where women celebrate their ageless authenticity

Many Ways to Motivate You For Movement

The Alphabet Adventures With Nancy Hubbell Fournier (pronounced Forn yay)

Letter M — Crash Course in Motion

“A body in motion stays in motion,” said Sir Isaac Newton. Did you know he also said, “a body that crashes on a ski slope doesn’t move very much”?

Well, I can attest it’s true.  On a flight to Colorado, I wrote the first draft of this column. On the way back, I had full braces on both legs, crutches, and a carry-on filled with mega-Motrin and ice packs.

So, what happened? I’ll give you the short story (ok, short-ish) …I was escorting a friend to a ski resort’s urgent care center because he was having trouble breathing. I was happy to help him and excited to use it as an excuse to get off the mountain because I don’t really even LIKE skiing. We stopped midway for him to rest, started moving again and I got off balance, flipped a 180 so I was pointing uphill, crossed my skis behind me (I guess) and fell backwards, ripping my knees apart. I was BARELY MOVING and managed to tear both MCLs and rupture my left ACL.

I skied down the hill, checked into the urgent care for myself, and vowed to heal as quickly as I could.

Here I am, five weeks later. I’ve had my ACL surgery (the MCLs have to heal on their own) and am flying through PT. Not to brag (ok, to shamelessly brag), my physical therapist says I am recovering faster than anyone she’s seen, except for one woman who was in her 20s!

  Now comes my dilemma.  I am following the PT orders and that’s my priority. But I also have an appointment with Dr. Bully on my calendar (cue the ominous “Duh duh da duh” music).

Dr. Bully is an endocrinologist whom I see about my thyroid. The first time I saw him I explained that I didn’t focus on my weight and was seeking to be “healthy”.  Dr. Bully looked me in the eye and said, “you’re overweight and need to get to a better BMI.” Then he prescribed medication to help curb my appetite.

I lasted one day. It was a mild antidepressant, but I was a zombie, and my family kept asking, “What’s wrong with you?” I dropped the medicine and looked for new options.

For a while, I subscribed to an online exercise and nutrition program. I learned a lot about macros, intermittent fasting and the value of weight training, but eventually tired of the online video workouts and counting macros. I settled on a mostly healthy diet (chocolate is a food group, isn’t it?), lots of tennis, and frequent walks or hikes.

Fast forward to now. It’s been two years, and a check-up appointment with Dr. Bully is looming. I’ve kept much of the weight off, but I’m not at an ideal BMI. Of course, finding a new doctor is an option, but that’s such a hassle, I’d rather try to make this one work, if I can.

I plan to explain about my accident and that I’m following my PT’s direction. Getting back to healthy is an amazing motivator for me.  But then I need to keep the momentum going. Before I had my accident, I was curious how other people found motivation for movement, so I asked my friends for advice.

• Tell others your goals and ask them to hold you accountable
• Set small goals that lead to bigger goals
• Visualize how good you’ll feel/look when you achieve your goals
• Track with apps
• Do something you enjoy
• Reward yourself with Gucci heels
• Stop giving any fu@ks and just take care of yourself

One friend pointed out that if you make something a habit then you don’t need motivation and suggested reading “Atomic Habits.” I’m sure it’s a great book and perhaps I’ll add it to my ever-growing TBR pile. In the meantime, can a girl just wanna have fun AND meet her goals?

I lobbed that question at Ralph Rajs, one of those Energizer bunny types, who is a motivational coach and has 35 years of experience in the fitness industry. One of the things he most enjoys in his career is creating programs to get people engaged to reach athletic goals they didn’t think possible.

Rajs describes three key ways people find motivation:

• Competition: Whether it’s against the clock, others, or past performances. Sometimes it just feels good to win!

 

• Achievement: Setting a goal and completing it, especially if you’re part of a group, like a Fun Run or a Bike-A-Thon (Ralph used an Ironman Triathlon as his example of a group achievement. Dude…are you trying to kill me?????)

 

• Social Connection: The most common motivator. You can’t leave your friend hanging on your Saturday morning walk. Or maybe it’s that yoga class with the fun gals in it. But exercising to connect with others keeps the spirits and the activity levels high.

Which works best for you? Once you’ve identified what lights your fire, look for ways to build that into your exercise routine.  Here are some more suggestions from Intentfully Fit founder Lisa Carey with her Intentful 5 Fitness Video for women 50+.

For me, I find that I want competition, achievement and social connection. When I get back to playing on my two tennis teams, all the boxes will be checked. But until then, I’ll focus more on clean eating and doing my knee exercises, so I’ll be ready to face Dr. Bully. And if all else fails, I’ll find a nicer doctor.

But I have found a silver lining in my accident. I now have an excuse to NEVER SKI AGAIN! See you at the spaaaahhhhh!

Fourn-yay: Figuring out what motivates you for movement will help you identify ways to expand and increase your body movement in meaningful ways.

Fourn-nay: I would rate crashing on a ski slope 0/10.

Other M activities: Museums, martial arts, mineral springs, mud baths, movies, matinees.

Got something fun on your bucket list I should try? We’d love to hear your suggestions at intentfullyfit@gmail.com