Tag Archives: gym

Nudged: Book a Pilates class

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Backstory: This is really the result of a bigger Nudge. A while back I played with what forms of exercise might get me…well…moving. Do I want to get into an organized team sport, like softball or soccer? (No.) Do I want to give running another try? (My 53-year-old knees say no.) Yoga? (Ugh.)

Maybe there is something I loved doing as a child that I’d like to revisit. Jumping rope is on the list, as is bocce ball. I will continue with long walks, on my own and as excuses for catching up with friends, but the exercise that my body seemed to most respond to has always been Pilates.

I can come up with any number of excuses for why I haven’t been to a class in over a year. None of those excuses are good. So this week, I’m going to pull out my calendar, make a commitment, and just do it.

What good-for-you activity have you been putting off? If you can’t fit it in this week, at least get it inked on the calendar for soon.

What Happened: Wasted no time on this one. Got online, re-upped my account, and booked a class for next week.

Then I skipped ahead to the next week and booked two more.

Gulp. 🙂

The Ah-Hahs: I won’t be able to report back this week on how the class went , but I can confirm that this Nudge has been completed and I’m nervous…no, I’m excited…about getting back on track with regular exercise that I’ve loved doing in the past.

Meanwhile, this week I’m going to practice getting up at 5:15 am so it won’t be quite so painful next week to make it out the door for a 6:00 am class. Step by step, bit by bit, squat by squat. 🙂

Nudging: Book a Pilates class

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Backstory: This is really the result of a bigger Nudge. A while back I played with what forms of exercise might get me…well…moving. Do I want to get into an organized team sport, like softball or soccer? (No.) Do I want to give running another try? (My 53-year-old knees say no.) Yoga? (Ugh.)

Maybe there is something I loved doing as a child that I’d like to revisit. Jumping rope is on the list, as is bocce ball. I will continue with long walks, on my own and as excuses for catching up with friends, but the exercise that my body seemed to most respond to has always been Pilates.

I can come up with any number of excuses for why I haven’t been to a class in over a year. None of those excuses are good. So this week, I’m going to pull out my calendar, make a commitment, and just do it.

What good-for-you activity have you been putting off? If you can’t fit it in this week, at least get it inked on the calendar for soon.

Nudged: Learn the name of someone new

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Backstory: There’s that old story about a test in a medical school in which a large portion of the grade is based on correctly answering one question: “What is the name of the woman who cleans up after us?”

The idea for this week’s Nudge came from that. I used to know the name of our postal carrier, the man who owned the drycleaning business down the street, the young woman who made my mochas at Peet’s, and the sweet man who greeted us so warmly at our favorite restaurant. But I’ve gotten out of practice. And there’s no excuse.

So this week I’m going to look for opportunities to step outside of my complacency zone and to talk with someone new.

What Happened: His name is Kong.

I’ve seen him regularly at the gym. He’s an elderly gentleman, not one of the iron-pumping guys who over-lifts to impress the girls, but nonetheless one of my fellow “gym rats” who likes to get in a workout  before the sun comes up. We’ve nodded to each other, said “Good morning,” but that’s about it…for years.

Two weeks ago that changed.

I’ve been out of my normal routine, haven’t been able to exercise as much as usual, and I definitely wasn’t hitting the elliptical machine at oh-six-hundred. But after I checked in that first official day back in the gym, he greeted me with “I’ve missed you! Is everything okay?”

I could have cried. It was so kind and thoughtful, and it touched my heart. I explained I’d been out for a medical reason, but was doing fine, was recovering, and was slowly making my way back to exercising again. “It’s good to see you again,” he said. “Thank you,” I managed, barely holding back tears. “You too.”

This morning was Day 2 of getting back in the groove, and there he was. “You look good! How are you feeling?” I thanked him, told him I was doing better, and that I was happy to see him. I wished him a good workout, then headed toward my first machine.

Then I stopped myself. Remembering this week’s Nudge, I turned around and went after him. “I’d like to know your name, please.”

“It’s Kong.”

I wasn’t sure I’d understood him at first, so asked him to spell it: K-O-N-G. “Kong,” I repeated. “And I’m Kathy. I’m so pleased to know you.”

The Ah-Hahs: I’m still glowing from this friendly exchange. I’m already looking forward to being back at the gym later this week. Look at that — bonus! And though I’ve already completed this Nudge, I’m looking forward to meeting more of my neighbors — and, I hope, soon-to-be-friends — this week.

