Thing? How to slay the SAD Beast!

This is an article from mental health wizard and resident NF Family Rebel Correspondent, Dan Schmidt.

Brace yourself, it’s here.

Winter. Bigger jackets, colder mornings, mental health disorder subsets, shorter days, umbr- …wait… what was that last one? Umbrellas? No, no, the other one. Oh, you haven’t heard of SAD? Well, let me tell you all about this frosty behemoth.

Aside from being a really clever acronym, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder that, spoiler alert, has a seasonal pattern. It’s also known as winter depression, winter blues or seasonal depression. In a nutshell, SAD makes people with ‘normal’ mental health experience depressive symptoms at a specific time each year, most often winter.

SAD can a cruel, powerful, and damaging arctic foe. But armed with the right weapons, we can ward off the winter monster, or even keep it in full hibernation.

Disclaimer: Today we’re going to be discussing some issues that may be difficult for some going through a tough time. If you (or someone you know) aren’t coping so well, PLEASE see the links at the bottom of this article with some resources from all around the world. Obviously, we recommend discussing this information with your health professional – none of this is a diagnosis, but rather a starting point for discussion.

Do you have SAD?

Most of us feel a little glum in winter… it’s natural to feel a little down.

Cold mornings, less time outside, and often it’s not as easy to get out and do our favourite things (for me, it’s golf). So for a lot of us, winter just sucks a little. (Sorry guys, I feel bad writing this from the Land Down Under where we’ve just hit summertime.)

We’ve known something was up since the 6th century, but SAD remained a mythical creature until the 1980s in the West when it became officially recognized as a mood disorder.  While we’re still not 100% sure of how it works, it’s pretty clear to see that SAD especially thrives in the cooler, darker climates. For example, studies show SAD’s prevalence in the U.S. ranges from around 1% in Florida to 9% in Alaska. Looking around the world, in Oslo, Norway, around 14% of the population will be impacted by SAD, while us lucky buggers Down Under are barely impacted at all, with estimates that only around 1 in 300 Aussies (0.33%) will experience SAD during the “winter.”

Yes, SAD can occur for some people during summer and other seasons, but this is particularly rare compared to winter prevalence.

Common SAD symptoms include:

• low mood for most of the day.
• loss of interest in your usual activities.
• drowsiness and low energy (lethargy)
• fatigue, irritability, and severe mood swings
• Irregular sleep patterns (too much and/or too little)
• eating more than usual, especially craving sugar and carbohydrates, leading to weight gain
• loss of interest in things you normally enjoy doing
• intrusive or disturbing thoughts

Depression is not just a fancy word for feeling “bummed out”, SAD is just as serious as any other depression and needs to be dealt with promptly and effectively. (See the end of the article for a list of mental health services links.) 

“But how do I know the difference between general winter glumness, or if I’m being mauled by the SAD beast like Leo in the Revenant?”

Ask yourself these questions:

• “Do you feel like you can’t get yourself out of this rut?”
• “Have you lost an interest in things that you usually enjoy?”
• “Have you felt this way for more than two weeks?”

If so, then it could be time to have a chat to a professional and perhaps seek treatment. Once again, SAD is just as real and can be just as devastating as Major Depressive Disorder, the only difference is the yearly regular onset. This bitter beast can take over someone’s entire wellbeing, and left untreated, the consequences can be devastating.

So let’s learn how we can slay the SAD, or even better, keep it in hibernation this year, so we nerds can continue to conquer all year round.

so Let’s slay, okay?

As with any injury or illness boss battle, you need to use the right medicine weapon to save the day. And there are many weapons you can equip yourself with to slay SAD: 

GET SOME LIGHT:

Light helps the body produce seratonin (hormone that affects mood) and reducing the production of melatonin (hormine that makes you sleepy).

Starting with natural light is best, even though it’s not easy. If the sun happens to be peeking out from the clouds, try and get outside for a nice walk. Even on cold or cloudy days, outdoor light can help, particularly in the morning. Making your your work and home environments as light and airy as possible and sitting near windows can help too. 

If you feel you’re just simply not able to get enough natural light, ‘Light Therapy’ is generally one first weapons picked up to slay for SAD. It can start alleviating symptoms in just a few days and rarely causes any side effects. It’s incredibly simple, and sitting under bright fluorescent globes or in front of a light box (again, particularly in the morning) has shown to be effective against SAD (Anecdotal, but I even once met a young woman who started to feel better just by increasing the wattage of her bedroom lightglobes). 

EXERCISE AND DIET

Surprise, surprise, our old friends come to the rescue once again. It’s clear that exercise and eating well are key in keeping the blues at bay, so rug up and take a long walk and be sure to exercise regularly. Exercise and other types of physical activity help relieve stress and anxiety, both of which can increase SAD symptoms.

