Compete!
I love competing. I always have. Both personally and professionally. I especially love to win, but recently I’ve come to think differently about what winning means. Many of the sports I play – which are largely individual competitions – are designed for losing. There’s only one winner among the many who participate. I’d sometimes look at the format of a competition and wonder if I should bother joining it when I have little to no chance of coming in first – and in fact, have a much greater chance of finishing last. But what I’ve come to realize lately is that, in all these endeavors, the real competition is with myself. That doesn’t mean I always win, but it does mean that, at times, it may appear that I was nowhere near the top of a leaderboard, yet I still crushed it!
Body Praising – My thoughts on how we speak about our bodies (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about my experience with body shaming. Admittedly, it was one of the more difficult posts I’ve shared in this blog, not because I posted my “before” photos throughout, but rather because it forced me to deal with many of the comments made about my body over the years. Comments – often insults – I tried hard to ignore. I know that I previously said it’s best to remember the insults and forget the compliments, but I’m only human and there were times when the only way I could live with the shaming was to bury it.
Yet, sharing my experience with body shaming wasn’t the first time I resurrected those memories. Ironically, that came recently when I first started to receive praise for my body You see, when someone praises another’s body or looks, even with the best of intentions, there’s so much more that’s unsaid that can affect how the it is received. So here I will discuss the dangers of body praising.
Climbing season! A social media diary . . .
My past weekend was quite full balancing work (Sunday) and fun (Saturday), both of which took priority over the blog. Still, it won’t take long to share all that I need to this week. My outdoor climbing season began on Saturday, and I am as inspired as ever! I can tell this story here through the social media diary I’ve put together . . .
Body Shaming – My thoughts on how we speak about our bodies (Part 1)
“You never know what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes until you are standing in them.” This saying, which I first learned when I was a young boy, speaks to empathy, compassion, and acceptance and is generally a good lesson to live by. But something misleading about the phrase that we must also know is that we can never walk in someone else’s shoes. Shoes are a metaphor for life, and even those closest to us cannot know what it’s like to be us. Yet we live in a world where, too often, we judge others based on their appearance whether we know them or not. Shaming, bullying, and discrimination based on looks are as pervasive as ever. Social media may be the epicenter of it, but don’t be fooled in thinking it isn’t everywhere else too.
The Butterfly Effect
The butterfly effect is a concept within chaos theory mathematics that means a small change in one state of being can be responsible for big differences in another. The term was coined based on the idea that the wind pushed by a butterfly in one part of the world, could be responsible for starting a hurricane somewhere else. As unlikely as that may be, I’ll explain here how true the concept is within the changes I made to my life – each starting with one small push.
Learning from our parents doesn’t always mean listening to them
If we’re lucky, we get to a point in life where we watch our parents age. Mine, like many, can’t move the way they did when they were younger. In fact, lately it’s clear they can’t move like they did five years ago, or even one year ago. Some of this is due to medical issues beyond their control that would set anyone back. What I’ve learned from this is that things will happen as I get older that might weaken or limit my abilities, but the fitter I am going into it, the better I will be coming out of it.
Call me crazy! An update on my running journey.
I think some people believe I am crazy. I mean, they’ve told me so as recently as this week. I’m not buying it, but for those who want to think so, the topic of this week’s crazy are the two races I ran over the past week or so. Less than 48 hours after arriving home from Antarctica, I ran my first ever half marathon. Then, a week later (this past Sunday), I ran a 10K in 18-degree weather. Ambitious? Yes. Crazy? No.
My journey in Antarctica
Antarctica is one of the most remote and uninhabitable places on Earth. The journey to get there is long and unpredictable, particularly as one must cross the dreaded Drake Passage to reach the continent. But even if one makes it through, there’s no guarantee of what will happen once you get there. Actually, there is one guarantee that our expedition leader, Neil, gave us at the start of our trip . . . “It will not go according to plan.” All of this feels like a microcosm of my journey and a perfect setting to appreciate where I am on it today — especially as this destination did not seem possible for my body, mind, or fitness just ten years ago.
Man plans. God laughs.
Having just been caught in the moment of New Year’s and setting our goals for 2025, it’s now time to toss them out the window – if we haven’t already. I mean, seriously, when it is a challenge to even predict a day ahead, how can we possibly predict the year ahead? We can all probably look back to one year ago and see how impossible that is. As the old Yiddish adage goes, “Man Plans. God laughs.”
It’s time to talk about goals . . .