 

Nudged: Go to the gym 3x

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Backstory: This was a drop-in, you won’t find it on the List. Here’s what happened:

My darling husband, Thor (the name he picked for himself for when he’s mentioned here), has been checking every Sunday to hear about what I’ve done and what I’ve drawn for the coming week. He’s made some excellent suggestions along the way, and helped me to rehash and reevaluate post-Nudge thoughts. A few times I’ve asked if he’s wanted to do the Nudge with me, but he’s always declined. Up till this week.

We’ve both been super-busy with work commitments, with additional events happening after hours and on weekends. It’s a lot. And lately I’ve found our daily check-in conversation goes something like this:

Venus: How was your day?

Mars: Fine.

Venus: How are you?

Mars: Fine.

Venus: What’s on your mind?

Mars: Nothing.

So yesterday we took Louie the dog out for a long walk and caught up. After our usual check-ins (see above), he shared with me that he’s dragging around the weight of not knowing what he wants to do with the last half of his life, a dilemma I can certainly relate to. Many of our friends are retiring from careers and now have time to pursue long-time passions and hobbies. What might ours be? We’ve talked about signing up for classes, brainstorming, getting creative about figuring this out…. No surprise, to him (to many of us) the prospect of figuring out The Rest of Our Lives is overwhelming.

I shared with him the questions Saeeda shared with me during our interview a couple of months ago (read it here): Not “What do you want to do?” in life, but “How do you want to feel?” There are no right/wrong answers, I said to Thor. “You can pick intellectually challenged, silly, strong, relaxed, content, intrigued, entertained…let’s start with how you’d like to feel and we’ll figure out the doing part later.”

Over brunch I suggested we brainstorm some ideas for this. Not happening. Okay. But mid-afternoon he told me he’d decided his Nudge for this week would be “Go to the gym 3 times.” Perfect.

I will be doing this Nudge with him. It’s my hope that we’ll go to the gym together on some, if not all, outings, but since he likes to get up at 4:00 am (and I, well, don’t), we’ll see how it goes.

As we head into this week, I’m thinking about how having someone as an accountability partner can nudge us a little further. Or it can simply make it more fun. If you don’t have a spouse or significant other, think about asking a friend to join you in a Nudge. If that doesn’t feel comfortable to you, then consider making me your partner. Share your chosen Nudge for the week, update me in comments, and at the end of the week, let me know how you did. Let’s encourage each other to fuller lives.

What Happened: Monday morning, 4:55 am: “Kath. It’s time.”

My darling likes to get up at 4:00 am on weekdays, have his coffee, watch the news, clean the kitchen (I told you he’s a gem), then be at the gym when they open their doors at 5:00 sharp. I aspire to this, but my days are really really long and I get really really tired. I begged off on this first day. However, a couple of hours later, when my to do list threatened to consume all of today and tomorrow, I remembered my commitment to this Nudge and got myself out the door. Got my workout in and checked off the first of three days. Yay!

Tuesday morning I was up and dressed before Thor gave me my five-minute warning. We got to the gym, got in our workouts, and got our days started. Wahoo!

Wednesday: I don’t know if this is allergies or a cold or my body just crying uncle. I’m out. Thor had an especially long day ahead, so he went into the office to prep early. There’s still time to do this.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday…(see “Wednesday”).

The Ah-Ha: You know, “best laid plans” and all. We both got two outta three, and I’ll take it. It was fun to come up with this idea and pursue it together, and I’m proud of us for giving this a shot.

I also realize this whole creative Nudging adventure is not really Thor’s thing, and I won’t push him to actively participate with me each week, but I do hope we’ll figure out other Nudges we can do together.

I asked Thor for his ah-hah on his first full Nudging experience and got, “It was fine.”

I’m good with that.

What greeted me at 5:00 am 🙂

 

Nudging: Go to the gym 3x

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Backstory: This was a drop-in, you won’t find it on the List. Here’s what happened:

My darling husband, Thor (the name he picked for himself for when he’s mentioned here), has been checking every Sunday to hear about what I’ve done and what I’ve drawn for the coming week. He’s made some excellent suggestions along the way, and helped me to rehash and reevaluate post-Nudge thoughts. A few times I’ve asked if he’s wanted to do the Nudge with me, but he’s always declined. Up till this week.

