Off Season Routine

Finishing week 12 of the off-season and I’m up about 10 pounds. Don’t worry, even though I’m a woman, it is all good!! The pace is tough but I’m determined to put on some mass and increase my strength while maintaining my speed such that it is. From Monday through Sunday, I’ve got a routine that keeps me busy...actually more work than during the season.

Monday, I hit the football field right after dropping my kids off at school. I do about 30 to 45 minutes of field work. Field work includes such things as cone drills, ladder drills, sprint drills, and running the stadium stairs. The goal of the field work is to increase my agility, speed, and speed endurance.

My favorite field work are ’gassers’ (HA!). Gassers are anything from six 10-yard sprints, six 30 yard sprints, followed by six 60-yard sprints to 30 endzone to endzone sprints. Gassers would be the speed endurance part aspect of field work.

Tuesday I start the day with plyometrics. This is about 20 minutes of jump rope, explosive squat jumps, lunges, and other exercises like that. I then work my biceps and triceps. I end Tuesday’s workout with a 60 minute kickboxing class.

Wednesday it is back to the football field in the morning and then I hit the gym and work my chest and abs. I finish off Wednesday by heading over to the PGA Superstore for their free beginner’s tennis class. It is an hour of learning the basics of the game, but it also provides me with a light cardio workout. Other great benefits of this tennis class for me include continued work on eye-ball coordination and agility with the feet work involved in transitioning from different strokes and different positions on the court.

Thursdays are a rest day! This is the day I get to dress up and go to work at Restyle. It is the day I’m not in workout gear and get to bring out the fashionista side of me!

Friday, it is back to work on the football field and the gym. I change up what I do at the gym depending on how I feel. Sometimes I do an hour long spin class, other times I do my final resistance workout of the week concentrating on my shoulders and legs followed by an elliptical cardio workout. Or I work my legs on the Stairmaster or do interval runs on the treadmill.

Saturday’s are usually another rest day although I am running around all day with my kids and their games!

When Sunday arrives, I figure out what I have not done and get it accomplished. Sometimes I work my shoulders and then do a cardio of some kind…treadmill, elliptical. Sometimes it is just cardio and sometimes it is heading to the field with teammates running routes, throwing the ball, covering receivers, and other ball type drills. Yeah, that’s how I broke my finger.

Generally, however,  we do some conditioning work on Sunday. ‘Suicides’ are another favorite…running to a cone and back…running to the next cone and back…then running to the final cone and back. Resting about 30 seconds and doing it again…and again…and again!

Soon, I'll head back to Zoom for some focused agility and speed training. I see this as a weakness for me and I want to improve. Chris and John over at this sports performance training center in the heart of Frisco are amazing trainers and helped me last pre-season to gain better agility. I will return to their coaching to push me to the next level. 

Of Course, the other big key to the off-season is diet. Again, as you’ve read in previous blogs, 80% of having the kind of body you want is diet. This is no different. All this work I am doing is absolutely no good unless my diet is supporting it. So, I eat pretty clean throughout the week. I’ve increased my protein intake and eat at key times throughout the day to support my workouts and goals. I do allow myself a ‘cheat’ meal each week. And, I can’t wait for it this week. I am heading to my favorite restaurant with my dear mentor, Cathy. Cathy and Grand Luxe Café…a sweet combination!

Stay inspired,

Kip #45

Now You Have to Live the Rest of Your Life, Part IV

Beliefs Inventory, Part II 

I left you last time with a challenge: to consider the most needed change in your life towards a healthy body and lifestyle is your belief system. It is NOT your circumstances, genetics, job, the number on the scale, or the removal of the most difficult person in your life that will lead to maintaining long term the kind of body you want. You need change you can sustain for a lifetime. You see, you have to spend the rest of your life NOT on a diet, around difficult circumstances with the genetics God gave you. So what needs to change in order for you to sustain this new lifestyle in the midst of difficulty? The root change takes place in your beliefs.

Remember behind ‘what we do’ in thought or action is ‘why we do it’…motives. Motives are powerful tools in our hearts that generate us to think and do. Generally, most of us are not aware of the motives that trigger us to make unwise and poor choices towards our healthy lifestyle goal. Thus, we need to do a Beliefs Inventory, a discovery process that enables us to be more aware of what drives us.

The first step to discover your motives is to ask yourself some questions around the ‘problematic’ situations and circumstances in your life during the time you’ve been struggling with weight/obesity/body and food related issues:

•         Describe the biggest struggles in life? Write about the most difficult problems?

