ALL THE THINGS!!! Do ALL THE THINGS!!!!!!
Anyone ever feel like this is the message we receive?
When I coached for Girls on the Run (GOTR is SO MUCH FUN!), I remember a lesson we did about the messages we receive externally and how we internalize them. These were 3rd-5th grade girls, and some of the relevant messages at that time (2012ish) were from magazines, or at least that’s the focus of what we did. “Back in the day” in 2012, most of those girls didn’t even have cell phones – oh, how times have changed already in just six years! But I digress.
So we spent some time discussing the messages we receive, whether we really have to accept them at “face value,” (answer: we don’t), and also talking about how sometimes we just have to limit and put boundaries on the messages we even let into our brain’s path. It’s a powerful thing to do. (And one of the best things in the world to see a girl’s face light up in realization that she has some control of her life!)
So I was just contemplating where my “messages” come from. A lot of them are from Facebook, as many of you can relate. And I’m totally good with taking charge of my little dumb phone and scrolling right past things that I know aren’t good for my brain – panic about bad situations (pray and scroll), complaining about EVERYTHING (I just keep on scrolling and maybe mutter a prayer about HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE, PEOPLE, HA!), etc. So I feel pretty good about my ability and decision to *somewhat* limit those negative themes that like to implant themselves into my happy little brain.
Buuuuuuuuut. One of the things that I don’t have as much control over (I did ask and they said NO, I can’t be the President of the Internets) is how much information is just there. Out there. In Cyberspace. It kind of freaks me out. Even when we limit how much information we take in, there are still so many OPTIONs.
I literally wasted 17 years of my life finding recipes on Pinterest, you guys. I’m not kidding. So I’m an expert on this topic. You can waste 3 years searching for THE BEST cafeteria soup. (I loved that hamburger vegetable soup we used to get in the cafeteria – anyone else?! And Pinterest has 417 versions. I made them all. They all taste the same.) Or you can just pick ONE, try it, write it down, and use it again next time. Because it was PRETTY DANG GOOD.
So that’s one way I have limited the amount of information flying at my poor, little, happy brain. I pick Just One Thing (JOT!), and I repeat it. For now, even though there are 65,429 versions of chicken jalapeno popper soup on the Internets, I chose ONE. JOT. And I make it repeatedly, looking at my trusty (crusty?) index card. Why? Because I have to limit information. I can NOT, and I do NOT want to do, ALL THE THINGS.
Just One Thing also works well in how I approach nutrition. If you tend to follow an “all or nothing” mentality, like me (hint: we’re likely being perfectionists, and it’s a choice! We will discuss that another day), your “all” consists of contemplating every available option, every improvement that can and, by all rights, should be made, and then falling into a sobbing heap on the floor, overwhelmed and choosing to eat chocolate instead. That’s our “nothing.” We’ll try tomorrow, right? NO. We will choose Just One Thing – JOT FTW!!!
For me, recently, that’s focusing on drinking more water than coffee. Because 1) I’m a nursing mom, I’m naturally hyper enough, and I don’t need to pass a few lattes a day onto my energetic little lady! And 2) dehydration is my gateway drug into being a complete DB. It’s true. Ask my husband. Once I am foggy-brained from not drinking enough water, then the impulsive, reactionary behavior begins – namely not taking good care of myself and then struggling to meet the demands of my busy life. So I drinks the water, and I keeps away the dumbs.
(Can you tell I’ve already had enough coffee today? Drinking water now.)
So if you struggle with nutrition, pick one thing. One of the things I do with nutrition clients is we look at your day from an outsider’s view, find one “hole” (do you accidentally go 5 hours after a meal without eating? That’s a hole. That’s a recipe for the dumbs and being hangry, my friend. That’s your JOT.) Now make a plan. So that’d be packing a snack. How about a Greek yogurt and a few almonds? Or some carrots and hummus? Pick something small. Do it for two weeks. Don’t get all funny and creative on me and try 3 different snacks a week, you sly fox. Just one or two. Keep it simple.
This, my friends, is why I love CrossFit, and why, eight years into it, I still look forward to every day. (Filthy 50 today, not so much.) But the beautiful thing is this: I don’t have to make a Pinterest board of my upper body, lower body, best butt shaping, best ab workout, and beach body days. I just show up and do the work. I’ll be coached, I’ll have fun, and I’ll make progress. I’ll look better, feel better, and just act like a nicer human. That’s good enough for me. Once I’ve mastered that, I can always default to my “complicate everything” side that itches to get out, and set some new goals! For now, showing up for a WOD 3-5 times a week is my JOT. As long as I get there, the magic will happen. In this crazy busy season of my life, that is more than good enough!
There are 6,429,285 different movements you could work on, and quadruple that number of workouts you could throw together, but why worry about it? Why not use that time making that AMAZING cafeteria soup instead, sitting down to eat with your family, and telling them how amazing your glutes feel after that workout that you didn’t have to spend your entire brain power planning? And after you excuse yourself, make sure and write that ONE soup recipe down, and repeat it again in six days.
Want variety? Try eating your soup with the spoon in your left hand this time! Or get wild and use the blue bowl instead of the white one! I promise, of all the complicated things in life, some things really are just that simple. With the ebb and flow of life, your “holes” in what you’re doing will always be different. But it really is as simple as picking JOT.
What’s your Just One Thing? Tell someone – tell me!