Episode Transcript
How you shift from one part of your day to the next—morning to work,
work to evening, evening to rest—determines your ability to stay
consistent with movement and nutrition. If you’re always reacting,
rushing, or feeling drained, it's no wonder exercise and mindful eating
fall by the wayside. But what if you could take control of these moments
and make them work for you instead of against you?
Hey everyone! Welcome to The Arm Coach podcast, episode 54!
We're going to talk today about something that comes up often in
my work with my private clients. A lot of them start off by saying
that, well when they get home from a hard day, running errands or
being at work or taking care of the kids, that it's hard for them to
transition into the evening while staying consistent with their
movement and nutrition. Some of them say that it's hard for them
to transition from waking up and getting through the morning to
making time for exercise and fueling their body properly before
heading to work or school. So what I want to think about with you
today is that your day is made up of lots of different parts,
different sections. And part of getting through your day
successfully is managing the periods that lead you from one
section to another. I like to think of these periods in between the
different parts as transitions. Where you going from one
circumstance to another, and that means that you're also going
from thinking in one way to thinking in another way. And it also
might mean that you're going to go from feeling a certain way, to
feeling a different way as you enter another part of your day.
Maybe it's another role that you're playing in your day. And we
kind of need a chance to get caught up and get our thoughts and
our actions in alignment, so that we don't just madly rush about,
and suddenly show up, and we have to switch gears really
quickly. Because what happens then is it takes a toll on us. And it
takes a toll on your ability to stay focused and to consistently work
towards eating the way that you choose to eat and moving your
body in the way you choose. So instead of reacting in the
moment, you're peacefully going from one part of your day to
another. Transitions. So we're going to talk about how you might
manage them and why it's important to do them.
So self management means, I want you to look at those different
sections of your day. This is not about your to do list and your
productivity. It's more how everything you do, takes its toll. So let's
paint a picture of a woman or a man who doesn't really pay
attention to the different parts of their day. You might wake up in
the morning, maybe there's nothing in the house available to eat.
Perhaps what you wanted to wear for the day isn't ready for you,
maybe the laundry is not done. So maybe you get dressed in
something that doesn't feel good, you rush to work. No breakfast.
What happens then is that you're transitioning from sleep to the
first part of your day. And guess what. You are already behind.
You're already stressed, and you're already thinking about how
you're going to get through the day. Another example, if you don't
work on your transition times, is if you think about what an end of
the day might be like for you, where you're tired from a full day of
whatever your work in the world is, and you're hungry, and you
come home and you don't have a plan for the evening. And I don't
mean a plan for getting things done, but just a plan for how you
want to be. What kind of person do you want to be in this
evening? I know that may sound like a strange question, but I
want you to be more intentional about how you're going to spend
your time. So if you get home and you just sit on the couch and
watch the news, you're adding more stress, you're grabbing some
leftover food, maybe you're even falling asleep on the couch.
That's your transition from your long day, to the end of your day.
Not the best picture. Now how does this relate to toning your
arms? When you were rushing from one part of the day to another
part of the day, you don't really have time to decide how you want
it to go, and how you want to show up. So what happens then is
you just grab what you can. You reach the end of your day of
juggling and you feel depleted. And you look back, and it's hard to
really understand what happened. You may have started the day
with plans, but didn't follow through, didn't think it through. So
you're uncomfortable. When this happens, when you're
uncomfortable, it doesn't have to be a real strong, negative
emotion like angry or sad or worried or depressed. Just
uncomfortable with rushing from parts of the day to the next part
of the day to the next part of the day. If you're uncomfortable, this
is when you may find yourself reaching for food, your phone or
maybe TV as a way to cope, distract, or seek comfort. And maybe
it won't be during the day. Lots of people save it up for when they
transition into the evening. So you may set your goals on a
Sunday, but suddenly it becomes Wednesday and nothing's
different. You're just going from part to part to part of what you do.
And you're frustrated. And then you're going to seek more
comfort. If you're in reaction mode, your life goes in whatever
direction it's going by default. You're not creating the life that you
want. You're just trying to keep up. And it's like, running after a
moving train. So this is not your goal.
When you're trying to accomplish something like toned arms or
pay attention to yourself, or improve the way you eat, and install
some basic self care habits, then flitting from thing to thing to
thing that calls your name, is going to keep you where you are.
And it's also going to keep you spinning in a circle, never really
reaching, what you hope for. And it may feel like you're on that
moving train. But maybe you got on the wrong train, and it's
taking you in the wrong direction. So as you move from one part
of your day to another, each transition is a chance for you to wake
up and take back control. To check in and make sure that you're
on the right train, and that it's heading in the right direction.
