Running got me through shelter in place. Not only was running a great way to complete the stress cycle, but it was one thing that felt normal. Even once the restrictions were lifted, I kept up running three or four days a week. Not only have I noticed that running made me feel better physically and mentally, I’ve also been challenged by my new role as Medical Fitness Director for Sharlin Health and Neurology to rethink how cardio fits into a workout plan for the body and the brain.

Do I need to do cardio to be healthy?

I’ve always said weights first. Partly because you can get your heart rate up when you do complex movements like squats and push-ups and partly because people often rely too much on cardio for weight loss. I’ve soon too many women suffering from muscle loss and a damaged metabolism from endless cardio, restrictive dieting and a lack of strength training. Seeing those side effects along with my own passion for weight training put  cardio coming at distant second place in my workouts.

But the more I learn about the brain and exercise as medicine, as well as my own cardio conversion, the more I am rethinking the exercise prescription.

While strength training is still a very important part of my personal workout plan as well as the programs I write for others, cardio is no longer last on the list. The science on brain health is clear – you need cardio.

What kind of cardio do I need to be healthy?

The good news is you don’t have to take up running, unless you really want to. The bad news is walking probably isn’t going to give you the brain benefits and metabolism boost you may be looking for. For optimal results for brain and body, you need to build your workout plan foundation with the basic cardio recommendation outlined in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

“For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Preferably, aerobic activity should be spread throughout the week.”

For the brain, doing cardio on a regular basis is important because:

• It improves blood flow to the brain, bringing vital nutrients and oxygen that keep cells healthy.
• It reduces levels of inflammation, which may be the source of many of our health problems.
• It lowers stress hormones, like cortisol, that impair memory and may decrease brain volume.

I’ve always advocated for vigorous intensity (think a HIIT workout) over moderate intensity cardio workout. The more I learn, the more I understand we need to find a middle ground and regularly do cardio exercise that puts us at the higher end of moderate intensity.

Moderate intensity vs vigorous intensity exercise

You can gauge your exercise intensity in two ways: how you feel (rate of perceived exertion) or your heart rate.  According to the Mayo Clinic, here is how you can gauge exercise intensity by feel.

Moderate exercise intensity – Moderate activity feels somewhat hard. Here are clues that your exercise intensity is at a moderate level:

• Your breathing quickens, but you’re not out of breath.
• You develop a light sweat after about 10 minutes of activity.
• You can carry on a conversation, but you can’t sing.

Vigorous exercise intensity – Vigorous activity feels challenging. Here are clues that your exercise intensity is at a vigorous level:

• Your breathing is deep and rapid.
• You develop a sweat after only a few minutes of activity.
• You can’t say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

If you want to use your heart rate to determine intensity, you can click here to find out how. I recommend using the Heart Rate Reserve (HRR) method because it takes in account your fitness level based on you resting heart rate.

I still recommend a minimum of two days a week of strength training with three being the sweet spot for most goals. But you also need to make sure you are doing some sort of cardio most days of the week. It could be an interval session at the end of a strength day (think interval sprints on a stationary bike) or a rowing session or kickboxing on a non-strength training day. At a moderate intensity you may need to go a little longer but at vigorous intensity your cardio session may only need to be 15 minutes.

Finding your middle ground may mean a brisk walk to warm up for 10 minutes with 15 minutes of running followed by a cool down. Or it could mean 10 minutes of a steady pace on your stationary bike before you do hill intervals for 15 minutes and then another 10 minutes at a steady pace.

If you’re ready to rethink your workout and want a fascinating review of the science, I recommend reading the book Spark: The Revolutionary Science of Exercise and the Brain. For more tips on how to optimize your workout, join the FREE Sharlin Health Nuero Fitness Facebook group today.

Telling my clients that I’m closing Thrive Personal Fitness and embarking on my medical fitness journey wasn’t easy. My goal was to get out the facts, which at the time were few, and make the transition a positive one for everyone.

Despite my best intentions to reassure everyone that this transition is a very good thing, the most important thing got lost in the delivery.  After sharing my news and letting them process, some of my clients panicked. They thought they were losing me! They wanted to know if I was still going to be providing personal training services.  

Of course, I’m still offering personal training services! Developing plans based on physical activity for brain health is a natural extension of what I already do.  And I am thrilled to have them (and you) along for the ride if it makes sense. Almost anyone can benefit from a program based on physical activity for brain health. We all need to take care of our brains, especially those of us in midlife. The brain is an organ after all. It needs good blood flow and nourishment to flourish. Functional fitness and focused cardio are the foundation for a neurofitness program.

What is medical fitness?