If you’re really keen to take on winter, try the Winter Is Coming Workout and start building that summer body early. For those who don’t like the freezing weather, that’s cool (get it?), you can always do Steve’s 20 minute hotel room workout (pro tip: you don’t actually need to be staying in a hotel room to do the workout… that was $250 I’ll never get back), or even join the Nerd Fitness #YogaEveryDay challenge (which my wife is totally kicking my ass in) if you haven’t signed up already. 

As for diet, Steve has already highlighted, if you’re going to eat unhealthy foods during winter, let’s at least be smart about it and negate the impact the holidays have on our waistlines. Try your best to provide a counter balance to those comfort foods and keep your diet as close as what it is the rest of the year. 

THERAPY

Talk Therapy (Psychotherapy) and cognitive behavioral therapy sound scary, but really aren’t. Psychotherapy focuses on helping you to build skills to deal with the stresses in your life, along with identifying and changing negative thinking patterns. Therapies such as these assist you in retraining some of the patterns and thoughts in your life that aren’t doing you any good.

You can read the Nerd Fitness Guide to Mental Health.

It can feel daunting, and really weird, ‘opening up’ to a stranger at first, but having a coach to talk through your negative thoughts and feelings, and how to manage them better is generally quite effective. Most people will notice an improvement in as little as two weeks. Really, the “weird” stigma is usually the biggest barrier to even doing the thing in the first place!

GET SOME VITAMIN D

When exposure to sunlight is low, your body makes less Vitamin D. According to this study, Vitamin D deficiency affects nearly HALF of the world population. It is important for overall health. Our friends over at Examine say that if your diet is decent and there’s only one supplement you’re taking, it should probably be Vitamin D during these upcoming months.

The research is a little mixed when it comes to Vitamin D’s effectiveness in battling SAD, but some studies do show an improvement to everyone’s depression scale scores (those with or without SAD). Overall, if you aren’t getting enough sunlight in the winter, consider picking up some Vitamin D!

GET AWAY

If you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity, take a winter holiday in a sunny, warm location if you feel the SAD is lurking too close to home. If you’re looking to save some cash, I’m happy to have any Alaskan rebels crash on my fold out couch during the Aussie summer (a love of cricket, barbeques and beer is a must (BYOBB)).

Finally, some people with SAD benefit from antidepressant treatment, especially if symptoms are severe. We’re not here to offer any medical advice, so please see your doctor if you think medication may assist you.

This too shall pass

It’s normal to have some days when you feel down, and the holiday season can be especially hard for some.

When short days and miserable weather are piled on top of this, it’s easy to see why ‘winter blues’ is so common. But if you feel down for days at a time and you can’t get motivated to do activities you normally enjoy, please speak to someone and see your doctor. This is especially important if your sleep patterns and appetite have changed, feel a sense of hopelessness, have intrusive thoughts, or turn to alcohol/substances for comfort or relaxation.

Above all, take care of yourself this winter. Be sure to get enough rest and take the time to relax. Participate in an exercise program or engage in another form of regular physical activity. Get outside when you can. Make healthy choices for meals and snacks when possible. Reach out to a trusted friend, family member, or health professional if you feel you’re having a tough time.

And if someone reaches out to you, remember: We are Rebels, we fight conventional wisdom and smash stigmas, never leaving a fellow nerd behind.

If you feel the bitter arctic beast starting to rise from its summer slumber, remember that you are not alone, and there are ways to slay the frosty fiend. You are strong enough to beat this, and the entire rebellion have got your back.

Rebels, take care of yourself, and each other.

Do you have your own secret weapon to slay the SAD? We’d love to hear from all you rebels about how you keep your mind healthy during winter, the more ideas we all have, the better, let us know in the comments.

Better yet, you can show us all you winter mind fitness strategies, tag your pics with #SlayTheSAD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Feel free to follow us if you don’t already, @nerd_fitness on instagram, @nerdfitness on twitter, and Dan goes by @SkaSchmidt on both.

– Dan

PS – Don’t forget that we’re also running our #YogaEveryDay challenge, play along with your fellow rebels using our group google doc.

Happy Festivus.

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If you, or someone you know, would like further support, here are some excellent links and services that will get you started in the right direction:

North America – Suicide Prevention Lifeline, List of Mental Health hotlines

Canada – Mental Health Helpline, List of Mental Health services

Great Britain & Ireland – Samaritans, List of services via Mental Health Foundation

Australia – National helplines and websites, Lifeline, headspace

New Zealand – Lifeline, Mental Health helplines

India – SNEHA

Norway – Suicide hotline

Worldwide – Worldwide mental health hotlines, Worldwide suicide hotlines, Befrienders Worldwide

source https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/is-seasonal-affective-disorder-a-real-thing-how-to-slay-the-sad-beast/

How to Make a Hearty Winter Stew

This is an article from NF Rebel Chef, Noel.

I don’t know about you, but where I am, winter is freakin’ here. If I have to wear gloves, a scarf, and a hat when I leave the house, I can see my breath, and there’s snow on the ground, that counts as winter, my friends.

