Welcome to Movement Monday! This started as an email I sent weekly to my customers and clients designed to motivate continued action to achieve a desired goal throughout the week. My mission is to provide the "want to" when it comes to reaching YOUR goal because the "how to" is different for every body and every goal. When you are constantly seeking the truth, you will find exactly what you need. Each email contains a subject, practical suggestions or encouragement surrounding the subject and powerful quotes that support the weekly theme. After a big shift in my life, I am motivated to share my email with everyone! My email subscribers will still receive an abridged version with a link to the full details here.
I'm just returning from a trip to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India for work and it was an eye-opening experience! It was a busy week and nearly every moment was utilized while I was in the office. I barely had time to think about how jet-lagged I was. I won't even count the number of cups of espresso I had the first day I was there, but to my surprise, by day 3, I was back to my regular caffeine habit -- a cup or two in the morning to wake me up. Besides participating with my co-workers in their experiences in the office and providing technical training as the team lead, I was interested in an entirely separate aspect of this travel -- could I set a workout plan a stick to it? I knew the meals weren't entirely in my control due to the strong recommendation to avoid all uncooked items, like fresh fruit and veggies, if I wanted to keep my insides in tact. I managed to add another challenge to this difficulty when I arrived at the airport and realized I managed to leave my Shakeology and Go Macro bars behind.
"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." -- Amelia Earhart
I became a fitness coach because I'm passionate about fitness and I love helping and supporting others become their best! I enjoy sharing my life experiences as a working single-parent, whether good or bad, to help others. Even with the numerous experiences I've had and shared, there was at least one situation that I couldn't seem to come up with a real answer for when current or potential clients rationalized business travel as a reason for avoiding starting a health improvement regimen or getting off track on their planned routine. I always believe that if it's importantant to you, you will do it. Since 'feeling good' about themselves is important to most people, having the right motivation to stay on track is the key to maintaining a reasonable portion of healthy activities while traveling for business.In my workplace, it is common knowledge that I am also a group exercise instructor, so many coworkers feel very comfortable discussing their struggles and shortcomings in this area. What most don't realize is my commitment to myself and my own health and fitness, but quickly find out when I share some of my strategies for just getting it done.
I had a couple opportunities to share with my co-worker I was traveling with during our 30+ hour journey after he expressed his frustrations with the way he was feeling about his health and exercise stamina. Over the past 2 years, he had taken on more responsibilities at work that required him to travel to locations all over the world and really wanted to get his health back on track.
"Vision without action is a daydream. Action with without vision is a nightmare.” —Japanese proverb
So here are 4 things that helped me while traveling for business.
- Have a Clear Vision of What it is You Want - We all want to live our life to it's full potential and that means creating a powerful vision of what we want for our lives. The more powerful the vision, the more it will compel you to find a way to get it done, even when it is not comfortable. I knew skipping a full week of exercise would add to my challenges when I returned home when I needed to teach classes, far beyond the jetlag and the attempt to get back to my normal routine. I didn't want to deal with this additional struggle. Even more compelling than this was the bridesmaid dress I wanted to slay at the end of the year. I could not afford to get off track.
- Set Realistic Expectations - Since I had 4 full days in India, it would have been great to get in 4 exercise sessions since I easily get in more than that over the same span of time while at home. However, realistically, I knew I'd be dealing with jetlag and I wouldn't arrive to my hotel room until the early morning hours on the first day. Instead of pressuring myself to complete something unreasonable, I planned for 3 days of exercise. I wouldn't beat myself up if I only completed 2, but I knew if I got the first day in on Wednesday (day 2 of my trip), the rest of the days would be easy.
Day 3 - 2nd workout using BOD in my hotel room - Create An Action Plan for Success - I checked out the hotel ahead of time to see if there was a gym and thankfully there was, but I also knew I had access to Beachbody on Demand for plenty of great workout options. I also made sure to pack my workout clothes. Seems simple, but 'forgetting' workout clothes is a huge excuse for not getting it done!
- Celebrate Your Success - I documented and shared my workout completions with my accountability group and on social media. The goal was for me to share my happiness for getting it done. It is so rewarding to share your wins, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem to others. I'm not doing it for them, I'm doing it for me!
Day 4 - Finishing up my last workout session in the hotel gym
I am happy to say that I wasn't the only one getting my workouts in. My co-worker was determined to make a change to his routine so he could start feeling better next year. However, when I shared with him that I completed my first workout on day 2 and asking him about his plans for the Cap10K next year, he was motivated to get started while on the trip. He successfully completed 2 workout sessions and was extremely proud. I was super proud too!
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