I’ve always said exercise is medicine. We know that it is one of the most effective non-drug treatments for everything from high blood pressure to depression. We know it helps lower blood sugar and increases HDL “good” cholesterol. So what makes medical fitness different from any other workout?

Medical fitness is essentially the synergy of exercise and healthcare together. In the case of our new fitness center, Sharlin Health NeuroFitness, it’s my expertise as a fitness professional combined with the experience, knowledge and supervision of a neurologist trained in functional medicine. On the surface, the workouts might look the same, especially if you’re interested in prevention. But it’s the intention and science behind the program design that makes movement in a medical fitness center special.

What is functional medicine?

Another term we need to define is functional medicine.  According to the Institute for Functional Medicine, functional medicine is “a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.”

Lifestyle factors are both a root cause and a critical part of the solution for healing and long-term health. If you’ve been looking for an integrative approach to your wellness journey or interested in trying a functional medicine approach to health, medical fitness might be the perfect place to start. You don’t need a diagnosis of any kind to experience cognitive issues or excessive inflammation. Physical activity for brain health is the key to a vibrant midlife and active aging.

Also, with a medical fitness perspective, your program is about so much more the number on the scale. Using Dr. Sharlin’s Five Pillars approach, here’s the framework I’ll be using to help you define your nuerofitness plan.

• Identify: This has always been at the heart of my practice. It’s critical to take the time to understand a client and their unique needs. Every BODY is different so the plan starts with understanding where you are, what you need and what success looks like to you.
• Investigate: We’re all about root cause. This isn’t about a generic prescription to “exercise more” or follow the workout of the day.  With the team, I can gather the data needed to develop the appropriate plan for you. We can work together to develop a pragmatic and executable plan and set goals that are meaningful and measurable.
• Integrate: The journey may start with movement but then you can expand to working with a dietitian, a health coach and Dr. Sharlin. I’ll have new tools to track your progress, deliver workouts and offer you support via online communities and challenges.
• Restore: By meeting you where you are, we can work to restore strength and functional movement for a solid foundation. With the right tests and tools, we can strengthen weak links and more easily remove the limiting factors that keep you from getting the results you want.
• Regenerate: Movement supports the restoration of brain health and function to help create your best self. With the right combination of physical and mental work we can improve your brain “hardware” and upgrade your brain “software”.

The best thing is the movement I’ve been helping people do for over a decade is a big part of boosting brain health. Now, I’m diving deeper into the science of physical activity for brain health in order to fine tune your plan and integrate the additional services the Sharlin Health and Neurology team can provide. The fitness center isn’t open you but you don’t have to wait to learn more. If you’d like to learn more and schedule your free medical fitness assessment, email me and we’ll set up a time to chat in person or virtually.

My Word for the Year for 2020 was Fearless.

I knew I would need courage and grit to go after the bold goals I set for 2020. I knew I was on the verge of a pivot. But who could have imagined the sharp plot twist our collective narrative was about to take?

I had smaller goals too, like the ones on my 20 for 2020 list. One of those goals was to redo my 100 Dreams List before my 45^th birthday, which is tomorrow. Like most of the goals on my 20 for 2020 list, I have fallen a little short. My intention was to start the revision and rewriting of my life goals on a visit to Timber Creek Retreat House that was scheduled for April. That visit, of course, didn’t happen.

Instead, I sheltered in place like most of you for the last part of March, all of April and part of May. I trained some clients via zoom from my dining room but I also got to be home to sit down for dinner. I got to slow down and I started therapy again. I retreated into myself and found bits and pieces of who I used to be before my life was consumed with running my business. I started to understand how burned out I really was. My three words for the new decade – Teach, Travel, Tribe – still held meaning and felt authentic but I  knew I could not go back to the way things were before.

Once we were allowed back in the gym in May, reality sunk in. I understood that the model I used for a profitable personal training business was not sustainable in our COVID-19 world. At least not if I wanted to step back from the state of burnout I had been living in. 

That’s why today I start a new job. After many interviews with the team, conversations with Bri and rumbling with my own feelings of failure and fears, I am the new Medical Fitness Director at Sharlin Health and Neurology.

This means today is also the day I start the process of working towards the closure of Thrive Personal Fitness. This will be a gradual process, of course. I have online clients who I will continue to serve without any noticeable changes. The new medical fitness facility has not even been built yet but when it is, existing in-person clients can transition to working with me in the new space. I will welcome all the new clients who wish to work with me and the Sharlin team to maximize their health and quality of life.

The best news is that this new role lets me do the things I love and stay true to my three words.