Love it or hate it, winter is here (or on its way), and for a lot of people, wintertime is about food. In the northern hemisphere during winter, many holidays and family gatherings take place during the colder months.

For many people, the cold is completely de-motivating when it comes to getting moving and cooking and eating healthfully.

Why bother working on good? I have to wear 3 layers of clothing at all times anyway (womp womp). And summer is sooooo long from now! I have plenty of time to procrastinate!”

:eats 10 cookies:

(Okay, this is also sometimes me.)

Well, my friends, it is time to fortify!

Jim gave you a workout to get you through the winter. Today we’re going to give you a healthy, hearty, warm-you-from-the-inside recipe you can make that’s pretty freaking easy. Level 1 winter recipe, activate!

Winter baked goods, watch out!

Let’s get to it!

Note: This recipe makes a LOT of food. If you can get this cooked, you’ll have an emergency stash of food in your freezer for when you ruin a meal, forget to buy groceries, or just ran out of time and are reaching for something unhealthy. You know it happens.

My crock pot is a 6-quart monster. If yours is smaller or you’re using a smaller stovetop soup pot, half the recipe.

The wonderful part about cooking in a crock pot is that you are basically gathering ingredients, putting them in a pot, and waiting for it to finish. The most labor intensive part of this whole recipe might be buying the 5-10 things you don’t have! If you don’t have a crock pot, don’t worry; I provided alternative instructions so you can make it right on your stove-top.

Ready?

Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 2 – 4 hours (depending on method)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp (30ml) butter or other oil, divided – one for cooking meat and one for cooking onions (olive oil, ghee, lard, duck fat, etc. are acceptable here. Choose your favorite.)
• 1 lb(.45kg) stew meat – beef, pork, lamb, etc. Dealer’s choice. Season your meat with salt and pepper.
• 1 smoked kielbasa sausage (approx 14oz/.39kg), cut into 1/2 inch medallions – The sausage I bought was 14oz, which gives a good amount of hearty meatiness and smokey flavor to the stew. As always, check the label on the sausage for corn syrup and other undesirable ingredients.

Veggies:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 carrots, roughly sliced into medallions
• 2 sweet potatoes or turnips, roughly sliced (if using sweet potatoes, peel first!). I used one of each and cut them into quarters then cut each quarter into about 6 pieces.
• 1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced into ribbons

Broth:

• 4 cups (.94L) beef stock – separate one cup out to add vinegar to it
• 3 cups (.30L) water
• 2 tbsp (30ml) vinegar – whatever you have on hand should be fine: red wine vinegar, balsamic, or apple cider vinegar are all good choices
• 2 tbsp (30ml) tomato paste

Optional seasonings:

• 1 tbsp (30ml) Worcestershire sauce – Check the ingredients here. I managed to find one that didn’t contain sugar.
• 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) oregano
• 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) paprika

Equipment (each is linked to our recommendation on Amazon):

• Cutting board
• Knife
• Cast iron skillet or pan
• Tongs
• Spoon or spatula
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Large soup pot or slow cooker

Instructions:

1. Prep your ingredients: toss your meat in a bowl and season your meat with salt and pepper.
   Chop your onion, garlic, carrots, and cabbage.
   Peel and chop your sweet potato. Slice the sausage.
   Measure out your tomato paste and other spices, separate one cup of broth and add your 2 Tbsp of vinegar to it (you’ll be using this to deglaze the pan. Oh! You so fancy!).

   

2. Now comes the part with fire! Heat up your skillet and toss 1 Tbsp butter into it. Let the butter melt.
   Move the pan around to coat. For those of you with cast iron skillets, pay attention to how hot the handle is. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve burned myself on a cast iron skillet handle because it’s hot. Don’t be like me!
3. Carefully place your seasoned meat in the skillet and let it brown, turning the meat once each side has browned.
   You’ll want to cook the meat for only a few minutes – remember, we’re browning it, not cooking it through completely. Be careful not to crowd the skillet. If you need to, you might want to cook the meat in batches. Once the meat has browned, remove it from the skillet to a plate and set aside.
4. Once all the meat is cooked and removed from the pan, add your chopped onions. Cook until translucent – about 3-5 minutes.
5. Add garlic – cook for about 1 minute.
6. Add tomato paste and mix around to coat onions and garlic. Heat through – this only takes about 1 minute.
7. Add your 1 cup beef stock and 2 tablespoons of vinegar mixture to the pan. Stir the bottom of the pan with a spoon or spatula.
   Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring gently but constantly to get all those tasty bits of meat and tomato paste that were stuck to the pan up and suspended in the liquid. If you stir too vigorously, you’ll splash the hot liquid everywhere, so be careful!
8. Now we come to the choose your own adventure part. If you’re setting this stew to cook over night or while you’re at work, transfer all your ingredients to a slow cooker – the veggies, the meat, the meaty juice concoction you just made in the pan, the rest of the broth and water, and your spices and Worcestershire sauce. Set that baby for 4 hours on high and move on with your life.
   Side Quest: Cooking on a Stovetop? If you’re cooking with friends, watching marathoning Netflix for a couple hours, having a 3 hour long dance off, or whatever it is that you do when you cook, again put all your ingredients in a big ol’ soup pot: the veggies, the meat, the meaty juice concoction you just made, broth and water, and all your spices.Stir it up a bit, cover the pot, put the heat on low, set a timer for 2 hours. Simmer until your veggies are cooked through and your meat is super duper tender. If the liquid gets too low while cooking, add more broth or water.If using the stovetop method, check on your stew every so often – every 30 minutes to 1 hour or so to stir. DON’T TAKE A NAP! That’s how you burn your house down, you animal.After 2 hours, check the meat to see if it’s tender, if it’s not, cook for another 30 minutes to 1 hour. Keep on cookin’ till everything’s nice and tender.
9. No matter what method you use, when the turnip or sweet potatoes are cooked through and the meat is melt in your mouth tender, you’re done! Serve yourself a big ol’ bowl of stew. If you’re paleo-ish and need more calories, you can feel free to serve this stew over some rice!

