Let's Talk Life

Health and Fitness Series
Dr. Kallie

Last week I missed my blog time and I apologize to those whom were looking forward to it, but life got in the way and this is okay.  So this week, I'm going to keep this short and sweet.  We are going a little off track, but still express maybe the most important aspect of life...to find enjoyment.  Don't stress each and every day about what you don't have in front of you.  Stop feeling like you are never going to reach your goals.  STOP being in such a hurry for everything to be the way you think it needs to be.  Sometimes, you don't have those controls and you need to find acceptance.  Acceptance that not everything happens overnight and you need to work on patience.   It's okay to slow down and reflect, smile, do something for yourself that you enjoy.
I hear too often how everyone is so unhappy with themselves.  How they need to lose weight to feel better about themselves.  How they don't have time to even think about eating healthy or exercising for a hour a few times a week.  As a mom, business owner, farm owner, etc, I do know the struggles of making time.  Here's the thing; make your "ME" time a priority, and get creative with your health and fitness.  Not all of your "workouts" must be on your own in a gym every week.  Include your partner, kids, coworkers, or friends.  Involving your spouse/partner is a great first step.  Yes, there might be a struggle at first, but at least try to involve them and get creative with your fitness time.  Kids are another GREAT way to not only help you spend time with them and get your workouts in, but it is SO AWESOME to get them active and enjoying new things also. 

My time is not spent in the gym all summer long.  As a family we play together and stay active while enjoying some fun down time.  For instance, we LOVE to bike, go for runs and/or walks, kayak, swim, ride horses, and lift weights together.  The kids are always the first on the bus so-to-speak when I mention we are going for a family run, but you need to make it creative.  Make it a fun game, do a few little races, or explore new places on runs.  I do want to share with you our personal time to give you a few ideas of how to snatch up that little bit of free time and make it productive for your health while also enjoying LIFE. 

I understand that not everyone has kids old enough to do all of the above, but you can also find peace in doing these things alone.  The picture above in the snow with my dog is pretty significant to me.  I am not from Northern Michigan, so I have had a slightly difficult time accepting how long the winters last up here.  The summer of 2017 didn't feel like much of a summer up here and I was dreading another upcoming winter.  The simple thought of cold wintery and snow filled days were dreadful.  When you own a farm, you don't get to take snow days in life anymore.  You go outside to work even when its -20 degrees with wind and snow and deal with it, so naturally you start to feel a little frustration with it all.  Well, I am a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, even when they are not always great things.  The fall of 2017, our big Akita had a spine-stroke and had severe paralysis of one hind leg.  I was intent on doing all I could to restore at least a little "livable" function in that hind leg, so therapy was paramount.  His therapy started immediately and sure enough carried out into the winter.  I had a purpose and a mission that winter, and it was to walk/hike with this pup at least 4 days a week.  Over the course of the LONG, snowy, cold, winter, we worked together and regained 85-90 percent of his function back.  The function for him was the most important, but there was so much more to just the physical therapy.  Emotionally I watched this dog come back to life and LOVE going for our snow hikes together.  Even more than that, I found myself enjoying all of our hikes together.  That was my time to reflect and spend on myself.  Not only was I getting in a killer workout hiking through some of the deepest snow in the middle of snowstorms for around 2+ miles, but I had prayer time and peace.  I actually enjoyed winter last year since I had a purpose and mission.  I looked forward to the fresh snow to hike on during the week.  My point being, stop complaining about how you can't find time for yourself, your family, and fitness, make it a priority and you will make time. 

As an active family, we try to encourage others around us also to step out and do more active things.  In the last few weeks, we have kayaked as an office together, which was so much fun.  Leaving the work environment and enjoying each others company helps the entire team.  This last weekend, our non-profit put together a memorial paddle with a group of veterans.  This paddle was not only our workout for the day, but more importantly we spent time as a family reaching out to local veterans to try and give a little something back to them for all that they have done for us.  Our kids were active with us, and they had the opportunity to meet veterans and their families, while understanding the meaning of what we were doing. 

Lastly, please keep a positive and open mind about fitness, family time, and fun.  Last week we had a little family adventure, we bought an old vintage camper.  It was our project for the week, and what a week it was!  Ideally I had seven days to remodel this little camper so we could potentially use it for the weekend.  It was quite the commitment, but I recruited my little team of helpers and we did it!  The sole purpose was to make this a little playhouse/overnight cabin for our daughters.  A fun little space to hangout in, with the added bonus of bringing it to local camp grounds for fun.  I would be lying if I told you it was super easy, but we did have an absolute blast.  We all worked together, through blood, sweat, and tears (maybe not tears), and were able to turn the camper into the most romantic little hot spot for our 15th wedding anniversary dinner 6 days after acquiring the camper.  You are probably wondering what this has to do with fitness.  I doesn't really, except the fact that I didn't workout all week last week and it's okay.  I didn't beat myself up, get discouraged, quit my training, or anything like that at all.  It was fun family adventure time, that I wouldn't give back for any workouts.  It's okay to not hit every single workout every single week.  YES, you need to stay on track and continue to stay active, but it's okay to find time for adventures too.  As long as you get right back into your workouts, and continue to eat healthy, you are not losing any battle.  Life can pass you by so very quickly, don't focus on what you are not accomplishing.  Rather, focus on being patient, positive, and proactive so you can enjoy all that life has to offer.  I leave you with some fun camper pictures from last week.  Thanks for letting me take the week off last week while we were crazy busy.  I promise to bring everyone more great info next week.