We survived our month-long adventure in Palau and are home and ready for summertime in Santa Barbara. Palau was absolutely gorgeous. We had some truly challenging situations to overcome – like that typhoon that hit Burma. It really impacted the weather systems in Palau and we were out on the islands for the worst parts of it. It got scary at times, but we got through it. After that, it was just as we had imagined and hoped – completely beautiful, with some of the most amazing water and scenery in the world. We paddled more than 30 miles, camped along the way, snorkeled, hiked, and even avoided any nasty sunburns. One of the things that happens to me whenever I get away for an extended period of time, is the chance to really reflect, really think things through and re-evaluate. I highly recommend this for everyone. It takes the first few days just to decompress. Then once I’m away for awhile I can look at things in my life more objectively.
So here are the results of my reflection. I am not returning to the “daily grind.” I have been on a journey over the past year to really simplify – to really live my life to the fullest, experiencing and enjoying all that I can. For many years, I was busy-busy all the time - somehow I always feel like being busy makes you important. You could easily have called me a workaholic – always rushing from one thing to the next, always over-extended, always having multiple projects, and ALWAYS having more to do than I had time to do. This would make me "very important" by my old definition. And while I love working in fitness, I have seen that I’ve slipped back into a lot of that routine. I’ve let myself get too busy – not leaving time for the things that really matter to me and for fun everyday.
While on vacation, I got to return to a more relaxed pace, not rushing from one thing to the next, with my day jam-packed full of places to be and things to do. I am determined to live my life more relaxed, even though our society is set up in direct opposition to this idea. For those of you who don’t know, on top of doing fitness I also have another job. That one is growing as well, and needs more of my time. So things will be taking a major turn on the fitness side of my life.
I will no longer be leading the group workouts as I have been. I am also taking a break from all personal training for awhile. I am going to continue to workout – there’s no way I could ever stop that. I will be doing my workouts at various locations and at various times of day, as my schedule permits.
I will post workouts on my website every 2 weeks. They are going to be there for free for any and all who want to use them. They are going to take on a bit of a new look so check them out. Each day will be a total body workout (no longer having days focused on upper and lower body work). You’ll get 5 days worth of workouts to do for 2 weeks. Then every 2 weeks, I’ll post a new set of workouts. This will keep everything fresh, keep your body guessing, and keep you using all sorts of muscle groups. At the same time, since you’ll get to repeat a week, you won’t have to keep the printed workout in front of you as much on the second week. You can also adjust the distances, times, repetitions, or weights in the second week to keep yourself challenged. So hopefully, you have found a workout buddy (or buddies) while I was gone in May. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of that. I do better that way as well and I’m doing what I can to set myself up to succeed that way. I am hooked on working out. If I skip out, I feel it in my body, in my energy level, and in my mind and emotions. For me, being fit and healthy is a top priority, and I hope, with everything in me, that it is for you too. It really has to be, for this to work for you. It’s because I believe in fitness so much, and because I truly do care about all of you and your fitness, that I am going to post these FREE workouts on my webpage, Weekly Online Workouts (WOW). I really do hope you take full advantage of them.
There will be more changes, with more ways to help you get in the best shape of your life for your whole life, so keep an eye on the website. I’ve got so many ideas and plans. The first one is up and running right now, Open Air Blog. I'll be talking about the workouts, challenges, particular exercises or activities, other issues related to health and fitnees. Next will be the addition of Open Air Clubs – groups with similar interests meeting to do things together. A runners club, a walkers club, a bike riders club, and hikers club – getting the idea?
You are in control of your fitness and overall health. It’s up to you. You can wait and see if you have time in a day or week to workout or you can make the time to workout. If you really want to be fit and happy, you will have to make time for what really matters. Find the time that is best for you, find the people that will help you move forward and then just do it. Take control, use my workouts (or whatever works for you), and you can be as fit and healthy and happy as can be.