You’re done!

Boo yah! Stews and soups are super duper easy if you choose the set and forget method, but staying with it and cooking during the winter months can also be its own reward (especially if you are cooking with friends and family).

Plus, you get to smell what you are cooking for hours (depending on who you are, this might get you excited, or just turn you insanely ravenous). If you’re the latter, don’t set yourself up for failure (and too much snacking)! Leave the stew in a crock pot and come back later.

Stew is one of the easiest things to make in this nerd’s humble opinion: Chop up your ingredients, throw them in a pot with some liquid, and cook away. If you are new in the kitchen or simply strapped for time, your crock pot should be the sword you never do battle without.

This particular dish is super smokey, tomatoey, and a little vinegary. It’ll warm you from the inside out. If you’re a fan of cooking with alcohol, you can substitute that one cup of broth plus vinegar with a cup of dry red wine or beer (obviously not Paleo). Want it spicy? Use a spicy sausage and add a dash of cayenne pepper to the pot! Once you have a basic recipe, you can play around with all sorts of fun variations.

• What are some of your favorite easy winter dishes?
• How else are you fortifying now that winter is here?
• What healthy habits are you committing to keeping this winter?

Let us know in the comments!

-Noel

###

Photos: Pascal: Day 135, Kristina Alexanderson: The Clones are playing around, Teymur Madjderey: so what you guys say…, Stavos: fish soup

source https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-make-a-hearty-winter-stew/

The Winter Is Coming Workout

This workout was created by Nerd Fitness Team Member and Master of the Fitness Universe, Jim Bathurst. 

With zombie skeletons pounding at your door, you know what really makes me feel safe? Redundancy! If the wall doesn’t hold, the creatures have to go through metal bars. After that, another line of defense. And then another.

And you know what really makes me stick to my workouts? Redundancy. Multiple lines of defense against my own excuses:

Oh, you know what, it’s just too cold to go walk or drive to the gym… “NO PROBLEM,” I tell myself, I can do the workout right here!

Oh, but I don’t have the right equipment, I probably need to skip it today… “NO PROBLEM,” all I need is my own bodyweight, and a backpack filled with something heavy!

Oh, but the exercises at home aren’t right. They’re [too easy or too hard]… NO PROBLEM, here are some backup exercises if I need a variation.

Today we give you the Winter is Coming Workout. In case of emergency, break the glass and do this workout instead of skipping the day entirely.

Do Season 1 to warm up, and then complete any season 3x through for your workout. If you are really ready to defend Westeros, try “binging” every season, doing the whole thing straight through. 

You ready?

Bum bum bah dah bum bum bah dah bum bum bah dah dah

Warning: If you don’t want to see spoilers, don’t do that seasons workout!

Season 1 (Warm Up): Don’t lose your head, we’re just getting started.

Complete the warm up 3x through. While we would love to see you do this workout outside, we understand if you’re more inclined to Dornish weather and would rather just do this inside.

Are you ready?

Night’s Watch pledge – Reverse lunge/spiderman stretch

In honor of the Night’s Watch, take a step back, kneel down and bow forward. The lower you bow (think about getting your elbow to your ankle!), the deeper the stretch. Alternate 5 times per side.

Hand of the King – Arm circles and hand stretch

With a new Hand of the King, it’s time to get those upper body muscle warmed up. Swing your arms forward 10 times, then backwards 10 times, then stretch out the hands back and forth 5x a piece.