Teach – I will still be a practitioner, so I will continue to work with some clients. But I also get to hire other personal trainers and fitness professionals and help them develop sustainable careers. I’ll work with the team to develop content and exercise programs for Dr. Sharlin’s Brain Tune Up protocol and, eventually, assist in creating online courses.

Tribe – I will have a whole team to work with! There are other health coaches and dietitians in the clinic. Dr. Ken Sharlin is a highly respected neurologist and a functional medicine doctor. There’s a lab for testing, a nursing staff and eventually I’d love to have a physical therapist on staff. I don’t have to wear all the hats and clients can get a fully integrated approach to their health.

Travel – This is on hold right now but in 2021 I believe I’ll be able to get back to seeing the world. As a team, we’ll look at retreats and I’ll have plenty of opportunities for professional development travel as well.

If you had told me six months ago I would be celebrating 45 by starting to work for someone else, I would have said you were crazy. But who would have believed that I’d be wearing a mask in the gym and visiting a drive-up farmers market? The pivot I’m making is a different path to the WHY than I could have ever imagined. The HOW has changed, but my WHY is still very much the same.

As for the blog, I’m going to post just once a month till at least the end of the year. I want to keep you updated on the progress of the new medical fitness facility and how we can help you in even more ways on your journey to health and fitness.

I’m not sure what I’ll do yet with the Fit in 417 podcast or the Thrive Personal Fitness Facebook page. I will be keeping my Instagram account. You may want to follow me there because you are certainly going to want to check out one thing I’ve managed to check off my new but uncompleted 100 Dreams List…my new kitten, Chai.

When you become a personal trainer one of the first things they teach you is the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change). Understanding where a person is in the six-stages of change  – pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance or termination/relapse – helps a coach understand where to begin.

This model is a cycle, not linear. You can go back and forth between two steps before moving fully into the next stage. Clients often seek out my help thinking they are ready for action when they are really in preparation. They want some information, they want change but they aren’t ready for the real work it takes.

Right now, many of you are being asked to make changes that months or weeks ago weren’t even on your radar. You were in the earliest stage of pre-contemplation, not even aware that there was a problem. Now you’re being asked to take significant action and you’ve jumped ahead. Leaping forward too fast into leads to a quick backlash and a boomerang to old bad behaviors.

Based on the current NYT Best Seller list, a lot of you are picking up books to help you understand the unequal system we live in and how to deal with racism. The truth is many of you will not be prepared for books like White Fragility and How To Be Anti-Racist. Don’t get me wrong, these are insightful and important books. I want you to read them.  Books like I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made For Whiteness and So You Want To Talk About Race have been a part of my own “be a better human” journey. But I want you to read them without throwing them across the room. I want you to be in a place where you can read and move to ACTION.

I always say start where you are. The aforementioned books (and many others) should be on your reading list. But you may need to heal your own wounds first. If you’re struggling with first family issues, fighting with your own body and feeling boxed in by the rules of the patriarchy, you will not be able to be fully engaged in the work that needs to be done to  support the healing of others and changing the world.

I want to give you a summer reading program that I hope will help you in the contemplation and preparation stages of your racial equality and social justice journey. These books are about taking a look at the systems we grew up in and the traumas we need to work on order for us to be better human beings. The bonus is they will go a long way towards helping you on your deep health journey as well.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle – I’ve recommended this book so many times before. If you have not read it yet PLEASE start here. The core concepts of care vs self-care and dealing with your own Madwoman are critical for moving forward with kindness and compassion.

The Gifts of Imperfection –  These days, I often stop and think “What Would Brene do?”. I reread this book recently on the recommendation of a therapist. If we are to become who we need to be we have to let go of who we thought we should be and the labels put on us by others.

Untamed – I’ve read it once and I’ll read it again. Glennon Doyle’s story of her struggle to live her truth, to unlearn her training and be in the discomfort of living an authentic life is exactly what I needed. Being who you are is not always a happy and comfortable experience. They call them growing pains for a reason. But don’t despair. When you allow yourself to feel the lows, the highs feel even sweeter.

The Body Is Not An Apology – Think of this book as bridge between health and body image and the bigger picture of social justice issues. It looks like a quick read but make sure to pause and do the reflection at the end of each chapter.

I want to add four fiction books to your summer reading program. These smartly written stories can give you a different perspective and a different way to investigate your own relationship with race and patriarchy.

Such A Fun Age – It all starts with a security guard detaining a Black woman caring for a white child in a grocery store. Yet somehow in this narrative, that’s not the worst thing that happens. Be prepared to rethink how you move in the world and how you use proximity as a shield.

Interior Chinatown – Do you ever feel like you’re playing out a script someone wrote for you? This book on being Asian in America is exactly that – a script for the life that someone else wants to allow you to have. The intersection of non-white identities and how the script hurts us all makes for a powerful story.

