Next summer's body

Summer is beginning to wane, the kids are back in school, and I'm getting a little bit more “me time”. I find myself reflecting on the summer body I wanted, the one I had, and the one I want next year.

I started this summer with my first bikini in a decade, a new exercise routine, and an overly ambitious travel schedule. I had some amazing adventures and a lot of fun. 

But my summer body failed me.

Somewhere between roller coaster rides, beach walks, canyon hikes, and scores of hours in car and plane seats… my lower back gave out in a big way. I have to reconcile many wonderful memories with things I missed because I was laid out in pain or limited in mobility. 

What’s more… that physical slowdown led to a cognitive slowdown as well. Everything in my life suffered the consequences. No matter how often I teach about mind-body connections and taking care of our whole selves, I find I have to keep re-learning this lesson. My mental existence is utterly dependent on the health of my physical existence.

We only get one body and we have to live with it for the rest of our lives. 

Physical therapy is a long, slow process of building strength, endurance, and wellness. There may be leaps forward, but there are also setbacks. And no shortcuts to real health. And to be real about it, this middle-aged body needs a lot more work to get back to where I thought it was. This isn’t my 20’s, when I could ramp up my exercise regimen for a few weeks and be ready to climb a mountain. I could do that then because I had a great baseline level of fitness and reasonable routines. The harsh reality of injury recovery and physical therapy is that I wasn’t as fit as I thought I was to start with, so the journey to what I perceive as good fitness is longer than I expected.

What does next summer’s body look like? 

It looks like a body that is active and playful. It is agile and adaptable. It does all the things I ask of it without too much pain as a consequence. Based on this summer’s failure, I know I can't expect to create that summer body in a month… after a year (or decade) of taking it for granted.

So the positive habits start now.

I’m reading/listening to lots of experts on habit formation these days and blending with some neuroscience and psychology. Stay tuned for an update!