Why is exercise good for you?

I guess everyone knows, that it is good for us to exercise.

It's easy to start and feel energized for one month (usually January). After that the calendar starts getting filled with "more important things". Those more important things makes it almost impossible to find time for exercise.

The most common reason why people don't exercise is that they don't have time. Another reason is the lack of motivation. 

In fact, there are a lot of reasons, why people don't exercise.

Maybe the more important thing would be to look at why we should exercise.

There are many benefits.
Exercise is for example improving memory and brain function, heart health and quality of sleep.

When I started exercising after a break last September, I was not feeling very motivated at first. After a some weeks I could feel the energy and good effects that came from exercising.

I enjoy CrossFit, because it has constantly varied functional movements and challenges for every time you train. It's good to remember, that you compete with yourself rather than with others!

Exercising doesn't always have to necessarily be intense, walking has a lot of benefits too.

14 Health and Fitness Benefits of CrossFit

5 surprising benefits of walking

Roadtrip with old car

Last Summer we made a road trip with family. We drove through eight countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

In ten days in June we drove 4400 km, with an 16 year old car (Opel Vectra). During the road trip the car surpassed 320 000 km. Well done, for an old car!

We drove from Umeå in Sweden to Trondheim in Norway, and forward to Larvik in the south.

The first picture is from Sweden and the others from Norway.

During a road trip there is not always time to stop and take pictures. When we were driving in Norway, I tried to catch beautiful views with my camera. 

These pictures are taken through car window.

Route map

Our road map route in Sweden and Norway.

Mindset and limits

 

Repost from 24.8.2015 (Sky is the limit)

"The limit is not in the sky. The limit is in the mind."
-Unknown

It’s really hard to change the way we are thinking. We all have our own limits. Many times we limit ourselves more than we should. That results in "playing it safe." Not taking unnecessary risks and only doing things we are comfortable with. Sometimes also spending all your time with people you know well and avoiding to get to know new people. It's easy and nice. You could also call it boring. 

In reality there are many possibilities in life to learn new things and jump outside the comfort zone. Making your dreams come true usually needs some bold steps to be taken. And nobody else can take them instead of you.

Can we really achieve things we dream about? People dream about extraordinary lives and many times end up living ordinary lives. Maybe it's the lack of confidence and fear of taking risks, that stops us from going after our passion. Life should be an adventure, right? 

Sometimes I wish there were more people who would say: "Go after your heart" than those try to make you understand how impossible your ideas are. The voice of doubt is always there. It seems like we are usually encouraged to "play it safe." Every now and then I have to tell myself: "I think it's possible". Every dream come through starts somewhere. Without taking risks you will never find out. If you have a new idea or something you want to achieve, it's always worth trying.

"We can not become what we want to be by remaining what we are"

-Max De Pree

I believe, that you can do more than you think. It's true, that every person has special gifts and can do some things better than others. Still also practicing  is needed. Nobody becomes a skilled musician without practice. Also writing needs practice. How much do you want to learn something new?

When we started renovating our old house together with my husband we had no idea what we were getting into. There were lots of new things to learn and sometimes you learn only by making mistakes. That way of learning takes a lot of time. Always the result is not as good as it could be, which may lead into doing the same thing one more time. While learning wallpapering the walls did not look as they should. Some years later it bothered so much, that we did the walls one more time. Another thing was grinding the walls. Learning to do that took time and patience. The machines are not that hard to use. But getting a smooth wall is challenging. And if you don't take the time needed, the wall will look very bad when it has paint or wallpaper on it.

What do you want to do?

This is my own list for taking steps outside the comfort zone

1. Learn new things
Life is about learning. Be curious and practice new skills. The lifelong practice of learning is what makes us humans and our lives worthwhile.

2. Be ready to make mistakes
Turning thoughts into deeds requires confidence.I guess nobody really wants to make mistakes. Still it's impossible to avoid them if you want to do something new. There is a saying that "Mistakes are the steppingstones to learning."

3. Seize the opportunity
Keep your eyes open. When the opportunity comes, be ready!

Not my goals for 2023

Happy New Year!

In January it's time to look at the goals for next year. You know how hard it is to usually achieve your goals and promises for the next year?

I have considered myself as a lazy person. And the goals for year 2023 are the goals of a very lazy person. So why not make it easier? 

Here are my goals:

I will not climb Mount Everest.

Not start training CrossFit four times a week and get involved into competitions.

And I will not start ultra running for a few weeks or what ever.

I will not become a vegetarian.

I will not eat chips every day.

And I will not read a book every day.

Very easily done. What are your goals?

Living without limits

 A few days I have been thinking about this.

What does it really mean to live without limits?

Many times we find a lot of reasons why we should not do something. Maybe you have a chance to do something, and start thinking is it really worth the effort. I usually start thinking, do I have time for it? It sounds reasonable, of course. 

The other way round: what are the reasons you should do it?

If you want to write a book, start exercising, playing an instrument, running a marathon, writing a blog post or whatever your thing is, there is always time if you want to find the time.

Amazing. The idea of making a time for something in your calendar is not impossible.

The wrong mindset can also stop us from doing things we want to do. There is always a chance of failure, and the fear of failure can become the thing that stops you from taking the steps forward.

There is something unique in you. 

Some special gifts you have been given and a purpose in your life, waiting to be fulfilled. 

Could it be your time?

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

More productive in writing

Do you have a writing project on you mind and don't know where to start?

I know the feeling. The whole project feels overwhelming. And it seems like it's never the right time for writing.

For a long time writing was very difficult for me. I had a lot of ideas, and was writing something regularly. The problem was that I had no clue how to keep it all together. Before going forward from that point I had to become better at routines and scheduling. To learn how to schedule time for writing, and to make those moments productive. It´s not easy to keep focused on one thing, but I think it's possible to learn.

There is always something else that needs you attention and interruptions come. The right time will never come, unless you schedule time for it!

Here are some helpful tips to get forward with writing.

Setting goals

Without goals and deadlines time will just pass by. Set a deadline for your project.

Break the project down. If you already have a lot of written material, the first step could be to go through all you material, and set up a deadline for that.

Remember that anything doesn't happen in just a few weeks. For example when I started going through my material for lyrics, I set up a deadline for it.

Write a little every day

This is the best way to get forward. Writing everyday for at least 15 minutes doesn't seem impossible. And then there is time to think about your ideas in between. When you start writing regularly, it will become easier.

What's a good time to write? I've been reading how many people write in the morning. That could be a really good time.

Maybe it has to do with the daily rhythm what time is the best. Even though I thought early mornings are best for me, afternoons can also be very good. It really depends on the day, some days are so full with things to do, that no time feels like the right time. Or the best time can be late in the evening.

Does it matter where you write? I've been writing a lot home, many times being distracted. A good place for writing could also be a café.

Good luck with your writing!

Brudslöjan Waterfall

Last summer on our road trip with the family we found a waterfall called Brudslöjan. It´s easy when you can find places where you can stop on Google maps.

We found the nature trail to Brudslöjan (the bridal veil) in Sweden, close to the Norwegian border.

What we didn´t realize, was that there was some walking downwards to get to the waterfall. If we had been driving a bit further, the walk would have been shorter.

Follow the trail with us!