Sing, Unburied, Sing – History never dies. The ghosts of our past color everything we do. Here’s the story of one family’s ghost and how it shapes their today.

The Hate U Give – Being 16 is hard enough. Try being 16 and code switching between you Black family life and your white school like. Then add watching your childhood friend killed by by a police officer during a traffic stop. This YA story is will take you back and make you think of what you can do better today.

Just like a healthier life, a better world doesn’t happen by accident. You have to do the work. That education can start with something as simple as picking up a book. But it can’t end there. You can’t get stuck in preparation. You have to act.

This is not the 2020 you had planned. The new decade started with a clean slate and clear goals. You were finding your rhythm with focus and determination. 

Then the hard stop called COVID-19 closed the gym and canceled all your plans. Your goals got fuzzy, perhaps forgotten during that early rush into survival mode.  Working at home from the deck and knitting on conference calls became not just acceptable but trendy. You started running more and eating out less.

You might have gained a pound or two but oddly you feel better. Really better. With every layer of “should” and “good” that slipped away you found a little more ease and a little more peace.

Now, as things open back up, you know you can’t go back to the BEFORE. With time to think and be, you’re finding a new understanding of what matters most and a place of deep health.

It’s time to reboot with a new focus for your post-pandemic lifestyle.

What is deep health?

Deep health is a term for the integrated form of wellness that I’ve been practicing and coaching for many years. I heard it named Deep Heath only recently by the Precision Nutrition team.

Deep health is “when all domains are in sync, not just the physical. It’s about how you think, respond, solve problems and deal with the world around you. “

In other words, it’s about your fitness journey beyond the number on the scale. It’s about how you feel, think, live and connect with yourself and others. It’s the reality that getting healthy and staying healthy is a layered process that takes into consideration all parts of your life, not just “eating less and moving more” to lose weight.

The dimensions of deep health

Precision Nutrition defines six domains of deep health: physical, existential, mental, relational, environmental and emotion. In my practice, I keep my focus on the physical, mental and existential, which I call spiritual. These are also foundational to staying healthy and navigating the new pandemic influenced world. Here are the essential things I want you to focus on as you create a rebound plan for your post pandemic lifestyle.

Physical. It’s time to rearrange the goal. If you’re primary goal prior to the pandemic was weight loss I want to ask you to shift to getting and staying healthy. Weight loss can be a part of staying healthy but you can’t control the number on the scale.  It’s more effective in the long run to focus on what you can control – the behaviors that support health, no matter what your size or shape. Self-care focused exercise and eating work for anyone and everyone. It can lead to weight loss, but it doesn’t have to.

The two most critical elements here are moving your body on a regular basis and nourishing your body instead of starving it. Movement is how your body best completes the stress cycle and it has a host of health benefits (like improved insulin sensitivity and reducing blood pressure) beyond the calorie burn. There is no magic formula for how much or the “best” kind. Your deep health goal is to start where you are, with what you have and move your body every day.

If your stress level is already high, a very low-calorie diet is just one more stressor your body doesn’t need. You probably felt better during shelter in place because you ate more (more energy) and ate out less (more nutrient dense foods). It’s time to nourish your body and let go of any guilt about anything you feel you overindulged in during shelter in place.

Your deep health plan means no more calorie counting. Instead focus on the two basic eating principles of slowing down and finding your 80% full. By tuning into your hunger signals, you can learn to self-regulate better than being a slave to calories and get connected to your body’s needs. If your stress levels are high, make sure you’re getting plenty of anti-oxidant rich vegetables and fruits and foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. You’ll also want to get plenty of magnesium rich foods (like beans, nuts and avocado) and zinc rich foods (like pumpkin seeds, cashews and chickpeas).

Mental. Planning is about preparedness, not a schedule. The shift from schedule and time-based work, to task-based planning is foundational to work/life harmony in your post pandemic lifestyle. Your deep health plan means setting aside time monthly, weekly and daily to establish the critical tasks you need to reach your goals and live the life you want. If you’re new to planning start with 15 minutes a month, 10 minutes a week and 5 minutes a day to plan.

Don’t let others try to take over your schedule again with zoom Happy Hours and extended work days. Protecting your mental health means solid boundaries and leaving white space on your schedule. Your deep health plan means learning to say no and clearly articulating your needs, to yourself and to others. Try setting out of office alerts with clear expectations for email responses, put your phone in Do Not Disturb in the evening and putting daily YOU time on your calendar.

Spiritual. You’ve had time to think. You may have finally touched on what makes you tick, your meaning and purpose. We’re all here for a reason but that reason is not to please. What’s brings meaning to your life?