As we enter the New Year, it’s time for my much-anticipated post about goals. I’ve said this many times before, but goals can be dangerous. Of course, it’s often beneficial and productive to aspire. Ambition gives us purpose, and in any journey, purpose is what it’s all about. The danger in goals is not about the possibility of falling short or setting expectations that turn out to be unattainable – in fact, there’s much to learn from that – rather, it’s about making sure that whatever goal I set will truly further what I want to achieve.
First, as I share my thoughts on goals, I understand that goals are personal. This area, more than any other, is one where none of us are the same and the differences in our lives matter the most when looking ahead to what we want to achieve. But there is an underlying concept that all of us can benefit from when setting goals in our lives – focus them on the process, not the outcome.
My 2024 climbing journey and aspirations for 2025
There’s something about climbing that feels so perfect for my blog. It’s not just the cool videos and photos, although my Instagram would be a lot more boring without them. No, it’s the metaphor. Climbing is the symbol of my journey. Because even though I just started it as a true hobby this year, this entire journey has been a climb.
Burnout
I’m not writing a blog this week. It’s ok.
I’m burnt out. It’s ok.
I burned the candle at every end. It’s ok.
The only rule for this blog as it relates to my life is that it cannot get in the way of work. At times, it does interfere with other aspects of my life whether fitness, family, or friends, and the key is balancing those sacrifices. This week, the blog is the sacrifice. It’s ok.
Today, not writing a blog is winning the day, as was sharing this short blog!
My 2024 Running Journey - A shattered dream turned into a brewing reality
Dreams may feel shattered in the moment, but belief can make them happen in the long run.
Legally Fit — Finding My Passion Project
Full disclosure . . . Legally Fit did not begin because I wanted to share my story. In fact, I never wanted to do that. Looking back on where I let my body get to was not something I enjoyed thinking about, and I rarely if ever spent time reflecting on it. Those were not my happiest times, and even now as I write about my story here each week, reliving many of those moments brings back memories of embarrassment and shame.
The blog began simply because of my passion for fitness. That’s what I wanted to share. Over the past 11 years on this journey, I’ve learned so much while taking on many new activities and challenges, and I love everything about it. But given that I am not a certified personal trainer or a professional athlete, I realized that the perspective I bring is one that must involve my story. I am a lawyer who has learned the value of incorporating fitness into my busy schedule, and my life was forever changed by that lesson.
The benefits of gratitude – Why giving thanks is important for fitness, health, and life.
With Thanksgiving approaching, it occurred to me that one of the themes underlying many of my previous blog posts has been gratitude. At its core, Legally Fit is about my appreciation for this life that has been transformed and saved and giving thanks to those who support my journey along the way. Being grateful motivates me to share my story with the hopes of paying it forward to anyone who might benefit from my experience. Approaching this holiday week, it also made me think about gratitude in another way – specifically, the benefits of being grateful.
Sleep — Listen to your body (Part 4)
With the time change recently falling back and wreaking havoc on people’s internal clocks, this seems like a good time to discuss one of the most important aspects to fitness – sleep. Somewhat symbolic of my own sleep habits, I’ll keep this post shorter than most.
Let’s face it, for many of us, this might be the most difficult of fitness habits to control. Some of the reasons for that are real, others may just be excuses, but I just know that I can’t identify very many successful people who confidently say they often get all the sleep they need.
Let go of people who don’t help you grow
When you’re on a journey – no matter where you are headed – the journey changes you. That’s the point of it. To start in one place and end up somewhere else. Journeys require patience and focus, but in the end, the hope is that they lead to growth. While the results may be unpredictable, the path you take is full of choices that are entirely within your control.
Countdown to running the 2025 New York City Marathon
As of today, there are 361 days until the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon, and I have every intention of running in it next year. As I write those words, I can’t help but think about the fact that I’ve said that before – about nine years ago – but I failed to do it. So naturally, as I start the countdown to 2025, I say with some level of caution, “next year will be different.”
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”
Mapping the human genome was one of the greatest scientific achievements in our lifetime. It revolutionized what we know about the human body, and it unlocked the potential for countless discoveries related to our health and well-being. In many ways, our DNA defines who we are, but in so many others, we can all make sure it doesn’t.
Listen to your body (Part 3) – Lessons I still need to learn about injuries
I alluded to this last week, but I’m currently dealing with an elbow injury that came from overworking it. It’s not serious, but it is enough to sideline me from many of my favorite activities, and there’s a lesson to be learned here, not about overcoming setbacks, but about avoiding them.