Why Springtime is Such a Good Time to Get Fit

As you know, Spring is only three months long. What can you get accomplished, maybe finish, or start, continue, and/or achieve in three months time? Spring is always the best time to clean up:

• clean out closets

• rearrange another room

• clear out the garage

• get rid of excess storage

• fix up the garden

There’s a host of other things we think about in Spring. It’s truly a time of renewal. Plus we truly want to get out of our homes, and go more places, see more friends, and regularly focus on a fitness routine (which you may have given up on in January, and here’s why: our bodies want to be indoors, in the warmth).

Spring comes along and it opens up so many doors. One of those that is very pooular in ‘health circles’ is a ‘spring cleanse’ for the body. Many start with a juice cleanse, or just liquified foods; others take supplemental drinks, use different products, etc, to attempt to achieve a cleaner body. Some cleanses are for:

• clearing the liver

• releasing heavy metals

• intestinal cleanses

• general detoxing

• weight loss

There are many things to choose from in the marketplace. You can start this process by simply beginning to choose to purchase (and eat) foods that are more ‘clean.’ Yes, cleaner eating will begin the detoxifying process. Clearing your body energizes you, especially when you stop eating sugar.That brings us to getting more fit and healthy.

Why is Springtime easier?

First of all, our bodies stop the heavy cravings for sweets, which often involve baked goods. Baked foods have a very ‘concentrated’ and dense energy. Instinctively, our bodies need that extra for energy and keeping ourselves warm during Winter.

When Spring hits, we instinctively begin to eat lighter foods, more fresh foods, and foods cooked stovetop instead of baked in the oven.

With lighter foods, it’s easier to eat less calories, which will help most people with weight loss. This, coupled with an increase in regular exercise helps your body to get fit faster.

Once you get to a level in which you are comfortable with your body, then another step in getting your entire life fit would be to do some ‘emotional’ cleansing. Getting your life ‘fit’ is always a great transformation, and ultimately, it will bring you more happiness. Since Sprintime is a time of renewal and releasing the ‘old,’ it’s a wonderful time to release old emotional blocks too. 

Removing remotional blocks makes our entire life more fit and healthy.

Think of what you can do that is different

Is there something different you can do this Spring? Focus on something that you’ve wanted to change for a long time. What can you ‘clean out?’ Think of it like recycling and/or trash: what are you still not recycling, and what is truly trash? When we recycle, we let things go, to be used in a different way. When it’s trash, it is simply time to dump it back into the earth. It will eventually become something entirely different on it’s own, and in it’s own time. It no longer has use in it’s present form.

How many options can you list?

Is there something you still have not achieved that you’ve wanted to accomplish for a while? How are your fitness and lifestyle goals going for you? Are you where you want to be yet? If January didn’t quite work for you (remember those resolutions?), give Spring a try.

Reboot your body in a way you’ve never done before, and begin getting results. This is always a great first step to getting your life ‘fit.’ (If this is something you want/need, get a hold of me and let’s set an appointment time to chat about it. It could be just a small change can begin the reset process.)

How’s your sleep?

An issue most people have, that can always be more ‘fit,’ is getting adequate sleep. If you still have not been sleeping enough because you just go to bed late, what steps can you take to remedy going to bed earlier? Here are a few things you can do to help with sleep:

Photo Courtesy of coverphoto.net

1) Write your to-do list for the day, and if you don’t get it all done, let it go. Attempting to cram everything into the day, because it is on your list, creates more stress, thereby making it harder to sleep in the first place. Going to bed earlier might not matter if you are thinking about what you did not do and can’t get to sleep because of it;

2) Turn off all electronics (turn off WiFi too!) and let your body decompress without the extra stimulation (yes, the studies have been done on this one. Late night electronic use keeps us awake longer when we finally attempt to fall asleep;

3) If you must eat late because you were not able to get in your last meal earlier, make it a smaller meal. Food in your stomach upon laying down is the wrong way to get it digested;

4) If you go to bed angry, upset, or frustrated because you were not able to resolve a conflict you had earlier, fix it the next day. You will have a hard time getting to sleep every night that you go to bed with conflict. Yes, it takes courage to speak up. For some of us this is easier than for others. However, for most, it is not easy…ever. Once you do this (speak to the person/s involved), you will feel so much stronger, and the stress of the situation will be gone.

If you don’t do something about your sleep, who will?

This is one of those situations where ‘talking about it with your friends’ isn’t really going to resolve it. They can, however, have ideas that might lead you to find the help you need. This is part of self-care is a great way to begin getting your life more ‘fit.’

Think of anything else that might be getting in the way of restful sleep. If you chronically wake up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep, see a specialist. There are alternate ways of dealing with it, thus, often avoiding medications. Sometimes one simple change can make a huge difference.

In the end, nobody is more responsible than you are

You’re responsible for your state of well-being. Having a roomful or closetful of ‘stuff’ that you no longer use (and most probably no longer need) can create stress that you are not even aware is affecting you. It is. Not getting enough sleep is affecting you. What else is there that you need/want to change? Take one step in the direction to resolve it. Taking care of ourselves, truly, is more than what we eat and the exercise we get. Our emotional bodies are usually the most neglected. And guess where most of our issues come from…(yep, right answer: our emotions).

See what you can do in the Spring to make a change that you no longer want/need, and finally get your body and your life fit. Write it down to help make it more solid. You’ll be more accountable to yourself when you actually see it in written form. Post it somewhere so you can see it every day. This will make a huge difference in your actually getting it accomplished. Be accountable to yourself. Create the change you want to see.

Clara E Minor
Master Trainer/Instructor
Minorsan Self-Defense & Fitness
(See Contact Page to send her a message)