So let's start thinking about what this would look like. Think about
your morning, and how you want to transition from waking up, to
being in charge of yourself. Able to stick to whatever your plans
are. And by in charge, I do not mean rigid control, I just mean that
you're running the show. You know what you want to do, and
importantly, you know how you want to feel as you're doing it. And
that is not frazzled by life. Because life does throw us curveballs.
Life switches our plans all the time. But you can be peaceful, even
in a chaotic situation. And that's our goal here, for you to be
peaceful in the transitions of the different parts of your day, so that
you can stick to your plans and take care of yourself, and eat and
move just as you plan, just as you thought you would. So imagine
that you wake up, and in this scenario, you have like a routine that
allows you to transition into your morning. This is not a picture of
a day at a spa. This could actually be an imagination of how it
could be for you at home. Maybe you might meditate for just five
minutes. Maybe you’re in bed and you stretch, or you get on the
floor and you stretch. And then you have coffee or tea, and you
glance at your list for the day. And you get ready and you eat, and
you calmly imagine yourself going through your day. So how do
you want to feel? Take two or three words and use them to move
from waking up and getting ready, to starting the section of your
day that's the bulk of your day. For some it's work. For some it’s
school. For some it's childcare. Imagine what you'll encounter. I
want you to think ahead. Imagine yourself staying, peaceful. One
of my words is always peaceful, it may not be yours, but if I had to
pick two words that I always aim for, it's peaceful and productive. I
want to get things done, but I don't want to feel frazzled and
harried and rushed and miss my life. So think of what your words
are. You are controlling and guiding your life. You are creating a
beautiful transition from one stage to another.
Now let's take a look at the next section of your day. Maybe you're
at work, or you're just out and about in the world, whatever you're
doing, or you're in the home, maybe you’re a student. Whatever
you do in the bulk of the day is your work. Things are waiting for
you. Do you have a plan? How do you want this part of your day
to go? How do you want to feel? How do you want to show up?
How can you do what you need to do for others and fulfill your
chosen obligations, but still take care of your own needs?
Consider ahead of time planning a deliberate break, where you
move your body, maybe you do a few triceps dips on your chair.
Where you have a snack, some protein. Where you might read a
little article in the paper or online and feed your mind. Where you
get up and walk down the hall at least and move. Get some water.
Stretch. Stand up, wake yourself up. Transition naturally into a
break that your body and mind need.
Next we come into a transition for most of us, is lunch, a natural
break that we all take. Time to check in again. How are you?
What are you feeling? Are you hungry? Are you giving yourself
what you need? Are you showing up the way you wanted to this
past morning? What needs adjustment for the rest of the day?
See what I'm doing. I'm helping show you how to transition from
one part of your day, deliberately, into the next, instead of just
being pulled along or shoved along.
Now we go into the rest of the afternoon. Your job, your goal, is to
go into the rest of the bulk of your day, deliberately. Consciously
knowing and deciding what you want. Not just what's on your list,
but more importantly, who you want to be as you do your work. I
don't mean fantasy land, like a child's game, I just mean a little bit
of visualizing you as your best self, playing the role of you, in your
real life. If things are not going as planned, take a brief break and
do a mental reboot. Take a look at your thoughts, look at your
feelings. Challenge what's going on in your head. Get off
autopilot. Now you're coming home, it's the end of your day.
Another transition. So physically, your body might be at a low
place. Your mind might too. You might be tired. Maybe you're
hungry. Your blood sugar might be low. Your energy hormones are
low. Time to transition again. Now whether you live alone or with
family or a partner, it's time now to decide how you want your
evening to go. I would guess that you may not even think about
how you want things to go. You might just drag yourself through
the different points, the different parts of your day. The purpose of
this coaching session is for you to entertain the possibility of
consciously deciding how you want the whole day to go, by
breaking it into these parts.
So, think about creating a routine for when you leave work. Think
about setting things up so the best version of your work is waiting,
for the best version of you the next day. Get a little bit organized.
Imagine what you want to see when you come back to work in the
morning. And working backwards, what would you like to find
when you return home tonight? How can you think ahead in the
morning, or even the night before, and set things up so that you're
walking into a warm, nourishing environment after work. And one
strategy for doing this is to keep working backwards. When you
want something, ask ‘what needs to happen right before that’?
And what needs to happen right before that? And keep doing it
until you have things laid out. Can you see that if you deliberately
thought about your day, and thought about the different parts, and
thought about transitioning from part to part, and decide how you
want to feel in each part, how much easier it would be to stay
present with yourself and your body, and your hunger, and be
more conscious of what you're doing.