Dothraki horses – high knees

Trot through the Dothraki Sea  and warm up your lower body. With your hands at your hips, alternately lift your knees up as high as you can. Aim to get the legs parallel with the ground. Control and lightness on the feet are more important than height! (Think quick, graceful horse, not a lumbering giant!) Alternate 10 times per leg

Ned head circles – head/neck circles

Too much? If we’ve somehow ruined something for you, then you didn’t read the intro paragraphs! Gently and slowly roll your head one direction for 5 reps, then the other direction for 5 reps.

Baby dragons flying – jumping jacks

Dragons! Finally! Nevermind we’ll have to wait a million more episodes until they do something cool. Act like a baby dragon who can’t fly by doing 10 jumping jacks.

The Season 1 Warm Up Recap – 3x through!

Pay tribute to Jon Arryn – reverse lunge and bow – (alternate x5/side)

Hand of the King – arm circles (x10 each way) and hand stretches (alternate x5/side)

Dothraki horses – high knees – (alternate x10/side)

Ned head circles – head/neck circles – (x5 each way)

Baby dragons flying – jumping jacks – (x10)

Warning: Season 2 spoilers ahead.

Season 2 – Workout – War of the Five Kings – Get ready for battle!

Survive Season 1? Onto Season 2, where we get absolutely every character fighting for the Iron Throne! The exercises are as follows:

Balon Greyjoy boat rows – One arm rows

Grab that backpack or weight and make like you’re rowing a boat. Take a step and lean forward slightly with a good back position, and rest the non-working hand on your leg for support. Pull the weight up to your chest and then lower back down. Build up those Gendry muscles! 10 reps per side.

Robb Stark pushes ahead – push ups

These can be done on the feet, the knees, on an elevated surface, or whatever tortuous push up variation you prefer. Keep the elbows tucked in slightly. As Robb had a tough struggle, make these push ups tough! 5 reps total.

Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne – wall sit or horse stance

You know it’s gotta be uncomfortable sitting on a chair made of pointy swords, and this exercise isn’t going to feel much better. If you’re inside your castle, get your back against a wall and sit down until your thighs are parallel with the ground. If you’re outside, make like Khal and get into your best horse stance – getting your feet wider than shoulder width and squatting down until your thighs are again parallel with the ground. Hold 30 seconds.

Battle of Blackwater – diagonal chops

Who doesn’t love a good fight scene! The biggest one of the series so far finds us at Blackwater Bay. Make like Tyrion and get to chopping! Grab your weight and lift it up and high to the side, then bring it diagonally across your body to your feet. Alternate 10 reps per side.

Valar Burpees – All men (and women) must do burpees

What better way to end Season 2, than an exercise that makes you wish you were on Arya’s list? Squat down, step or kick your legs out, and lower yourself to the ground (or do a push up). Get your feet back underneath you and jump up! 10 reps total.

The Season 2 Recap – 3x through

Balon Greyjoy boat rows – one arm rows – (x10/side)

Robb Stark pushed ahead – push up (any tough variation) – (x5)

Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne – wall sit or horse stance – (30 seconds)

Battle of Blackwater – diagonal chops – (alternate x10/side)

Valar Burpees – burpees – (x10)

Warning: More spoilers ahead.

Season 3 and 4 – Workout – Get in shape for your next wedding

Onto Season 3 and 4! More deaths. More spoilers. More reasons to elope.

Unsullied marching – fast feet

Make like a quick army and move your feet! Keep your hands by your side and rapidly move your feet up and down off the ground. Control and lightness of the feet are more important than speed!  Go for 30 seconds.

Jaime Lannister one arm swings – backpack/dumbbell swings

Grab your weight with one hand and swing it up to about shoulder height. Be sure to drive this movement from the hips and legs, rather than just lifting with your arm. 10 reps per side.

Wildlings attack the wall – wall walks or inch worms

If you’re outside for this one, get creative with your “wall” if you need to, using a sturdy tree or even a fence. Start at the top of a push up and walk your feet back and up the wall as you walk your hands back. Go only as far as you can control! If the wall walks are as unbelievable to you as GoT, then work inch worms instead: stand up, then reach down to your feet, walk your hands out to push up position, then walk them back to complete a rep. 5 reps total.

Flying out the Moon door – jumping jacks

Perhaps the only person you really want to see take a step out the Moon door is Lord Robin, in any case we’ll make like we’re flying again with some more jumping jacks. 10 reps total.

Mountain vs Viper – mountain climbers

Don’t start celebrating! We’re not done yet! Get yourself into the top of a push up and bring one knee up underneath you. In rapid fire succession, hop and switch feet. Alternate 20 reps per side.

The Season Recap – 3x through

Unsullied marching – fast feet – (30 seconds)

Jaime Lannister one arm swings – backpack/dumbbell swings – (x10/side)

Wildlings attack the wall – wall walks or inch worms – (x5)

Flying out the Moon door – jumping jacks – (x10)

Mountain vs Viper – mountain climbers – (alternate x20/side)

Warning: You guessed it, more spoilers ahead.

Season 5 and 6 – Workout – Get in shape for your next bbq

The most recent two seasons and the hits keep on coming.

