Stay Consistent on Messy Days | 1 Mile Power Walk | 68

You know those days when your plans to work out fall apart? (Or your plans for anything, really). This 1-mile power walk is a great podcast to walk to, and it's all about having a backup plan so one messy day does not turn into a full “well, I guess I live on crackers now” situation.

This is a guided walking workout you can do outside or at home on a treadmill or walking pad. Lace up your shoes, and let’s get a brisk 1 mile and about 2,000 steps in together, complete with background walking music.

How to stay consistent with exercise when you’re busy
Stop waiting for the perfect day or the perfect time, because it doesn't exist. Staying consistent means ditching the "all or nothing" mindset. Something is always better than nothing.

What is a realistic exercise backup plan?
Find what actually works for your real life and schedule... not someone else's. If 5:00 AM workouts aren’t your thing, don't make yourself do them. Your backup plan should be a no-fuss, indoor or outdoor walk that you can trigger the moment your calendar blows up, whether you are stepping outside or walking inside on a walking pad or treadmill.

Your body, your life, your schedule
Some people "eat the frog" first, some people take their "reward" first. (Spoiler: I like my reward first). Don't force yourself to live someone else's schedule. 

We also walk and talk about: 

• How to stop waiting for the perfect conditions to exercise
• Are you an Amy or a Captain Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine? Or a Helen?
• Walking tours in Europe and throwing out the standard productivity advice
• The reality of trying to do crunches while nursing a baby (motherhood is... different)

If your schedule just went totally awry but you still want to fit in some movement, hit play and come for a walk.

Tap Follow so the next walking podcast episode is waiting for you in your feed.

Share your walk at @yourwalkingpodcast on Instagram, Facebook or Threads.