Allow yourself to reboot and do the three-step process for goal setting I wrote about in December. If you did it then, allow yourself to revisit the goals with your new consciousness. Open yourself up to indentifying who you are beyond labels like “mother and wife” or your job title.

It’s not easy to push back when “should” and the “musts” start piling up again. We’ve all been altered by the experience of our first pandemic. If you’re looking for a safe space and additional guidance in cfrafting your post pandemic plan, please check out my upcoming retreat by clicking here. The Deep Health: How We Rebound Physically, Mentally and Spiritually retreat may be just the getaway you need to find your why when you can’t go back to the way it was.

Between homeschooling mornings and life admin afternoons, there is very little white space left on the schedule for you. Even if you could find an hour, and if the gym was open you’re, not sure you are want to go. Any “me time” these days is found in 10 or 15 minute chunks. You need simple micro workouts to stay healthy at home. Here’s my list of micro workouts for every day.

If you’ve got five minutes for a micro workout

Yes, five minutes of movement matters. Especially if you sprinkle in a couple of micro workouts every day. Consistency is what counts for good health. If you only have five minutes to workout, here’s what you can do.

• Walk. Getting up and out of your chair is the first step in starting a daily exercise practice. If it helps, set multiple alarms throughout the day to remind you to walk around the house or around the block.
• Dance break. If you and the kids need to get the wiggles out, pick two songs with irresistible grooves and shake it off.
• Tabata time. I consider a Tabata training to be the original micro workout. The protocol is 8 cycles of 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. That means you’re working at a very high intensity for those 20 seconds. Pick a couple body weight exercises like push-ups, burpees or jumping jacks and go for it!

If you’ve got 10 minutes for a micro workout

My favorite micro workout routine is a ladder workout. In this simple version, you pick two exercises (ideally one for upper body and one for lower body) and set a time for 10 minutes.

In the video, I alternate between a goblet squat and a bench push up. One rep of each, then two reps, then three reps with the goal to get all the way to 10 reps of each. You rest when you need to as you work your way up the ladder. When you reach 10 minutes, you’re done. If you get to 10 reps before your timer goes off, start back down the ladder with 9 reps.

If you’ve got 15 minutes for a micro workout

For micro workouts, circuit training is your friend. I’ve got three super effective micro workouts that use only one piece of equipment each: a stability ball, an exercise band and a pair of dumbbells. Perform each exercise in the workout for 10 to 15 reps. You can do each workout for two to four rounds, resting only in between rounds.

Start with the stability ball wall squat. As always, you want to keep your eyes focused in front of you, not on the ground, and your weight mainly in your heals. Push through your heels to rise back up.

For the rest of the workout, you’ll move to the ground. Beginners can do a bridge by lying face up with straight legs and feet resting on top of the stability ball. If you’re more experienced, do a hamstring curl instead.

Next, you can do a pushup on the ground from knees before moving to the prone jackknife. For the prone jackknife, get in a pushup position with your shins on the stability ball and your palms flat on the floor. Pull your knees toward your chest while lifting your hips up. Straighten your legs to roll the stability ball back to start. Fora bigger challenge alternate a rep of the prone jackknife with a pushup.

Finish the workout with prone back extension, what I like to call birddog on the ball. Lie on your stomach on top of the stability ball. Then elevate the right leg and left arm while extending the back. Alternate sides, making sure to keep your arms and legs straight.

The resistance band workout is all about slow controlled movements.

First, do a sumo squat with a chest pull apart. Stand with your feet wide, knees and toes angled out to the sides and holding a resistance band in front of you at chest height with palms down and arms straight. Sit back and down into your squat, letting your knees go out as you pull band apart, tight across your chest. When you rise up out of the squat, let the resistance band return to the starting position.

The next exercise, alternating pull downs, mimics the lat pull down machine in the gym. Start with your band pulled tight over your head with your arms straight in a Y position. Pull your band down on the right side, drawing your right elbow down to your side. Return to start and repeat on the left side. Continue by alternating sides.

Then we go back to a squat but with a narrow stance, with feet close together and inside the hips. For this version you will anchor your band under your feet, holding the ends of the band in each hand. Sit back in your squat and hold this position will you use the band to perform bicep curls. Keep your elbows tucked in close to your sides to make sure you get a good bicep contraction. Hold the squat for the entire set of bicep curls.

Finally, we’ll hit the triceps will working the legs in a different way. Start by assuming a wide leg warrior II stance. Start with left leg straight and toes pointed in the twelve o’clock position with your back leg also straight and toes pointed to two o’clock. Hold your band up at shoulder height with your left arm straight ahead and the right arm bent. As you straighten your right arm also bend your left knee, opening the arms and opening the hips. Return to start and do all reps on one side before switching to the other side.