•         What financial problems exist?

•         What are the relationship struggles I am experiencing in life?

•         Describe any career stress

•         Describe any parenting stress

•         Describe any relationship stress and/or family stress

•         Describe what addictions you think fight with

•         Describe what produces anxieties and fear

•         Describe any sexual struggles

•         What is my Self-talk like? Do I consistently berate myself? What do I tell myself?

•         Is there any abuse going on? If so, what kind and what impact is it having on me?

•         What about ‘Old Wounds’? What are the things people have said and done in my past that linger with me?

•         When do I get preoccupied with things…person?

•         What/Who has me entangled in something I shouldn’t be? How come it is so important to have that thing or be with that person?

•         When am I tempted to make poor choices? When do I envy someone else?

•         Tell about the situations which generate difficult emotions-Pain, Hurt, Anger, Fear, Rejection, Jealousy, Despair

Now, step two, examine this list of common motives. Connect them to circumstances you wrote about above. Out to the side of each of the above bulleted questions, you should be able to list at least one motive probably more. Think about these two questions as you pick the motives that fit your circumstances….What do I really want? What am I trying to accomplish?

Pleasure

Freedom/Autonomy

Power       

Peace

Love/Intimacy

Happiness

Comfort/Relief

Significance/Reputation

Meaning

Respect/Reputation

Control

Success

Security

Self-Protection

We are discovering what motives could be producing your unhealthy thoughts and behavior? It may not be just one. Try this little quiz to see if you are understanding the concept.

1. The man who overeats at night after a stressful day at work and a nagging wife might be motivated by ___________.  Answer: Peace, Pleasure, Freedom/Autonomy, Happiness, or Comfort/Relief
2. The wife who is mortified a surprise visitor who saw her messy house is motivated by _________. Answer: Significance/Reputation, Respect, Success
3. The young woman who berates herself for failing to make a perfect score on her recent history test is probably motivated by _______. Answer: Success, Significance/Reputation, Respect, Meaning

4. The father whose children are fearful of him and whose wife is cautious around him wants _________. Answer: Power, Significance/Reputation, Success, Respect, Control

5. The woman who does not take like to initiate with people and try new things might be motivated by __________. Answer: Comfort/Relief, Peace, Significance/Reputation, Success, Self-Protection

6. The man who chafes at helping around the house might want _________. Answer: Comfort/Relief, Pleasure, Control
7. The woman who sneaks off from her family to eat in hiding might desire _________. Answer: Comfort/Relief, Love/Intimacy, Security, Control, Freedom/Autonomy
8. The Husband who eats everything his spouse cooks even though he has committed to a new lifestyle change might be motivated by ________. Answer: Peace, Security, Comfort/Relief, Pleasure, Self-Protection

9. The woman who binges and purges when an upcoming date calls ands cancels on her might desire _______. Answer: Love/Intimacy, Comfort/Relief, Control, Security

10. The man who goes out and buys a new plasma TV when he is already in debt may be motivated by _________. Answer: Pleasure, Comfort, Significance/Reputation (if he is the ‘only one without one’), Success

The third step focuses on patterns. In most of our lives, there are patterns to our struggles and problems. Hence, there are patterns to our motives which drive our thoughts, self-talk, choices, and behavior. Find the patterns to your motives!

•         Patterns of brokenness – loss, rejection

•         Patterns in relational problems – multiple divorces, more than one conflictual or distant relationship

•         Patterns in hurts/scars – abuse, depression, trauma

•         Patterns of your trials

•         Patterns in escape methods – addiction

•         Match to patterns in motives – which motives do you see over and over?

After finding the patterns in your motives, the final step involves taking ownership of the motives that rule you. In other words, from the patterns you’ve discovered, you can now see which motives may be ‘idols of your heart’. An idol is a motive you value more than doing or believing what is healthy and right. You trust in that motive to temporarily give you what you want. It satisfies you even though there are difficult, unhealthy, and/or negative consequences. For example, the woman who sneaks off to eat in hiding is willing to satisfy her motive of pleasure through food even though she is overweight, has some health concerns, lies to her husband, and neglects her family to do it.

So, discover, examine, take ownership of your motives. Ask yourself if your motive(s) have become idols.

•         Comfort/Easy – Would I rather take a pill to lose weight or discipline my eating and exercise nearly everyday to live a healthy productive life?

•         Love/Peace – Would I rather eat something unhealthy and consume what is served rather than risk hurting the feelings of my spouse and teach her about my new commitment to health?

