Making Space for Mental Health + Mindful Eating

I took a little trip this weekend and took some time away from my phone. I know I spend too much time looking at a screen most days, so it was a nice change for me to be in nature, read actual paper books and meditate.

Working from home has me feeling like I need to be available 24/7 so I’m trying to create a little more balance in my day-to-day life with it. When we think about health, it's easy to focus on our food and exercise but forget to take care of our holistic wellness, including mental health. I'm guilty of this myself, especially with a job that requires me to be in front of the computer most of the day.

How do you know if your relationship with your phone or social media is impacting your mental health? It can be harder than you think to identify when it's a part of your routine but if you find yourself feeling more burnt out, it might be time to take a pause. I recommend checking out your screen time report - it might be surprising to see how many hours a day you're logging and where that time is spent.

If you feel like you need to create some better boundaries around this, here are some of the ways I manage this:

• No phones in the bedroom. I put my phone down 30 minutes before bedtime and don’t pick it up again. Also, I leave it in another room so it’s not the first thing I look at when I wake up, which allows me a hot minute to get grounded before the stressors of the day creep in.

• Time limits on certain apps - Hey, we're all guilty of mindless scrolling. You can set limits for groupings of apps and will get a reminder when you’re approaching this timeline for the day. This has really helped me be more conscious of where I’m spending my time. I think you’ll be surprised how much time you spend without realizing it.

• Daily Meditation - I’ve always wanted to be the person who meditated consistently and have struggled to make it happen. This year it seemed more important than ever so I’ve doubled down on this commitment. I found an app that works for me - Balance - and schedule it. I put it in my personal and work calendars and set a reminder on phone so I don’t forget. I don’t get to make it work every single day but I do it a lot more consistently with these reminders in place.

• Get outside - I know not everyone has the ability to do this in their workday but it makes a huge difference. Even if it’s 5 or 10 minutes, breath some fresh air, move your body and you’ll feel the reset, I promise.

• Manage expectations - If you have set a precedent for always being available, it can create a cycle of guilt if you miss something or have a delayed response. Once you clarify when you're available and start sticking to it, people will start to respect those boundaries and you can get back some much-needed mental space from work and screen time.

• Lead by example - If you want to have space away from your device, you have to be mindful of holding space for others to do the same. Don't expect a co-worker to get back to you at an odd hour and consider what's really an emergency. Can this email or chat wait until business hours?

• Eat mindfully - Your gut is regulated by your central nervous system and when your body is stressed, it can slow things down, reducing the absorption of nutrients, and increasing heartburn, indigestion, and bloating. Taking the time focus on the food you're eating means you create space in your body for digestion and calm.

Mindful Eating Exercise

So how do we eat mindfully? What is the special formula? Well, there isn't just one answer because EVERYONE is different! But there are some basic general steps you can think about when sitting down for a meal, yes that’s right, I said sitting- not standing or driving.

1. Find a quiet place without distractions- if you can control distractions, do so. This might be turning off the TV, putting your phone away, and sitting down at the table.

2. Try to make sure your meal looks appetizing. I don't expect you to be a food styler, but add some color, or arrange it in a fun way so that it looks appetizing. Maybe even put it on a special plate and use a fancy cup.

3. Take a few deep breaths. Times are stressful, I get it, especially if you're rushing in the morning or fitting lunch in between meetings. Give yourself a few moments to just be there and take a few belly breaths before taking your first bite.

4. Eat slowly and think about how your food tastes, smells, and feels.

5. Put the fork down once in a while. This will allow you to taste your food more and be more mindful about what you are eating. Finish chewing your food and swallow before taking another bite.

6. Try to take at least 10 minutes to finish your meal- ideally 15-20, but I'm trying to be realistic.
   

As important as nutrition & exercise are, if you’re doing them at the expense of your mental health, you aren’t going to get anywhere. Rather, think about your wellness and health goals as a pie, where nutrition & movement are big pieces but are equally as important as water, sleep, and mental health.

What are some ways you find to carve out space for yourself away from the screen? Do you have any tips and tricks that work for you?

Why You Should Stop Skipping Rest Day

Rest seems illogical - why should I do it?

Because you don't want to get hurt. Sometimes overtraining and not taking the time to let your body recover can lead to overuse injuries or exhaustion which can affect form. Also, injuries mean you might be out of the game for even longer than a day or two, which no one wants. Every athlete deliberately schedules rest days into their program, you should too.

But I feel fine.. won't working out more be better?

It sure sounds great, but not giving your body a break means you don't give your muscles time to repair themselves. Lifting weights actually causes little tears in the muscles that have to get fixed in order to be bigger and stronger. Your muscles need to have time off, just like you need a weekend to feel refreshed on Monday.