We’ve both been super-busy with work commitments, with additional events happening after hours and on weekends. It’s a lot. And lately I’ve found our daily check-in conversation goes something like this:

Venus: How was your day?

Mars: Fine.

Venus: How are you?

Mars: Fine.

Venus: What’s on your mind?

Mars: Nothing.

So yesterday we took Louie the dog out for a long walk and caught up. After our usual check-ins (see above), he shared with me that he’s dragging around the weight of not knowing what he wants to do with the last half of his life, a dilemma I can certainly relate to. Many of our friends are retiring from careers and now have time to pursue long-time passions and hobbies. What might ours be? We’ve talked about signing up for classes, brainstorming, getting creative about figuring this out…. No surprise, to him (to many of us) the prospect of figuring out The Rest of Our Lives is overwhelming.

I shared with him the questions Saeeda shared with me during our interview a couple of months ago (read it here): Not “What do you want to do?” in life, but “How do you want to feel?” There are no right/wrong answers, I said to Thor. “You can pick intellectually challenged, silly, strong, relaxed, content, intrigued, entertained…let’s start with how you’d like to feel and we’ll figure out the doing part later.”

Over brunch I suggested we brainstorm some ideas for this. Not happening. Okay. But mid-afternoon he told me he’d decided his Nudge for this week would be “Go to the gym 3 times.” Perfect.

I will be doing this Nudge with him. It’s my hope that we’ll go to the gym together on some, if not all, outings, but since he likes to get up at 4:00 am (and I, well, don’t), we’ll see how it goes.

As we head into this week, I’m thinking about how having someone as an accountability partner can nudge us a little further. Or it can simply make it more fun. If you don’t have a spouse or significant other, think about asking a friend to join you in a Nudge. If that doesn’t feel comfortable to you, then consider making me your partner. Share your chosen Nudge for the week, update me in comments, and at the end of the week, let me know how you did. Let’s encourage each other to fuller lives.

Nudged: Try a new machine/exercise at the gym

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Backstory: Upon pulling this week’s Nudge, my first thought was, “Well, that’s dumb. Who came up with this gem?” I mean, really. How life-changing can this really be?

But if there’s one big lesson I’ve learned on this 52Nudge’s journey so far, it’s that even the smallest steps can make a big impact. Maybe, just by wandering to a different section of my gym, I’ll meet someone new. Maybe this person has an interesting story or works in a field that interests me or becomes one of my favorite gym-rat pals. Or maybe instead of the same loop Louie the dog and I walk every week, we try a new path or street or park and discover a garden that takes my breath away. Hmmm…. I’m eager to see what this Nudge reveals.

What Happened: This Nudge was a flat-out dud. No path-altering ah-hah, no “chance” encounter with a spirit guide, no breaking out of a rut and improving life as I’ve known it.

Sure, I tried a new machine. It was one of those things where you sit and pedal like on a stationary bicycle, but with your arms. It was kinda cool. It was sorta different. It was totally boring.

This happened early in the week and I figured I still had time to mine some gold from this week’s Nudge, so I picked up a class schedule on my way out of the gym that morning. Zumba. I’ve been hearing good things about this from friends. It’s supposed to be really fun, and I have been meaning to try it out.

But the classes took place mostly in the middle of my workday, and I know myself better than to try to exercise at dinnertime, and so I didn’t go. Pfft.

Me, when “exercise” meant “playing” and chubby cheeks were considered cute.

The Ah-Ha: Well, if this Nudging thing was BRILLIANT every week, you’d start to suspect I was making stuff up, right? I’m not. I’m real. This is real. Sometimes Life is just what happens.

What’s next on the Nudges list?

 

P.S. My little bowl of Nudges is in need of replenishment. Have you been doing some of your own? I’d love it if you’d inspire me/us with some of your ideas.

Nudging: Try a new machine/exercise at the gym

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Backstory: Upon pulling this week’s Nudge, my first thought was, “Well, that’s dumb. Who came up with this gem?” I mean, really. How life-changing can this really be?

But if there’s one big lesson I’ve learned on this 52Nudge’s journey so far, it’s that even the smallest steps can make a big impact. Maybe, just by wandering to a different section of my gym, I’ll meet someone new. Maybe this person has an interesting story or works in a field that interests me or becomes one of my favorite gym-rat pals. Or maybe instead of the same loop Louie the dog and I walk every week, we try a new path or street or park and discover a garden that takes my breath away. Hmmm…. I’m eager to see what this Nudge reveals.