We know they go hand in hand but which comes first?

Stanley Park cycling

He was of the mind that diet was more important to get sorted and then move onto exercise when you had a grip on the diet side of things. I was of the mind that exercise was the better thing to tackle first, I still am.

I had lost my first lot of weight through running, I was desperate to lose weight, tried all the diets and though I hated, HATED running I knew if I stuck to it I would lose weight. I was of the belief at that time having tried every diet, pill and potion that I could not control my weight with food, that food had more power over me so I decided to fight food with exercise and so I started running, through hot Australian summer days, torrential rain, late nights, on dirt roads with rednecks yelling out obscenities about my huge ass and even when it looked like it wasn’t making a difference. This was the most important part of running, not giving up when it felt like I wasn’t making a difference to my weight because it became about so much more than my weight.

Something cool began to happen. I noticed that I felt better after every run, yes every run left me feeling better. This was important because I had not long before been suffering severe depression to the point of seeking medical advice where my doctor naturally prescribed drugs, I took them for less than a week, I preferred the depression to the way the drugs made me feel. Within a week of running I could see this was helpful to my depression.

I also noticed that the more I moved my body, the more I was drawn to cleaner foods, less of what I call the Lethal Recipe of highly processed foods with their drug like affects. Then there was the time I spent out moving my body I was not on my butt watching TV and eating the food that was growing the girth of my butt.

The biggest obstacle as always was getting to the front door to put my shoes on and just get out the door, once I was there the rest was much easier.

I managed to get up to running 20kms on the treadmill at the gym, it took me 2 hours, my knees hurt for days and it was the last time I did that. Today I walk, hike, cycle (flat ground, big seats & baskets at the front type cycling) and do hot yoga, I love it, I still struggle sometimes with my hermit tendencies and getting outside is something I do rain, sleet, heat, snow and overcast. Getting out into nature is the strongest motivator for me. It is the most glorious way to move my body and hot yoga (not Bikram) feels like an indulgence. I love doing handstands in my house, on the beach as well as cartwheels despite how comical I’ve been told I look, it makes me feel good. I’ve discovered a love for kayaking and even went on a grueling but glorious 5 day kayaking adventure in the Yukon this past summer. Sometimes I just dance in my office or do yoga like stretching.

The big trick for me was to find something that felt good, not punitive. I don’t like gyms, running for miles and going nowhere, lifting hundreds of pounds without anything to show for it beyond vanity. I’m also inconsistent despite a phrase I learned 11 years ago when it comes to exercise think “a little a lot verse a lot a little” and I take the pressure off myself to be perfect at any of it or live up to anyone else’s standard.

I now exercise for reasons other than weight loss and the less I think about that and the more I focus on how it makes me feel good, the more I am inspired to do it.

In my Anti Diet workshops I get participants to drop and do 20, drop their pen to paper and discover 20 reason’s to get out and move their body beyond weight loss.

There are way more than that of course but here are some of my reasons:
best brain clearer ever
best way to get out of a funk, it is nature’s best antidepressant
I ALWAYS come back feeling better
food tastes better after exercise
I choose better foods than when I am sedentary
it firms my muscles and that feels good
I love getting out in nature
My best thoughts come up for me when I’m out walking/hiking (I always take pen and paper)
Life seems more in perspective and stress is muted

As far as which comes first I always look to nature and in nature you do not eat unless you move, so moving first is my suggestion.

There are more, the trick is to find your own, make it pleasurable, don’t let not being good at any of it stop you from doing it and try to catch yourself in those moments of really appreciating anything that feels good at anytime doing it as well as the buzz of wellbeing after. I’ll paraphrase Nike, “Just Do Something”.

Jumping for Joy in Stanley Park Vancouver

I sincerely wish you the best things in life for 2011. I’ve learned the best thing you can do for you health and living a long vibrant life is to fall in love…..with yourself and your body. To be so incredibly grateful and appreciative for your amazing body that you crave to fill it with nourishing, energizing and protective foods that enable you to live the best life possible.

Here is to a year of amazing life giving foods, regular healthy doses of self love, movement with meaning, rich conversations, deep connections with the people around us and meals that are shared with love and honesty!

I am in the process of creating heaps of resources to help you harness vitality and health as well as a certification process to teach people to do the work I do. I look forward to seeing how I can be of service to you in your journey into vibrant wellbeing.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions and if there is anything you feel would be of help in your journey in health.

Warmth, wellth and love,
Sherry

Join the Tribe – Attend the Summit – Change Your World

Two years ago I approached Taren Hocking of a fantastic event company Champion events about creating a global Wellness conference here in Melbourne Australia. She was excited to let me know that she and Megan Dalla-Camina had the same idea and so the power of three joined forces to create the World Wellness Project Summit which is now taking place in February 24th-26th, 2011.

The conference is all about creating conversations around the world that accelerate World Wellness which is critical for the planet right now.

If you are a leader in wellness or simply passionate about creating real change for the planet then you need to be at the Summit. Taren, Megan and I would love to see you there.

http://www.worldwellnessproject.com