Something that I never really appreciated in my Rule of Life until the past five years is the important aspect of my physical health and fitness routines. When I hit my forties I knew that I would need to get much more intentional about my health. From knowing that the older we get, the more muscle mass we lose (not to mention slower metabolism), to recognizing symptoms of anxiety and stress starting to manifest in my body, I decided that greater priority needed to be placed on my physical health when it came to my Rule of Life.
Honestly, it feels a little weird to talk about this. I’m not a fitness influencer, or trainer, just a dad in his forties. But I feel like I’ve found what works for me. Of course, different health conditions and fitness levels very, and you should consult your doctor, etc. But here’s what my Rule of Life rhythm for my physical health looks like.
My Exercise Rhythms
Daily
I’ve found that working out at home is the easiest way to make sure that I exercise. No gym membership is needed, but I’ve found that I do need a plan. Years ago my wife and I signed up for an online service called Beachbody on Demand, which is packed full of programs, and they regularly release new ones as well. The programs that I use are typically weight training, often with HIIT. I have dumbbells that I’ve accumulated over the years, a bench, and when I need a heavier weight, I make the investment and add new weights to my collection. In 2022 after about a year of regular weight training, I gained about 12 pounds of muscle. I’ve found that this has dramatically affected my management of stress levels and anxiety. Along with my prayer rhythms, my daily exercise is usually the thing that the rest of my schedule is oriented around. I usually workout late afternoon/evening, and if something gets scheduled in the evening I make sure I schedule my exercise for first thing in the day, or later in the evening. My programs are usually Monday – Friday, leaving the weekends for rest or using them as buffer to adjust my weekly schedule as needed. The point is that it is not looked at as an add-on, but rather one of the most important aspects of my day.
Weekly
When I lived in the mountains years ago, I was a pretty avid hiker. This year, I’ve rekindled a love for hiking, with the help of an app called AllTrails (the app is available in all the app stores). With this app, it’s easy to hop in my truck on my day off and find a trail to hike on the outskirts of town. My goal this year is to hike 200 miles, and I’m on mile 151 right now. Hiking gets me into nature, and enjoying an escape from the craziness of life by being in the wilderness. It never fails, I always come away for hikes having felt like I’ve spent quality time with God as I’ve untangled the frustrations and challenges of life.
Monthly
A couple of years back, I decided to do the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital pushup challenge where I set a goal to do 3,000 pushups in 1 month (over the month of November), while fundraising to support the hospital. I ended up completing the challenge in about 15 days. So, this year I decided to do something special for my monthly rhythm. Since I turned 47 this year, I decided to set a goal where one day each month I would take a day to do 470 pushups. So far so good!
My Notes on Food
What we eat matters. However, I have a condition: I have no smell. I lost it in a car accident back in 1995. What is important to understand is that your smell is actually 80-90% of what you perceive as taste. Your tongue tastes basic tastes. So, this means that not only do I taste 20% of the average person, but I’ve also found that I’m not that affected by cravings. At least, I can talk myself out of them pretty easily. Don’t get me wrong, I like hot chicken, pizza, and ice cream, but it’s pretty easy to settle for a protein shake or salad. One of the hardest parts of eating healthy, though, tends to be what to eat. The good news is that there are some great food prep services out there. Local to us is a service called Gainz on the Go, and they prepare and package meals every week (and they are delicious). We buy those for lunches during the week – five for me, and five for my wife. They print out the Macros (essential nutritional info: calories, fat, carbohydrates, and protein), so that you can add them to your favorite calorie tracking app (I use MyFitnessPal).
Because of my absence of smell, I’ve actually found that I often forget to eat(!). Something that helps me to stay on top of that is setting my protein goal for the day. Everywhere that I researched, stressed that in order to build muscle, you must get enough protein (1 gram to each pound that you weigh). So, my daily protein goal is 170 grams. As long as I stick to foods with a good Macro ratio, I’ve found that if I hit my protein goal, it gets me pretty close to my calorie goal.
Finally, to echo what most out there say: DRINK WATER. In Arizona (at least in the desert), you pretty much don’t go anywhere without water. I’ve found that hydration affects everything, so drink plenty of water.
So, that is my patchwork of what works for me. Each person is different, so my biggest recommendation is to get moving. Walk in the morning, start doing a few pushups each day, or start an exercise program at the gym or at home – make it a ‘fence post’ rhythm in your life.