Shooting arrows into Mance – Archer/Renegade Rows

Get yourself into a push up position with the weight under one side. Row the weight to your chest as you turn your upper body (like an archer pulling back a bowstring). Complete 10 reps one arm, then switch for 10 reps on the other arm.

Sansa and Theon jump to freedom – jumping squats (optional: off a castle)

Get your feet shoulder width apart and squat down as low as you can, then jump up in the air as high as you can. Look to land safely and in control, unlike those crazy Winterfell kids. 10 reps total.

Lyanna Mormont bear crawls

“And though she be but little, she is fierce.” Lyanna was the breakaway star of Season 6. For this exercise we are going to get on our hands and feet and crawl around like a bear. Go for 30 seconds.

Jon Snow Dead Man Planks

He’s back! Get set on the ground in a front plank position on your forearms. Keep your core and butt tight, and body in a straight line as you support your own weight. Go for 30 seconds. If this sounds too easy, try 30 seconds per side in a side plank instead. Afterwards, rise! (Just don’t take an entire season to do it)

Hodor wall sits

Too soon? Ok, let’s skip this one.

Rickon Stark Lateral Lunges

Take a lunge to one side, then take a lunge to the other side. Just move absolutely any direction other than directly forward. Please man, come on. You are driving me crazy. I’m yelling at my TV like I’m watching football. Alternate 5 reps per side.

The Season Recap (3x through):

Shooting arrows into Mance – archer/renegade Rows – (non alternating x10/side)

Sansa and Theon jump to freedom – jumping squats – (x10)

Lyanna Mormont bear crawls – (30 seconds)

Jon Snow Dead Man Planks – (30 seconds in front plank, or 30 seconds/side side plank)

Hodor wall sits – wall sit or horse stance for 30 seconds and cry.

Rickon Stark Lateral Lunges – (alternate x 5/side)

Defend the Wall, Defend the Westeros

Winter is coming. For some, it’s already here.

If we’re not prepared, we’ll be overrun by white walkers sloth and over-indulgence.

Hopefully these workouts help you feel more prepared than literally any character in Game of Thrones, ever. Except maybe Podrick. That guy’s the man.

What else do you struggle with in winter? Look out for more “Winter is Coming.”

-Jim

###

Photo: Brian Rinkler: Lego Throne

source https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-winter-is-coming-workout/

7 Emergency Hacks to Stay Healthy in the Winter

“Winter is coming”

– House Stark.

Like the White Walkers of the old stories our Gran used to tell us about, winter is descending upon us mere mortals, and we must prepare! This endless onslaught of vicious attacks on our brains and our bellies will leave us ripe for slaughter if we’re not careful. What began as celebrations and a time to ‘bring together’ has been corrupted by evil forces:

Holiday parties tell us to embrace our love of engorging ourselves with so much food our belt buckles burst. Like turkeys being fattened for slaughter, we do the same to ourselves. Eep.

Cold weather that encourages us to sleep in, avoid the elements, and say “maybe tomorrow.” A sun that rises too late and sets too soon means we often go days without seeing the damn thing!

These and more challenges are just begging for us to go off the rails. Like a built-in excuse called January 1st where we promise to “start over” helps us rationalize us acting like an ass until then. Black Friday has come and gone. Cyber Monday is now in the rear view. Thanksgiving is now a distant memory.

And yet…the challenges are still just getting started.

Like the houses divided in Game of Thrones, the White Walkers and the forces of winter in real life will pick us apart one by one while we pretend like everything’s okay.

After all, it’s so much easier to give in, and say “I’ll wait until later” to deal with it.

To all that I have two things to say:

1. I hear you.
2. Bring it on.

If you’ve seen The Emperor’s New Groove, you’ll be familiar with this scene. This is how I want you feeling about Winter:

Don’t run in the wrong direction

We need you back in the fight, right now.

If you ate like crap last week (thank you Thanksgiving), you probably missed a workout. You have that little guy or gal or demon on your shoulder saying “well now what’s the point? Just wait til January!”

We all see January 1st as the “reset,” and there’s nothing wrong with a reset to start out the year. The problem is when you compound your issues by digging yourself deeper into a hole that you have to eventually climb out of!

Eat very poorly for long enough, and the hole will start to resemble Bruce Wayne’s prison in The Dark Knight Rises:

Think of it like you’re on the starting line of a race for a healthy life that starts Jan 1st. You have two options:

• A) Hang around the starting line: Hang out and wait for the gun to fire. Then start running.
• B) Run in the opposite direction. Run farther away from the starting line, so when the gun goes off you have even FARTHER to run in the race.

So, step 1 is not running in the opposite direction. This means you can’t skip all your workouts and eat like an ass and make yourself unhealthier and just give up til January. This is you going the wrong way, and will make the task of “starting over” on January 1st that much more brutal.