If I take too many days off, won't I lose some strength?

You've worked hard for those #gains, and of course, you don't want to lose them. Repeat after me: one day off will not hurt my training progress. Say that again. It takes weeks of inactivity -not just a missed workout here before you'd see muscle loss. When your muscles come back refreshed, rebuilt, and ready to go, and you'll be surprised at how good you feel at your next workout and how your performance might increase.

What about my mind?

I. HEAR. YOU. Exercise is my outlet for managing my stress and anxiety and I NEED it. Giving yourself a little distance from exercise can actually be healthy for not only your body but your brain. Ever feel like you're checking the clock during your workouts or just not pushing as hard as you could be? You can avoid mental burnout and be excited and challenged when you step back to your routine after a day off.

Ok, so you've found yourself on a rest day, what do you do with yourself?

If you're sold on the rest day but still not sure what that actually looks like in practice, here are some ideas. Rest days don't mean you're sitting around doing nothing and can and should include active rest, something that keeps your body moving in a gentle and low-impact way but does not stress your muscles.

Some examples of things you can do on your active rest day :

• Foam Rolling

• Going for a walk

• Yoga

• Stretching

• Hiking (nothing too rigorous)

• Swimming

If you're unsure how to program your workouts or when to take rest days, shoot me an email. I'd be happy to help you or plan a unique program for your goals.

Now get out there and enjoy some well-deserved rest!

Why You Should Be Strength Training

You probably know that strength training or resistance training has a lot of benefits, but it can be intimidating, especially if you haven't done it before. What exercises should I do? How do I know if I'm doing them properly? How much weight should I be lifting? Do I need to take rest days?

I get it, I used to be a cardio queen, I would run 4-5 days a week, cycle on the other days and throw in an occasional yoga. That worked well, in my 20's. I was lucky enough to not suffer any major injuries from overtraining but I noticed I didn't recover quite as easily or would feel sorer after a long run.

When I was in school for my degree in Nutrition & Exercise Science, I started learning about the benefits of strength training and how they actually impact day-to-day life. I got my personal training certification and started working with clients. Not only was I seeing changes in my clients, but I was programming for myself and seeing huge improvements in my balance, stamina during workouts, recovery, and self-confidence. I was hooked.

Strength training is great, especially for tracking progress. Progressively lifting heavier and heavier weights or being able to do more push-ups, hold a plank for longer, squat deeper, help you stay on track, and measure your progress.

Perhaps the biggest benefit for me has been in my daily life. Never did I imagine I'd be carrying around a 25lb weight with one arm for 15 minutes while cooking dinner. Or lifting said 25lb weight in a hiking backpack onto my back with one arm. Carrying that backpack with strong back muscles and legs on long hikes.

For me, motherhood has been the ultimate test of my strength training, and because I put in the time and energy, I can keep up with my active life and feel strong and powerful doing it. And flexing my biceps in the mirror from time to time doesn't hurt either.

If you need a few reasons to take the plunge, check out all these other benefits you can get from regular strength training. This doesn't have to be intimidating, you can start with bodyweight, you just need to work against some resistance.

If you're unsure or have any questions - get in touch! I'd love to create a unique program for you!

Top Reasons to Strength Train

1. Stronger bones - Strength training puts a unique and positive stress on bones by stressing the muscles involved. This can help increase bone density in the long run and prevent fractures later in life.

2. Increase your metabolism - While cardio is great for many reasons, strength training is great for building more muscle. More muscle has the ability to increase your metabolism unlike cardiovascular exercise, and will help you burn more fat, even at rest.

3. Sleep better - All exercise, including strength training has been shown to increase sleep quality in participants. Exercising each day should make it easier to snooze once you hit the sheets at night.

4. Make your heart happy - Along with cardiovascular exercise, strength training has been shown to have benefits for the heart including lowering blood pressure.

5. Get out some stress - Lifting weights and throwing around heavy stuff can be extremely therapeutic and often shown to alleviate stress and anxiety for those who participated on a regular basis.

6. Live Longer - Strength training has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and those who gained more overall strength were more likely to live longer and live independently.

7. Do everyday things easier - Strength training makes it easier to lift that heavy box, carry the groceries into the house in one trip and even simply get up from a seated position. Being stronger will translate to all areas of your life.

8. Improve your balance - Since strength training continues to challenge the body in new ways and develop essential core strength, you will see better balance in all your exercises and in your daily activities.

Are you ready to get started? Fitness is available for everyone, you'll never regret taking the first step, so get out there. You might surprise yourself at what you're capable of.