This morning I was doing what most of us do as we begin our day – started with my RK morning ritual and then began checking emails, bouncing around social media and then it happened…I dropped into the good old “my life sucks compared to everyone else’s” rabbit hole.

It started with me perusing this awesome yoga guy on Instagram. One pic lead to another which lead to videos, then onto him in front of large groups of people sharing his information and having a beautiful wedding ceremony with his gorgeous wife and perfect in-laws, in a gorgeous destination…and before I knew I was thinking – what I am doing with my life?

How come I’m not touching more people every day?

Where is my prince or princess charming?

Do I sound that good when I speak? Ugh! Yep, before I knew it my life was crap based on the idyllic life this man presented.

But then I stopped.

I realized I was in the hole. And said to myself one of my favorite lines from Top Gun…pull out goose, pull out! And I had to reframe my thoughts.

I took an inventory of everything I do daily that touches people’s lives.

I flashed back to the amazing weekend I had with someone new in my life that is gorgeous and makes me very happy even though it’s still new. Then I remembered that I have this a podcast, teach fitness, mindfulness and breathwork classes regularly, why was I missing my wonderful opportunities to touch all of you!

BOOM!

Just like that, I flipped that Instagram comparison rabbit hole on its head. But it took active steps or I could have nose-dived into that awful place for a good part of the day.

My point here is that every day we are faced with life tests – moments when life wants to trip us up or is testing us and I believe these are beautiful chances for us to remind life that we are the boss. We show LIFE how to treat us and how we want to roll – NOT the other way around!

RK Musing – Loss

Now, moving on to RK Musing for the week. This week I wanted to touch on the topic of loss because it’s timely as I just last week had a hip replacement surgery so there is the letting of an old part of me that served me well for many many years and then unfortunately right now as I am writing this blog post, my stepmother is in the hospital facing her last days due to cancer and complications etc.

But I wanted to talk about loss, because it affects all of us every single day in one form or another. But stay with me here because when I am done I will hopefully have you looking at loss through a different lens than that of sadness or disappoint.

Here are the many ways loss can show up in our lives…

Loss of a part of yourself. Like me losing the old hip that gave me so many years of adventure, activities, marathons and an unbelievable foundation for a life pushing myself physically.

Loss of a person. Loss of a lover, a family member, there’s the loss of dreams that maybe no longer serves you.

Loss of the story that maybe you spent your life hiding behind.

Loss of a career that you gave a big part of your life to, loss of relationship with a friend and so on.

But here’s the great thing about all these losses. 

Loss of a past love creates space for a new love
Loss of a career opens you up for finding new hobbies and reinventing yourself

Loss of an old story – encourages the revealing of your truth
Loss of a loved one reminds us that life is short and should be lived fully like every minute every second is precious. 
So, however, you relate to loss – one you are feeling now or one in the past, let’s allow space for that loss to be the birth of something new and beautiful.

 

I know I am so excited to let this new titanium hip settle into my body and I can’t wait for the new adventures I will have with it!!

Take It To the Bank

I had a question last week from a listener who said,

“RK, I am a 55-year-old guy with 6 kids and a full time career. I’m in pretty good shape but don’t exercise enough – my job is has me sedentary most of the day. Every now and then I pull a muscle doing something mundane and simple like washing my hair” (to which I must say — -I need to see how this guy washes his hair – it’s gotta be a pretty aggressive situation) “Any suggestions for how to make sure my body is at least getting some movement every day.”

This got me thinking. I get that we all don’t have the luxury of lots of free time to hit the gym and do a hour and half workouts 4-5 times a week. Some of you may not even belong to a gym or if you did wouldn’t know where to start with 80% of the equipment in there.

So, I wanted to give a basic callisthenic style workout that anyone can do as a starter program – that also has the ability to be ratcheted up at your progress and find you are ready for the next level. This is the beauty of exercise – there are always ways to take a program up or down in intensity based on what your goals and current fitness level are.

Make Time

So, here’s what I gave my listener as a jumping off place. It’s something he and anyone really can do if you only have even 10- 20 minutes to dedicate to some type of movement.

Based on where you are starting from will determine whether you do 10 or 20 reps of each of these. All of these exercises have modifications and if you aren’t clear how to do any of them – youtube is a great resource for examples of each.

I suggest setting aside 10-20 at whatever time of day is your golden hour time. This means if you are a morning person – best energy in the AM – you do this thing…but if you are grumpy till you’ve had several cups of coffee type and function best later in the day then you do this end of the day or on your lunch break.

Come on, none of us are running a country and while I know we all ARE super busy I find it hard to believe when people tell me they can’t carve 10-20 minutes out for themselves at some point in their day. Get off Facebook and Instagram, turn off Stranger Things, set your alarm 10 minutes earlier etc. There is always a way to find time for your health when you make it a priority. People make more time to take care of their dog than to take care of themselves! Do both!

Ok, there that speech out of the way.