Instead, do what you can to “tread water” and hang out around the starting line. If you CAN, stay on target. One bad meal doesn’t ruin things. One missed workout isn’t the end of the world. If you have an awful day, respawn and get back in the fight. Immediately.

A four-week freefall however, is a hole you don’t want to be in.  You also don’t want to be in THIS hole, but that’s beside the point..

So forget B. Let’s aim for A.

Never Two in a Row

I first talked about “Never Two in a Row” back in like 2012, and it’s a mantra I’ve been living by ever since.

You’re human. And life happens.

What CANNOT HAPPEN is missing two days in a row. Or eating TWO bad meals in a row. Or having TWO bad days in a row.

Why? One bad day can feel like a speed bump if you’re trying to get healthy. Get back on track right away and there’s no problem.

However, missing two days in a row is like turning that tiny speed bump into the Misty Mountains. If you miss one day in a row, no problem! Just act like it didn’t happen and get back on track. But once you miss two days in a row, you are now 67.42% more likely to fall into a multiple week hole. Okay, I made up that statistic, but two days very easily becomes three, which very easily becomes a week, which easily becomes “I’ll wait til January.”

That’s running in the wrong direction. Stop it!

So NEVER EVER EVER miss two workouts in a row. If you miss a workout on Monday, go on Tuesday and get right back on track. If you eat a horrible lunch at the office because Kevin brought in pizza, lasagna, garlic bread, and other carb bombs (classic Kev), make your dinner healthy AF. Do that, and you’ll be fine.

So whenever you have a bad day or do something wrong, I need you respawn right away (“start over” in video game lingo) and make the next day the best day you possibly can.

If you’re going to eat like crap, use intermittent fasting and skip meals

Spoiler alert: you’re going to eat like an ass this upcoming month. (Unlike Noel’s delicious Thai Zoodle recipe above)

I know it. You know it. So we can do one of two things.

We can pretend like it’s not going to happen, and then be surprised and beat ourselves up when we put ourselves in a carb coma and calorie-induced bender.

Or we can be smart about it and negate the impact these days have on our waistlines. Better yet, we can make these additional calories work FOR us.

For starters, our metabolisms aren’t that smart. Your weight will fluctuate based on total calories consumed over many many days, not after ONE power-bomb of a meal.

So, if you know you are going to eat a monster lunch and dinner (I see you Christmas), eat a stupidly light breakfast, and a light breakfast tomorrow – the calories will average out in the long run.

Or, if you’re willing to dig in and do the research, SKIP breakfast (and maybe lunch) before your monster meal. It’s called “intermittent fasting,” and it’s what I do to stay on track during weeks when I know I’m going to eat poorly.

First, I skip breakfast every day (I haven’t eaten breakfast in 3+ years). Second, I might choose to skip lunch as well the day after a monster meal. Again, dig in and do the research (or just read this), and you’ll find that missing a meal isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can lead to a healthier lifestyle for the right person.

Make big meals work for you by timing them properly

Whether or not you take advantage of intermittent fasting, you can time your workouts to coincide with your unhealthy meals.

As I mentioned in our article on building the right kind of physique, think of all the calories you eat as first-year wizards at Hogwarts. They need to be sorted into one of three houses (“Burn as energy,” “store as fat,” or “rebuild muscle.”)

The extra calories you eat over the holidays always go towards “store as fat” unless you give them a really good reason to sit at the “build muscle” table. Politely asking them won’t help.

You need to give them a reason. And that wonderful reason is STRENGTH TRAINING.

When you strength train before a big meal, your muscles you trained are broken down and need to be rebuilt. So, over the next 48+ hours many of those extra calories will be diverted to rebuilding (stronger) muscles instead of becoming fat.

This year I did my heaviest strength training workout just a few hours before my Thanksgiving dinner, and then proceeded to eat like an ass along with everybody around me. While they all lamented “I’m so full, I’m so fat, I ate too much, wahhhh” I knew my calories were being used to rebuild muscle so internally I was doing an evil villain laugh… Muahahahah, you know the one.

Work smarter (like a nerd).

Don’t rely on motivation

Here’s another spoiler for you: you are NOT going to want to work out this month. It’s going to be dark and cold, and your nose is going to run (better catch it!), work is going to suck, you’re going to be hungover, and so on.

The amount of motivation you’ll need to get over these obstacles is gargantuan. So don’t force yourself to try and “dig deep” and just “work harder” and feel guilty when you’re “not motivated.”

So do whatever you can to never, ever ever rely on motivation. Your body won’t say, “oh that’s okay, I’ll not get fat this month because I feel bad for you.” There are 31 days in December just like there are 31 days in August.

Which means you need to stay on track even though it’s much easier to do in the summer. So instead of motivation, build fail-safes to make sure you are staying healthy  Schedule your workouts in your calendar, and set up alerts so you are reminded. Recruit a buddy to work out with you.