The dumbbell circuit starts with a reverse lunge with a bicep curl. Start with a dumbbell in each hand, arms by your side. Take a step back with your left foot. Hold the lunge position while performing a bicep curl with both arms. Return your arms to your side then step out of the lunge and back to the starting position. Alternate sides for all reps to complete the set.

The next move is the squat to press. Start with your dumbbells in hand, hovering over your shoulders with your palms facing in towards the mid-line of the body. Sit back into the squat, keeping your eyes up and back neutral while holding the weights over your shoulders. As you rise up out of the squat, press the weights straight up towards the ceiling in one controlled but fluid motion overhead. Return the dumbbells to the starting position before repeating the movement.

You’ll only need one dumbbell for our next exercise, the single leg overhead tricep extension. Balance on one leg while gripping the dumbbell on one end directly overhead. Keep your upper arms close, bend the elbows, and lower the weight behind your head. Then come up and fully extend your arms while keeping the dumbbell pointing straight up to the ceiling. That’s one repetition. Hold your balance on the same leg for all repetitions. You can change legs during the next set or on the next circuit.

Finish this workout on the ground with a bridge press. Lay on the ground face up with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Hold your dumbbells with elbow bent and palms facing into the midline of the body. Engage your glutes to lift your hips off the ground. Hold the bridge position while pressing the weights up, extending the arms for a chest press. Return the arms to start, with a full stop at the ground. Hold the bridge while you complete all repetitions of the press.

With all of these options, you can make space for a micro workout every day.

Who doesn’t love a taco? It doesn’t have to be Cinco De Mayo or Taco Tuesday for a simple taco to bring a smile to your face.

The taco love is not a one-way street. Those tacos love you back. Tacos are a healthy food just as they are – no special ingredients required. Here are three things that make tacos healthy and delicious.

Corn tortillas are a win over flour tortillas.

Let’s start with the fact that corn tortillas are made with a special flour called masa harina, which makes them naturally gluten free. If that’s a concern for you, you will also want to make sure they are manufactured in a facility free from cross-contamination.

Here’s the bonus for the rest of us. Corn is a grain and that makes corn tortillas a great source of fiber. Since the average American only gets half of the daily fiber they need, the three grams of fiber you would get in a couple of tacos with corn tortillas would be a welcome addition.

Tacos are an excellent vegetable delivery vehicle.

I won’t argue with you about the “meat” of your taco. You do you. What I advocate for is loading up your taco with vegetables. Even the basics of lettuce and tomatoes are a needed boost for an average American diet that can easily avoid vegetables and fruits for the entire day. The onions you love to add are great source of prebiotics and help improve your gut health.

You can upgrade your veggies with some colorful flair. In our house, we love using the salad mix I’ve been able to pick up from Blue Heron Farm at Farmers Market of the Ozarks. The darker greens give your taco a nutrient boost. I’ve also been known to add red cabbage and shredded carrots to a taco. And don’t forget the salsa. Tomatoes have lycopene, a power anti-oxidant that has shown to improve heart heath and lower the risk of certain types of cancer.

The secret is in the seasoning.

Did you know that little packet of spices packs a powerful health punch? Chili powder (made from chili peppers) is a good source of anti-oxidants and offers anti-inflammatory benefits. Your taco seasoning will probably also contain oregano, which is a great source of Vitamin K and Vitamin E, and garlic powder, which is good for heart health.

If your local store has been out of seasoning or if you unexpectedly run out, taco seasoning is super easy to make. My friend Brandy at Living Light with Brandy Lane has a simple taco seasoning recipe. CLICK HERE to check it out.

How to make tacos healthier than they already are

If you want to go beyond your basic taco, here are three ways you can make a nutritional upgrade.

Add some avocado. Fat is essential for healthy hormones and to use essential nutrients like Vitamin D.

Make a taco salad. Get extra veggies by making a salad with all the normal taco toppings, including a few corn tortilla chips for the fiber boost.

Go planted based. If you’re trying to transition to more meatless meals, try my jackfruit taco recipe. It’s a tasty and quick recipe that might even fool the meat eaters at your table.

For the recipe in the video, first drain the canned jack fruit and shred it in a bowl with your hands. You’ll notice it starts to look a little like shredded beef or chicken. Then add the jackfruit to a skillet or saucepan with one cup of vegetable broth and 1 packet of your favorite taco seasoning. Bring the mixture to a rapid simmer for one minute then reduce the heat to a low simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the liquid is mostly gone.