Transcript

0:03

This is a guided walk that you could do outside or inside on a treadmill or walking pad. You can also march in place or dance, doesn't matter what you're doing as long as you're moving. You're going to move to the beat, move to the music. There may or may not be a harder push depending on what we feel like when we get there. So I may sneak it up on you. Shh, don't tell anyone. If you're walking outside, there'll be a bell at the halfway point in case you want to turn around. And this is the Walking and Talking with Helen podcast. One of my aunts told me when I was about two years old and she was trying to help me, I kept saying, I do myself, I do myself. Because I wanted to do everything myself and I was marching to the beat of my own drum. And many, many, many, many years later, I still am. I like to do my own thing. And if I see a plan, I immediately want to break that plan because I don't like rules and I don't like rigid schedules. And nobody's going to tell me what to do because "we're not going to take it." And then some people are the opposite of me and they really love plans. If you've watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Amy and Captain Holt are the biggest fans of plans you've ever seen. And I wish I was more like that. But if you're more like me, well, today's walk, we're going to talk about how to keep moving and walking with a plan that fits your real life, not the Amy that you want to be. Because I am no Amy. Sometimes we think too much in black and white and black and white is all or nothing. But life is gray, but not 50 shades of gray. Because that would be weird. Life is full of gray areas and there's a lot more flexibility in there. Pick up a little bit of pace now. Steady. Somewhat comfortable. Walk to the beat. Shoulders are down away from your ears. Your jaw is loose. Hands are relaxed. And if you feel like getting a little funky, you get a little funky. I don't know if you've heard the phrase eat the frog, but it's not about eating the frog. Thank goodness because I'm a vegetarian, so I wouldn't eat frogs anyway. Eating the frog is doing the hard thing first. And for a lot of people that works, they do the hard thing, and then later in the day, they get the reward and they do the thing that they like better or the more fun thing. But I have ADHD. So for me, and if you have ADHD, you can probably relate, is that if I know I have something coming up later in the day, I start to fret. And then I can't focus. And, like, what time is it? Every five minutes I keep checking my clock and then I can't really be in the moment and get the thing done that I need to do. So I've had to flip it for me and my schedule in my life in order for me to get the thing done and still have some fun at the same time. When I was on my travel adventures and living life as a digital nomad in different places around the world, I would do the opposite of eat the frog. So in the mornings, I would do a walking tour, do some exploring, walking around different cities. This was mostly in Europe or the Balkans. And I love seeing that history firsthand. You know, when I was going to school, history was really boring. But when you see it and you're there and you breathe it and you live it, it's really amazing. And what I love about the walking tours is I learned so much while getting my steps in. So it's like totally free exercise. I remember one time I was in Sofia, I stood in this architectural complex. They had discovered these Roman ruins while they were building the subway there. And they had this big glass dome over the top. It was really cool. And so I was there with the Roman ruins. And then there were old churches nearby. And then up through that glass window, that humongous window, I could see the massive communist era government buildings through that ceiling. It was like that perfect spot where you could see everything. And that's what made it so cool. And walking tours, you know, they didn't make it feel like I was working. I would walk for three or four hours sometimes. Then I would get lunch out. And I would grab some groceries. I'd go back to my Airbnb. And then I'd work in the afternoon and evenings. That's different than from what most people tell you to do. But that's what worked for me. And I had to find a way to make movement work into my life when I was traveling. Okay, pick up a little bit of pace. It's going to be a brisk wake-up speed. Going to swing those arms. If you're marching indoors, you can add some arms even harder. Those walking tours gave me the exercise up front. And so I moved first instead of waiting for motivation. And that's really the fastest way to change how you feel. I was so happy just because I got my touristy thing done. And I got my movement done. And then I was ready to put in a full day's work in the afternoon and evening. Stay with that pace. Roll through the feet. You're going to be a little bit uncomfortable. When I was teaching spin classes, it was different because the schedule was built for me already and I had to be at the gym at certain days and certain times. I didn't have a choice, which was awesome because I got paid to show up and see my friends and teach and go home, but that structure made it really, really easy to get my movement in. But then once I stopped teaching, I had to build my own plan and I'm going to tell you that did not go very well because again, I'm not a planner. Most people make a plan that works for that perfect day. The problem is the perfect days are not very common. At least I don't have a lot of perfect days. Take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Follow the music. If you have a real life with demands like toddlers and work and pets and, you know, other things, there is no way that you can 100% have a perfect day with a perfect schedule. And one missed day is life. It's not a big deal, but two in a row can make those habits that you created start to die. And that's what the gap backup plan is for. It's not for the perfect days. When my daughter was a baby, I was trying to exercise and I was getting frustrated because I didn't have a babysitter. And so I was on the floor and I was trying to do abs and she crawled over and of course she wanted a nurse because I was like the dairy queen. So I let her nurse and I would do my