The Quick Exercise

So, you’ve made time, now make a space for yourself that is your go-to area for your workouts — at home in your yard – in your dining area, in your bedroom…you only need space for a mat and your body.

Start with a little 5 min warm up — brisk walking to get your body temp up — maybe a walk around the block, maybe up and down your stairs, maybe back and forth in your yard etc. if at work — maybe at lunch find a suitable area to a walk for 5 minutes or so, then claim a space where you can do this routine.

Here are the exercises. You will need a mat and a chair. The first round of everything is slow and easy.

• Jacks — 1 minute (10-20 reps)

• Squats – down and up — slow and easy modification — don’t go very deep

• Lunges – step forward and back Or step behind and forward – modification – don’t step as far forward or back

• Pushup – men – regular – ladies – knees on your mat

• Dips men – use the chair for dips ladies – use your mat and sit down with knees bent and lean back with your hands behind your fingers facing forward. Bend your elbows and lower your body back into your triceps and then press up…this is a great dip modification until strong enough to do a regular dip off a chair or a bench.

• Crunches on a mat – slow – squeeze at the top and hold – no fast sets of crunches.

• Then hold plank 1 minute —- repeat this series 2-3 times.

If you want to make this same series another level harder add weights to the squats and lunges. Pick up the pace on every exercise. No rest between exercises. Definitely aim for 20 of everything.

This series is great for creating a strong base before going into a full exercise program is you are coming off of being sedentary AND if you find it hard to make time and can’t get to the gym.

See how to make the most of your HIIT workout!

Eating Right

Next up: Fueling the Body!

We have to start to talk about what’s in that fridge of yours at home because while movement is critical and must happen – how you fuel your body is slightly above that because without energy which clean wholesome food gives you the routine I just talked about isn’t happening.

So if you’re up for it let’s do this. And remember I want to encourage everyone to tackle their wellness lifestyle with baby steps so if this feels like too much all at once — do a little bit this week and a little bit next week. But if you want to change your life – things might get a bit uncomfortable before you get to that feeling awesome zone. But that’s what I’m here for is to give you encouragement and support along the way while making small steps which all strung together eventually lead to big results.

I want to encourage all of you to take a peek at what’s lurking in your cabinets, pantries, and fridge.

Grab a trash bag or two and head to your kitchen. It’s time to exorcise the demons – the food that’s keeping you from your fitness and/or weight loss goals.

Start with the fridge.

Read the nutrition labels of everything on the door. Check condiments, salad dressings, drinks, sauces, jams etc. If there’s a list of more than 2 or 3 ingredients you can’t read there’s a good chance it should go in the bag. Hit the pantry — read those labels if you can’t pronounce half the ingredients in the bag, it goes.

(Check out these great snacks for on-the-go!)

Cabinets – open em’ clear em’ — you have to be committed to shifting how you fuel your body for this step to work.

 

Also, the biggest thing to look for is added SUGAR! I am not asking you to give up sugar just yet — because that is a big step for most people, not a small step — but maybe start to think about weaning yourself off of things loaded with hidden sugar here’s the sneaky names sugar as goes by:

• Brown sugar

• Cane juice and cane syrup

• Confectioners’ sugar

• Corn sweetener and corn syrup

• Dextrose, Fructose

• Fruit juice concentrates

• Glucose

• Granulated white sugar

• High-fructose corn syrup

• Honey

• Invert sugar

• Lactose

• Maltose

• Malt syrup

• Molasses

• Raw sugar

• Sucrose

• Syrup

Remember this when reading the ingredients; things are listed in order of the amount of them contained in the product. Therefore, if sugar is the first or second or even third item listed, it’s bad for you, PERIOD!

The goals for clean wholesome healthy eating is to load up on for whole, fresh foods – which means, no prepackaged, no boxed (most cereals have more sugar per serving than your new daily limit), no canned foods (in general – some exceptions like canned beans with nothing but water added). Really take a look in that fridge and pantry and anything that shouldn’t be there gets the boot!
It’s up to you to really take charge here. It’s a cleansing of sorts – so, make it a ceremony – light some incense – put on your favorite music and go to town!

See: Juice Pulp Muffins Recipe

Just Do It

Do what you have to do to get this party started. And it is a party! It’s a party because we are celebrating you deciding once and for all to really go for it – to do what it takes to reach your fitness goals. I will be here guiding you but the rest, the hard labor and mental commitment will be up to you.

We will dive more into meal planning and meal prep on another post but for now when you head to the grocery store think of staying on the outside aisle for most of your shopping — down those interior aisles are where the bad things lie. Also, if you would like a copy of my approved RKFIT grocery shopping list send me an email at rk@rebeccakordecki.com and I will send it to you!

Remember it’s all realms that equal a healthy balanced life not just the physical. It’s mental, it’s spiritual AND it’s physical. Go have a fantastic rest of the week – and remember to think small baby steps for big results.