Sometimes change gets a bad rap.
Sometimes change gets a bad rap. Yes, it can be difficult, but it’s also the birthplace of opportunity. Or as Pema Chodron, a Buddhist teacher and nun, explains it: “To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” So I challenge you, as I’ve challenged myself, to embrace the unexpected.
I moved to Denver last summer for my new show, Daily Blast Live, and while I was excited about the opportunity, I honestly had no desire to uproot my whole life. But through this very disruptive process, so many unexpected doors have opened for me.
For one, this move totally refreshed my fitness routine. I’m now training in the evenings, and I’ve added hiking and biking, both of which have elevated my passion for movement. And knowing a workout is waiting for me at the end of the day fuels my drive for it.
The other massive shift has been in “me time.” I have so much more of it! At first, I resisted it, thinking that taking time for myself was just being lazy. But when I stopped mentally fighting it, I discovered all the things I could do just for me, and I’ve never felt better.
Q How can I encourage my friend or partner to start working out?
My trick is to always cap an invite to work out with a fun meal or a coffee date. I may ask a friend to go on a hike with me and join me for brunch afterward. Even if it takes a little bribing to begin with, if you can get people to open their eyes to how good they feel when they move, they will start to initiate workouts on their own.
Any tips for using the mind-muscle connection to improve my workouts?
Before you start any exercise, remind yourself what muscle you’re working. You always want to source the movement as close as possible to where that muscle attaches to the bone. So if you’re doing dumbbell flys, a chest exercise, instead of placing tension and energy in your arms and hands, contract your chest first.
Make your get-fit promise stick
1 STEP
Why are the promises you make to yourself the easiest ones to break?
Is it because the only person you’ll end up disappointing is yourself? Or that you’ve prioritised pleasing others over your goals? Either way, you deserve better than that. Think of a promise as a powerful muscle – like the glutes or lats – that can affect how your body looks, moves, and feels. Just like a muscle, you can strengthen your promise over time and develop it into one of your assets. The stronger your promise becomes, the more probable it is that you’ll be able to commit to reaching your goals, whether that’s to move more, eat better, or finally sign up for a race.
2 STEP
I first experienced this concept when I promised myself that I wouldn’t eat dessert in restaurants. I focused on one dinner at a time. It felt a little low impact in the moment, but looking back, it was the just-right start: a small, clear goal that was surprisingly hard for me to accomplish. I told no one about this, which forced accountability and strength to come from only me. I made it through that week. And I used this small exercise to prove to myself that I could trust myself. This dessert challenge marked the end of my empty promises. My confidence grew every time I kept a promise I made to myself. Whenever I failed, I used that as information about where my system was faulty and applied it to the next opportunity to fulfill my promise.
3 STEP
Every time you stay true to your word, you’ll find that each challenge becomes less daunting because you’ll know that your word has substance and that it leads you closer toward reaching your big-picture goal: that exciting life you want to lead. This creates a self-powered momentum. Each accomplishment builds on the next, and suddenly, before you know it, you are unstoppable.