Or go with one of these more diabolical examples:

Take a really really embarrassing photo of yourself, or type up a tweet with an embarrassing secret. Schedule it to post at 6:15 (or whatever time is early for you) every morning before you go to bed. Put your phone in the other room. If you don’t wake up on time, and run in the other room and cancel that tweet, it goes out! Better just get out of bed and train before work.

Give your co-worker $250. Tell him/her that you will work out 3 days per week, and text him a photo of you at the gym. If he does not receive that photo, he will donate $50 of your money to a political cause you can’t stand.

Set your credit card alerts to email you and your wife/husband every time it’s used. Agree ahead of time you’ll never use that card to buy fast food or else you’ll have to be on diaper duty for the next 3 months straight (or something that fits your situation).  

In each of the instances above, you’re going to do exactly two things:

1. Get really mad at yourself. Probably swear a lot. Swear vengeance on your past self.
2. Do the damn thing you know you need to do while also being mad at yourself.

Never ever ever rely on motivation. Now, motivation doesn’t hurt. It’s just not reliable. So if you are in need of some motivation try this watching this video to remind you that training in the winter makes you a badass:

Just don’t rely on it, or feel guilty when you don’t have it! Whenever you DO feel a burst of motivation, use that extra energy to build systems. Here’s how to use motivation properly.

Have a Plan B for workouts and meals

“Too cold today! Can’t go to the gym and do my workout, DAMN! Looks like I’ll just have to sit here and eat ice cream.”

“Ran out of groceries, and it’s snowing. I guess I’ll just have to order pizza.”

The problem with winter is that it makes the unhealthy option always the easiest. We’re lazy, and I have to imagine we’re a bit like bears in that we want to hibernate and store fat when it gets cold out.

We have this tiny voice in our head subtly nudging us to pick the path of least resistance: aka pizza and skipped workouts.

And we can’t let that voice win. Then, the white walkers win. And we’re all screwed. So, instead, we’re going to MacGuyver the sh** outta our winter by having a plan B prepared.

For example:

A Workout PLAN B: Have a place in your house or apartment that you can go to and do the Beginner Bodyweight Workout or one of The Nerd Fitness Academy or NF Yoga workouts.  It might not be as great as the gym, but it’s still a workout. It might mean investing in a door frame pull-up bar or a yoga mat, but a small investment for maintaining momentum through the winter is worth any amount of money.

A Nutritional PLAN B: Have a healthy meal in your freezer that has already been prepared and ready to be heated up. We make horrible decisions when the fridge is empty and we’re hungry. The Sirens of Dominos and Pizza Hut beckon us to call them for a 30-minute delivery.

So use your own laziness to help! Have a meal in your freezer that’s already to go. Store steam fresh veggies for emergencies. And delete any fast food or delivery numbers in your phone. Delete the Seamless app from your phone. Avoiding driving by your favorite fast food place. Do what you need to do to make it more difficult to make the wrong choice.  

Know that every little bit counts

So you can only train for 15 minutes today instead of 20.

So you have to do a few yoga poses instead of going to the gym for an hour.

So your ONLY option at the holiday party is pizza and you didn’t have a great breakfast.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOUR WINTER IS RUINED.  80% IS STILL 80% BETTER THAN ZERO PERCENT.

Every little bit counts. It REALLY, REALLY does. Every small change, or even only eating like an ass HALF of the time is FAR better than eating like an ass all of the time. Drink ONE extra water than a beer, and it’s a victory that will translate to your waistline. Do 5 push-ups as soon as you get out of bed, and it’s a victory.

Winter is such a problem not because people make one bad mistake, but because one bad mistake quickly sets off a chain reaction of disasters and idiocy justified by the fact they can’t do something 100%. So they opt for 0%.

If you don’t have time for a full workout, do half a workout! If you have to eat drive through food, drinking a water or diet coke is still better than the alternative!

If you go to a holiday party, you can still drink (Here’s our “healthy drinking guide”) and eat poorly, just swap out some eggnog for water every once and awhile. Your future fit self thanks you.

Try this:

Every morning when you wake up, do 20 bodyweight squats, 10 push-ups, and if you have access to a pull-up bar (or gymnastic rings), hang from them for 30 seconds.

Make this the FIRST thing you do every day (using systems built back in point #6). That way, at least every day during the winter you’ve done something.

How Do You Brave the Winters?

Before somebody yells at me in the comments, yes I know a lot of Aussies and Kiwis are NF Rebels, and I know it’s nearly summer down there. You can laugh at us all you want, your winter will come soon enough. Oh, it will.  

Let’s hear from you – what do you do when the going gets tough, when the temperature drops, and life gets busy as hell?

How do you fight back? What are your favorite specific tricks or systems you use to stay on track?

Leave your comment below and share with your fellow Rebels.

-Steve

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Photo: Mark Dumont: Inch Worm, leibolmei: frozen veggies

source https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/7-emergency-hacks-to-stay-healthy-in-the-winter/