Making tacos healthy isn’t hard and it do doesn’t really require change. Enjoy tacos for the nourishing and fun dinner that they are.

Your mind is saying you need to move.

Your body prefers to curl up with tea and a book after spending the day online checking in with your team, your students and your email.

Before the pandemic, knowing you had someone waiting on you got you to the gym. Sometimes you didn’t want to go but you always left energized and glad you showed up.

Now, working from home and trying to work out at home aren’t working so well together. You can’t seem to make the same magic with the workout you found on Pinterest after a long day at the desk. Even if you do manage to get moving the intensity and energy boost just isn’t the same working alone in your garage.

This is not a moral failing on your part. Your response to this new physical distancing environment is completely normal. You are not lazy. You’re just missing three vital factors: meaning, connection and accountability.

Finding the Joy in Movement

If you’re looking for some good science to explain why working out by yourself at home just doesn’t feel the same, read The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection and Courage by Kelly McGonigal, Phd.

In this book, Dr. McGonigal explains with hard data and delightful storytelling how movement is “intertwined with some of the most basic human joys, including self-expression, social connection and mastery – and why it is a powerful antidote to the modern epidemics of depression, anxiety and loneliness.” – Goodreads

Find your WHY

We need to move now more than ever. If you’re finding it harder to get your workout without a class to go to or your running buddy, your first action in finding the joy in movement is to find a deeper purpose for your workout of choice.

I know for many people, exercise is still seen as a means to an end. If your primary goal is to lose 20 pounds by summer, you’re going to have a harder time sticking to your routine in this time of flux. It’s the perfect time to find a stronger WHY and purpose in your workout. McGonigal suggests seeing your workout as a metaphor for something bigger in your life. She says, “Walking is powerful because it’s a full-body experience, and it’s a metaphor. You are literally moving forward, and you’re on a path.”

I’ve been doing multiple one-on-one virtual sessions per day, working out with every client. I’ve had numerous people comment that I must not need to work out right now. Nothing could be further from the truth. I might be able to get what I from an aesthetic perspective out of moving with my clients but that’s only a tiny piece of my need to move my body. I need to run, lift and walk to clear my head, take deep breaths, complete my stress cycle and preserve my overall sanity. Movement is my daily therapy.

I think one of the most powerful WHYs right now is in service to your community. If you’re not a first responder or medical professional, the best way you can help now and going forward is to stay healthy. If you take ownership of managing a chronic illness, using exercise to move better to avoid falls and injury and improving nutrition habits to support good health you are saving resources for the current acute needs of an overwhelmed medical system. If you want to help, stay as healthy as you can.

Even introverts need some connection

I think we can all agree that introverts are handling the pandemic situation better than extroverts. But even introverts are missing out on the feel-good hormone boost that being with others can bring. My training sessions are typically semi-private. Each client has her own workout but she’s working out with one or two other people.  We warm up together and stretch together but the middle is based on her goals. That session of collective action is exactly the right amount for introverts and extroverts alike to experience the joy of connection sparked by moving together.

McGonigal acknowledges that exercise of any kind will provide an endorphin boost. However, she writes, moving with others also releases hormones like dopamine and oxytocin in the brain. These are our bonding hormones, spurring us into a state of “collective joy”. When you are used to the rush of love that you feel after a group run or a Jazzercise class, working out on your own can fall a little flat.

The good news is moving with someone else via video can give you a similar rush. The response to the one-on-one virtual sessions I’m doing with my personal training clients as been tremendous and proves this point. Since we’re a group of two, I have been moving right along with them to provide that since of unity.

The bonus is I get the hormone rush too. I miss connecting with my clients in the gym almost as much as they feel the absence of working out with their teammates. When we connect one-on-one during a virtual personal training session, we both get the benefits of moving in unison. If working with a personal trainer virtually isn’t accessible to you right now, try reconnecting with your favorite workout video. I’m hitting my favorite Dailyburn series, Undefeated, more often these days because kicking and punching with Anja feels like I’m working out with an old friend.

Get creative with accountability

If you’re an Obligor, you already know that external accountability is important to your fitness routine. If you needed the power of an appointment on the calendar and regular nudges from your coach before, your need is probably even greater without your regular routine.

Putting a new routine in place is the first step. If there is a silver lining to the pandemic situation for your fitness journey it is that without a commute and a packed social calendar, there is more time to invest in your health goals.

Make time to create a new routine with extra accountability structures in place. Personal trainings sessions and daily habits practice emails are just a couple of the strategies to provide accountability to my clients. In our new environment, I’ve added extra text check-ins, monitoring of core behaviors via shared spreadsheets and more shout outs in our Facebook group. I love stretching my coaching skills and seeing my clients exploring the new opportunities sheltering in place can bring. Accountability matters now more than ever. Find an accountability partner to workout with via zoom or utilize a coach’s expertise to develop the structure and accountability you need.