•         Pleasure – Would I rather eat past full and have seconds of the Thanksgiving Meal or consider each meal one that provides energy for my new healthy lifestyle and stop when I’m satisfied?

You don’t have to be a counselor like me to see people enslaved to food, diet programs, pills, sex, TV, shopping, and sleep due to the idols of comfort and pleasure. Many folks are in serious consumer debt due to the same motives. I had one client tell me her 50 thousands dollars of debt was no big deal. She would simply file bankruptcy and get out of paying. What’s wrong with that, she asked? Please tell me I don’t have to answer that question. She definitely had the idols of pleasure and comfort.

The key here is to realize the food is not the problematic issue. It’s not the debt that is the root of the problem. It is the motive(s) that has become idols. There is never enough food to satisfy. There are never enough clothes or household décor or gadgets to satisfy. There is a constant desire for more built into human nature. So, again, it is not the object of desire, it is the desire itself which requires our attention.

This is heavy stuff! When you talk about and examine beliefs it touches all areas of your life not just trying to have a healthy body. So, now that you obtained more awareness of yourself and what motivates you, you’ll begin to see it next time you decide to overindulge. You will find yourself cognitively having to make a choice between wise and unwise. Coming up, I will show you how to apply the new knowledge you’ve gained into your daily routine.

Stay inspired,

Kip #45

Step 4: Examine your Motives: Beliefs Inventory

So far we’ve looked at 3 Basic Principles to a healthy lifestyle. All are COMMON SENSE BUT NOT COMMON PRACTICE: eating clean and hydrating with water, exercising on a daily basis, and getting enough rest.

This final principle is common sense like the others, but most of us don’t bother to do it. We would rather take a pill to make it easy to lose the weight than spend time examining what beliefs and motives are responsible for our obesity or unhealthy body.

The reality is our public actions tell a story about the private intentions inside our hearts. Chances are you’ve considered some ‘whys’ and ‘how comes’ of your behavior. Many of you may sense that things are not okay with your behavior whether that’s related to eating and body shape or otherwise. The truth is behind ‘what we do’ is ‘why we do it’…our motives!

Thus, your most needed change is not circumstances, situation, weight, relationships, or genetics. Your most needed change to achieve a healthy lifestyle is your belief system.

When considering a Beliefs Inventory, your motives are important to examine. For those of you struggling with food issues and addiction, the negative thought patterns and compulsive behavior may seem automatic with an inability to control them. It is an obsessive situation. Even asking ‘why’ may seem silly.

Yet, the #1 reason we do NOT change and stay stuck in self-destructive behavior is we really do NOT want to change. The behavior and thought patterns gives us something we want and meet our chosen needs! Behind the behavior and thoughts are the desires we volunteer to be enslaved to. So, again, our motives and belief system must be revealed if we want to change our lifestyle.

Consider this: continued gluttony, overeating, sloppy eating, or a binge/purge cycle provides something you want such as comfort, control, pleasure, power, revenge, temporary freedom from pain, etc. On some level, you are willing to live with the negative consequences of these behaviors because it provides you with the desires of our heart. It fulfills what motivates you whether that is comfort and pleasure or even security and revenge.

For example, the man who overeats at night after a stressful day at work and a nagging wife might be motivated by comfort, peace, or pleasure. The daughter who eats everything her mother cooks, even though she has committed to a new healthy lifestyle, might be motivated by fear, self-protection, or peace. The mother who repeatedly gets fast food for her family might be motivated by ease, comfort, and pleasure.

Most of us do not take the time to truly examine what motivates us to behave in ways that damages us. The desire for comfort and ease is not wrong, but when you find yourself obese, overweight, or caught up in an unhealthy cycle due to those motives, then they are a problem. When you are willing to overeat at night and pack on the pounds, then the desire for comfort is wrong. When you would rather eat something unhealthy or eat all that is served you by mom rather than risk hurting her feelings, then you’ve made the desire for peace and self-protection more important than living a healthy lifestyle. When you would rather enjoy that birthday cake, Thanksgiving Meal or vacation food past the point of satiety then you’ve chosen pleasure over common sense which tells you to stop. That’s when the motive for pleasure is wrong. That’s when the motive ‘rules you’ and needs to be examined and changed.

Next time, I will walk you through how to do a Beliefs Inventory…the step by step process to discover what motives may be ruling your life and what to do about it.

(And, if somone doesn't call me on the time of this post, then...well, as you can see, I'm still struggling with the 'rest' principle!)

Stay inspired,

Kip #45