Energy - Physcial Health
I think the question I receive most frequently is "where do you get all of your energy?" The last person to ask me this was Susan via twitter. I promised her I’d write a blog post on the topic and when I sat down to write it got really long so I’m breaking into multiple parts.
Food & Exercise
I think physical health is very important. When I feel tired or sick or physically not up to par it’s very hard to be motivated and have energy. So I take good care of myself. I have an extremely healthy diet, I exercise a bit and I have body work done on occasion (such as acupuncture or massage).
I don’t drink caffeine, I don’t eat much sugar, I don’t eat much white flour, I don’t eat meat except fish and I drink very little alcohol or soda. I eat super healthy for the most part, not just because I know I will feel better, but also because this is what comes naturally to me, I like simple nourishing food and have been doing it for 23 years.
I never feel like I’m depriving myself, so when I want to I’ll go on a cupcake eating binge. Or fritos. Or have a couple beers. Everything in moderation is fine but I find if I eat like this for an extended period of time I don’t feel great and naturally gravitate back to healthier simple food.
I don’t exercise as much as I might like but am managing yoga 3 or 4 times a week and some walking, my goal is 3-5 miles a week at a minimum. I’m not in the awesome shape I was in 5 years ago when I ran a half marathon and hike several 14ers but I still feel good.
My favorite form of exercise is to walk over to a playground at lunchtime and swing until my head clears. Usually it’s full of to-do lists and I don’t need that in my brain all the time. Probably the best way to spend 45 minutes while at work and it’s about 1.5 mile round trip.
Posted by Lisa in: Being an Artist
Tagged: energy, walking, yoga
Jana Van Wyk said,
October 21, 2008 @ 10:27 am
hi lisa, i’m back from NM and the trip was amazing. I’m still processing it mentally and not really ready to blog about it. that will come out in bits I think.
I also have high energy and everyone is always asking me how I do everything. I’m naturally active and outdoorsy so I do get exercise. but I think the more important thing for me is SLEEP and a regular sleep schedule.
also time is my most precious resource so my friends say I am always talking about time - what to do, how to use it, how to prioritize, planning my time
Jana
Schnoobie said,
October 21, 2008 @ 7:24 pm
aha! just as I expected….and it all makes perfect sense..thank you again for responding and putting it out there for us to contemplate.Sleep is always a priority for me but, my diet is pretty crappy (that is I don’t give it much thought) and I know it could be worse or.. better. I do know the first step is to actually consider it as an important aspect of the bigger picture.Thanks again for the inspiration and “food” for thought!!
Anne Libby said,
October 22, 2008 @ 6:10 am
Lisa, I love your blog. Thanks for this post. While I share some of your inclinations, for me hiking is usually crosstown in less-than-ideal hiking “boots”, because I live in the city. So, order in/take out/eat out is sometimes the deal I make with the devil for convenience. I made one small change a little while ago: instead of trying to “eat well”, I decided to make sure that I ate one fresh food item each day. I actually wrote it down as a goal, and started to track it.
For Schnoobie, lots of things shifted around this, it was pretty interesting. Maybe because some days I had to “forage” for the fresh item, I saw other fresh and good things to eat at the store/greenmarket. Maybe the days I didn’t make my goal (hey, it’s gonna happen) I noticed that I felt different. Or some days when I wanted dessert, I thought, I had better eat my fresh item, good thing I have those blueberries! Maybe it was something more subtle: maybe because I wasn’t trying to be perfect, I relaxed around it all.
(And funny, Lisa, I think I must have found you via Christine Kane’s blog, and she posted today on being imperfect: http://christinekane.com/blog/the-imperfect-hello/)
Be well! and thanks for your blogging.
Lisa Call said,
October 22, 2008 @ 9:05 am
Jana - welcome back from NM! Can’t wait to hear about it on your blog. And yes - I definitely agree - sleep is very important. I get at least 7 and aim for 8 hours of sleep a night.
Schnoobie - I’ve been eating this way and exercising for most of my adult life. Even as a teenager I didn’t drink soda/caffeine as our coach (gynmastics) was a stickler for those things. To change one’s diet is a huge undertaking and there is a lot of disinformation out there (I find most of the so called healthy food in grocery stories to be a joke) so don’t beat yourself up over it.
Anne - that sounds like an excellent way to start paying attention to diet. I think fresh food is really the best and try to avoid anything prepackaged or prepared. I eat fruit, salad and cheese and nuts for dinner very often. Thanks for your comment.
I think about Steve Pavlina’s raw diet and am tempted to try it out some time as he swears it gives him tons more energy and focus. I’m not there yet but maybe some day.