If your workout is feeling a little less than (or not happening at all) think about which factor you’re missing. Finding joy in movement will stay with you well past the expiration of shelter in place. No more waiting for things to get back to normal, just focus on what you can do today.

There is a certain amount of irony that April is Stress Awareness Month.  In the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic, when we’re all being asked to shelter in place till at least the end of April, someone has to remind us to be aware of stress.

Many of us are feeling overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, even if we’re not ready to admit it. Change always brings a certain amount of fear. We’re hard-wired to notice a change in the environment, assess it, determine the threat level and be ready for flight or fight. Relaxing is an afterthought; once we see everything return to normal we can be at rest.

Except normal isn’t coming back any time soon. Even once the shelter in place order is lifted, our work and home lives will feel the impact for some time to come. That’s why solid stress management strategies are crucial right now.

Ever since I started to educate myself about the stress cycle (starting with the must-read book Burnout: The Secret To Unlocking The Stress Cycle), I’ve been thinking about stress in a new way. First and foremost, you have to complete the physiological stress cycle. The science is clear on how to do that: MOVE. Exercise of almost any kind is the best way to complete the stress cycle. Movement is the cue your body needs to know that you are taking action and dealing with the stress. You stop moving, your breathing relaxes, your heart rate goes back down and the body says “stress gone”. The alarms go off and you can ease into a relaxation state.

 But what if you can’t exercise.

 There are other ways to complete the cycle. In our physical distancing world, two other options I would recommend are deep breathing and laughter. Both of these things give your body something else to focus on, letting you leave the state of stress and find space for safety.

 Deep breathing can be as simple as box breathing, which can take only few minutes, but I suggest a longer meditation practice if you can. The science of stress and immunity indicates that a specific kind of meditation called Loving Kindness Meditation (or Metta Meditation) can be highly effective at reducing anxiety. If you’ve never tried it before, use this guided meditation.

Laughter is both distracting and physical. Especially if you laugh so hard you cry. Crying is also a way to complete the stress cycle. If you want to laugh out loud read Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson and if you need a good cry read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

Learn to work with the stress.

The reality is certain stressors are not leaving your life. That’s why it’s key to find a way to create a place for you to find calm and experience flow.

Based on the research of psychologist and author, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the definition of a flow experience is this:

…the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.

The flow experience does not happen by accident. While there are some common traits among those who seem to live in a state of flow, the experience is open to anyone. In fact, you’ve probably experienced flow without knowing it when you lose track of time in a cozy mystery or working in the garden. With the disruption of routines, it is even more important now to look for opportunities for flow. A solo run, coloring with an audio book or finally cleaning out the basement can be great opportunities to find flow and switch out of a fight or flight state.

Break in case of emergency

Now is the time to acknowledge that short term coping strategies are occasionally needed. Rewatching Grey’s Anatomy from episode one is not a great long-term strategy for managing the stress cycle or stressors but it’s entirely acceptable in the short time.

A basic self-care kit starts with a simple step – make a happiness list. When was the last time someone asked you what makes you happy? Unless you have an awesome friend who checks on your joy in anticipation of the first day of spring, it’s probably been a while. The first step in creating a self-care kit is understanding what really makes you happy. Your assignment is to make a list of 20 things that make you happy. One rule, only five of those things can involve other people. The rest need to be just about you. Post this list where you can see it and try to do at least one of those things daily.

There are other ways to make sure you have a break in case of emergency self-care kit. Click HERE to learn how to put yours together. It’s also a good time to make sure your self-care basics are being take care of. You can find out more about the four essential steps to a basic self-care routine by clicking HERE.

There is a time and a place for everything.

Now is not the time for diet dogma and random food rules. Not only does your body recognize caloric restriction as a stressor, the desire to re-feed can be stronger when your body is on high alert. Add that to the quick and easy reward feeling of your favorite vegan ice cream and you end up on the emotional eating roller coaster.

One of the central tenants of my Middle Ground Manifesto is that there is a time and a place for everything. A cookie may be the short-term thing you need to relieve the tension of yet another zoom meeting while trying to keep the dog from jumping on your lap. However, numbing with food is not the best long-term coping strategy.

To work with emotional eating, you first need to acknowledge that it is happening and then to have compassion for yourself. Eating the cookie doesn’t make you good or bad, nor is the cookie inherently good or bad. It just is. It happened. And now it’s time say “you’re ok, let’s move on.”