crunches and I crunched up and she would nurse and I crunched down and she was still nursing and she was attached the whole time during those crunches. But it was really hard for me to try to focus, obviously, on exercise when I was doing that. So eventually I just stopped exercising completely. And that's what happens when you don't have a backup plan. I kept waiting for that perfect time. Spoiler, there is no perfect time. And I finally learned that something is always better than nothing. Stay with that pace. Strong and steady. Shake out your hands. Relax them a little bit. Sometimes we get annoyed because life gets in the way. You know, we have these plans. We're going to work out. We're going to go to the gym. We're going to go for a long walk. And things happen. Most of the time. For me, it's because I sleep in a little longer than I intend to because I don't sleep well. And then I get up, I'm running around. And then I'm like, oh no, I don't have time because I have to get to work. You know, they don't, they no longer pay me to exercise. That's why some people work out in the mornings because that way they've got it over with and then the whole rest of their day, nothing is going to happen that's going to stop them from exercising. I think we're going to throw in a quick little interval. Get ready. 60 seconds and go. Pick up that pace now. It's strong. It's steady. Feel that push. Use those arms. If you're on a walking pad or treadmill and you have an incline, you can make it a little bit higher. Keep your breathing going. Feel that push. We've got 20 more seconds. Five seconds. And slow it just a little bit. Still a brisk pace, but not as fast as we were going. Recover your breathing. Really fill up those lungs. Shall we go once more? Let's do it. Here we go. Feel that push. Strong and capable. Yes, I'm one of those weirdos who actually likes to exercise, even though I don't do enough of it. Use your arms. Feel how strong your legs are. Okay, five more seconds. And slow it back down a little bit. Still working, but we're not in the super brisk push. So what helps me when I've got a lot going on and I just feel like, you know, I can't stick with my plan or stick with any kind of plan is the backup plan. The backup plan is always the key. So plan A is your ideal day. Never happens. I've never seen an ideal day. Plan B is the real day. Plan B exists. So one change doesn't wipe out that whole plan. Because it's so easy to just say, oh, I didn't get my workout in. I'm not going to do anything. And I'm just going to eat all these crackers. Because, you know, I love crackers. Yeah. Plan B is maybe 10 minutes of some exercise, and the same trigger every day, like after dinner, after work, before your shower, and you count that as the day's win, because you did something. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you moved. Stay with that pace. Like one time I was going to take a two-hour spin class, and I was really looking forward to it, because it was fun, and all my friends were going to be there, which was a really cool community environment. And then they wanted to go out for my ex-mother-in-law's birthday. It was a birthday dinner. And first I was really, really disappointed, because I wanted to go. I wanted to, not that I wanted to spin for two hours, but you know, the group of people really made it worth going to class, and so I was disappointed. I knew I needed to go to my mother-in-law's birthday dinner, because that's what you do, and I wanted to celebrate with her. So I did a quick walk, some short movement before the dinner, and I didn't beat myself up over not going to the class, because anything, remember something, anything, is better than nothing. Follow the music. We're doing a little tropical flair. Some things that you can do for your plan B. It could be a plan B walk. Could be a 10-minute loop, a parking lot loop. Walk around the block, and walk around the block tonight. Or plan B at home, you could do modified push-ups, or full push-ups if you're strong. You can do squats, abs, or some mobility work. There's something magical about doing something, because then you have a whole different outlook in your head. It's like when you don't do anything, you feel stagnant, but even if you do 10 minutes of something, you just feel like a different person, like the person who does the thing. Or do a really tiny plan B. You can march around the house. You can push your arms above your head for five minutes. Or skip from room to room for five minutes. Still counts. Because when you're doing that, you're keeping your movement habit warm. You're not letting it completely cool. Stay with that pace. Getting your movement in today, though. Nice and strong. Think of what your backup plan could be. You can even write it down. I love sticky notes. Put on a sticky note and put it somewhere. Just remind yourself, if I don't get to the gym today, I'm just going to do a 10-minute walk. Now slow your pace a little bit. We're not cooling down, but we're just recovering. Take a deep breath in through your nose. And exhale through your mouth. Exhale all that stair ale out. All that stale air out. I think I said stair ale. We're not drinking ale right now, are we? Roll those shoulders backwards. Big rolls. Big rolls. Now roll them forward. Big rolls. If you're like me, your shoulders get tight. So you want to roll them whenever you remember. And if you have really tight traps in the back, you can take one of those little massage balls and put it against the wall and lean into it with your traps right there below your shoulders, and you can roll back and forth. Let your pace drop naturally. Loosen your hands. Shake them out. Relax your tongue. Soften your face. No walking bitch face. Slow it down a little bit more. So think about what works for your brain. Are you an Amy or are you a Helen? And are you the reward first? Or are you the do the hard thing first? The eat the frog. And then you have your backup plan day. Plan B. That way you'll keep moving. You won't get as frustrated. And slow it down again a little bit more now. And when you're done, just get a little quick stretch in if you can. Grab some water. And tap follow on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. So the next walk is waiting for you. And I'll see you next time.