So now you're home and you're going to switch gears again.
Change clothes, maybe a shower, maybe a light snack, small
snack, and envision the rest of the evening. How do you want to
show up, even if it's just you? What feeling do you want to have in
the evening? And what would you need to think to feel that?
Remember, circumstance, leads to your thought, leads to your
feeling, leads to your action, and that gives you your results. How
do you want your evening to go? What would you have to do?
How would you have to feel? And what would you have to think?
This is doable. But you need the time to think about it ahead, and
it will become very natural. You're going to be switching gears in
the evening from being productive, to just being. And that's okay. I
want you to draw a line around your downtime, and your
productive time. Even if you think you still have a lot to do. We’ll
always have a lot to do as long as we're on this earth. And to do
lists are meant to capture that. We are not meant to get to the end
of our to do list each day. The to do list is just like holding a place
for things that we want to remember. When you get to this last
transition of being home in the evening, you need time and space
to reserve for rest and for pleasure, and for reflection. So again,
ask yourself again. Who do you want to be in the evening? And
what would she think and feel? How would your version of your
best self do dinner, and take care of herself? Listen to your body's
signals, check in, what's going on. Are you hungry? What do you
need, what do you want? What pleasure can you add into your
evening, even if it's small? And for dinner, I want you to choose
your food consciously. And once you get in the habit of
consciously entering each different part of your day and evening,
you'll also get in the habit of preparing for each part. So
eventually, you’ll be thinking and planning backwards, like we just
talked about. And you'll be ready. You'll have food. You may even
have partially prepped food. Your evenings will be easier.
And now I want you to ease into the night. Are you tired? What do
you need? Check in and get to know when to call it a day. And go
to bed. Once you're more satisfied with different parts of your day,
you won't have that fear of missing out in the evening, which can
make you stay up later than you should, watching TV or on the
computer. I want you to consciously choose to give yourself
enough sleep. Ease into a sleep routine instead of crashing on
the couch in front of the television. Consciously choose to give
yourself a clean, comfortable bed with something cozy to wear.
Set your alarm and think about what you're grateful for, for this
past day. Don't review your to do list. Don't review what you didn't
do. I want you to be in charge of your mind and cultivate peace.
Peace is a feeling, and you're in charge of creating your feelings.
So clean up your bedtime thoughts, so that you can create peace.
Now if something's bothering you, it might be good to get it out.
Get it out of your mind onto paper. Or make a quick little recording
on your phone. Think of it as a download of your mind. Because
when something is out of your mind, on paper or in an audio form,
you can deal with it so much more objectively than when it's a
problem swirling around in your head that you're trying to solve. If
you're struggling with nighttime distractions, they can throw off
your consistency. If you’re staying up too late, scrolling or
watching TV, it affects your energy the next day. And when you
wake up exhausted, it’s even harder to stick to your routine. So
create a nighttime transition that supports your movement and
nutrition goals. Stretch before bed. Set out your workout clothes
for the morning. Plan your meals for the next day. Take a moment
to visualize yourself following through. You are in charge. You
need to create all these different sections of your day and your
week. And ultimately, your life. If not, you know the results.
Now, this coaching session, related to being peaceful and in
charge enough during the day to make choices. Conscious
choices at all points of your day. It’s also related to creating the
mental peace and space you need to follow through on what
you're trying to do. We talked about dealing with all the different
transitions you go through in your day, and going into them
consciously. So you create a nice flow. And that flow should be
heading in the direction that you wish.
Here's what I would like you to focus on. For next week, until we
meet again next Tuesday, observe how your week goes. No
judgments. Just observe yourself going from morning to evening.
Did you have a plan? Did you follow your plan? Why or why not?
Did you feel swept away by circumstances? And did you feel out
of control? Stand back and look at the whole big picture of your
days, and your week, start thinking about what's missing. And
what needs to be eliminated. Don't worry about doing it all at
once. You're only going to do one little piece at a time. You're
going to look at your whole days, and then see them as distinct
sections with transition periods in between. And these transition
periods are when you will reboot and get back on track. So you
have many points during the day, to keep checking in and getting
back on track. So first notice where you are and what you truly
want, and then we can work together on breaking that gap into
tiny steps. Keep me posted on your progress, and let me know
what your sticking points are. This is the work that I do, and if you
ever want more personalized help with creating your own
supportive day, check out my program Arms By Krisitne where
you learn exactly what went wrong in the past when you try to
solve your arm and weight issues, so that you do not keep
repeating the same mistakes. I hope to see you back next week.
