Who do you listen to, your body or your mind?

Recently, I have been working out less.  I listened to my body and noticed that it wanted a break.  I didn’t quit going to the gym all together, but instead of five or six days a week, it was more like two or three.  I would still set my alarm for all the usual days, but when I got out of bed (I made myself actually get out of bed before the decision was made), I would listen to my body if it told me that it didn’t want to exercise that day.  The trick is to actually get out of bed before deciding to tap out. Otherwise, I couldn’t tell if my body really wanted a break or my brain was trying to trick me.  I find my brain lies to me a lot.

Aside from the get out of bed test, the reason that I could tell that I was listening to my body and not my brain is that I was still feeling good even though I wasn’t exercising as much.  I tend to get really antsy when I don’t get enough exercise, sometimes I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin. I was able to focus and be productive and I was still moving enough to keep my back from getting too angry with me, so it was clear that my body was still getting what it needed.

Now this is no way to achieve one’s fitness goals, but it is a good strategy to keep things copacetic if you are of a certain age.  I am still listening to my body and I am starting to feel like I need to ramp back up to my higher activity level.  I can feel it in my arms a lot right now. 

Thinking about how I need to listen to my body instead of my brain when it comes to exercise led to contemplating other areas of my life in which my brain likes to lie to me. No surprise, food is the next biggie.  When I listen to my body, I tend to eat more fruits and veggies.  I don’t get as hungry and I don’t get tummy aches.  When I eat what my brain wants, it tends to be more white food – things with a lot of sugar, things that are processed … things like French fries.  My brain always tries to convince me that I want to eat fried food.

It’s funny to think that I shouldn’t listen to my brain.  Isn’t that where my smart is supposed to be after all?  It can be more challenging to hear what my body has to say to me, especially when my brain is shouting and jumping up and down. But when I am quiet and listen, it never steers me wrong.