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Monday, September 10, 2018

The Journey Continues...With the 5 second rule




This is my wall ball....it weighs 10 pounds and has been incorporated into my life to strengthen my core. For the uninitiated it is cleverly named "Wall Ball" because you pick it up and throw it against the wall.

Not hard, right?

Right....

For me, all the exercises in the gym are hard, but this one is particularly so because I don't have a "core". It was iffy before my surgery, afterward I thought a strong core was a thing of the distant past. One of the first personal assessments I made in the hospital was the state of my body. After looking past the wires, tubes and needles I noticed a very, very long incision down the front of my back that seemed to end any thought of future physical activity.  Because everyone was so happy I was alive I didn't want to bring up the fact that perhaps my physical factory warranty had run out. I did ask my nurse if I would ever be normal again? Will I walk without fainting,? Will I lift things again? Will I ever do a pushup again? I do not mind telling you it seemed like an impossible possibility. My nurse looked me square in the eye and told me I could improve but it was up to me if I did a push up again, then I realized pushups were just a metaphor for my "new" life. It was going to be up to me.

Until going to Xuberance I didn't have a starting point, because there were so many ways to approach "wellness". (should I take you back to wall of diet and exercise books on my shelves?) They have a tried and true measure. For one hour I am taught how to do each exercise correctly, what part of the body that exercise will focus on and then they convince me I can do it.



But I still have to get started. I still have to find my shoes in the morning and get in the car to go there, and according to Mel Robbins this "Activation Energy" creates the initial spark to create change.

You need that spark to just get going....think Big Bang!

Getting started might be the hardest part but it is the catalyst to continued success.

I have been using this new technique - after experimenting with many ideas that might help continue my momentum and to spark a change in my eating habits which remain my nemesis - called the 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. It is designed to get us to take action when we don't want to and there is always something we don't want to do. We all struggle with something...feel better?
Here are two things she discovered:

  • Knowing what to do will never be enough.
  • Knowing why you need to do it will never be enough.

If you don't start doing the things you don't feel like doing, you will wake up one year from today and be in exactly the same place. 

This is truth...my life proves it




If you have an impulse to act on a goal or change, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill the idea, because your brain is designed to protect you. 

Change requires you to do things that are:
  • Uncertain
  • scary
  • New
And your brain is designed to protect you from things that are:
  • Uncertain
  • Scary
  • New

As soon as you start to change there is a system in your head designed to stop you. But there is a solution and it works!! Regardless of what you need to change try the 5-Second Rule



Count backward....5,4,3,2,1 and do whatever you haven't wanted to do

Get out of bed
Don't take another drink
Tackle the project
Go to the gym
Don't overeat
Forgive someone
Forget someone
Speak up

Whatever it is in your life you avoid use this system to compel yourself to action...you must have action to get started. Count backward and see if it doesn't work. 


"Whatever your goals are, show the world, and yourself that you're serious by taking action, however insignificant that action may seem, RIGHT NOW. Because when you physically move, your brain starts to build new habits. When you do something you you're not used to doing, you are in the act of building new habits and erasing existing ones. "Mel Robbins

5,4,3,2,1.....



I do know how simplistic this sounds, but it works. My wellness journey at Biometrix has kicked my can all the way down the road. The exercise regime is hard but I do it. For one hour they watch everything I do, they spot me, cajole me and I do it. Some days it is harder than others, but I have continued to do it. They do great things within the confines of that gym but I have to follow through with the other 23 hours of the day.... something I have never done before.


Bottom line is I still have to honor my commitment to do it. I have always known what to do...and Mel Robbins is right, that has never been enough. 

I have been told it is too late to change, it isn't. I have been told I cannot lose weight, I can. One doctor told me I would be a couch potato for the rest of my life, I will not.

Just because I didn't do this earlier doesn't mean I cannot do it now. And that certainly isn't an excuse for not realizing a goal.

I intend to change my brain and put the high carbs away....I intend to eat high protein and lots of veggies. I will throw that wall ball against the wall as many times as they say I have to...I will do squats, I will lift weights, and I will flip this rope all day long.




I am still at the beginning of my journey, but it is a journey I intend to stay on. Last week at my cardiologists check up all the numbers are improving, for whatever reason God has given me another chance at life and I intend to use it wisely.

5,4,3,2,1 !!!!!!

Everyone explore this technique with me and let me know how it works for you...My friends at Biometrix have subsidized this wellness journey for my blogs.