Simple Fitness: Buy Less, Do More

exerciseEditor’s note: This is a guest post by Tammy Strobel of Rowdykittens. Follow her on Twitter. Photo by Everett Bogue (I’m driving to Seattle, so Tammy is covering today!)

Prior to my downsizing journey, I read a lot of fitness and health magazines. Most of the magazines and books advocated buying more stuff, joining an expensive gym or promoted diets that were not healthy. I walked away from those magazines feeling depressed and overwhelmed.

Discovering the simple living movement helped me reconnect to my body and start taking small steps toward my fitness goals. Unplugging my television and selling my car gave me the time to meet my goals. Within the last few years, I started swimming with a master’s team again, ran a marathon and developed many long lasting friendships.

I can’t offer one solution to fit all; but here are a few simple fitness tips and activities that have helped me get in shape without buying new stuff.

1. Pick an activity you enjoy.

Getting fit means you have to move your body. So it’s essential to pick an activity you enjoy. It could be running, walking or yoga, but you need to like it. If you don’t like the activity, odds are you won’t follow through.

Running, walking, riding a bike and yoga are all low cost activities. You probably already have a pair of walking/running shoes, a bike and maybe a yoga mat at home. If not, start checking out local shops for sales.

Micro-action: Brainstorm 4-5 activities that you love. What gives you joy?

2. Move your body.

Move your body as much as possible. This can be hard in the modern world, especially if you have a desk job. I sit in front of a computer all day, but I do sometime of physical activity before arriving at the office and either walk or ride my bike to work.

If you don’t have a lot of free time, I’d encourage you to move closer to your place of employment. Moving closer to work and walking or biking to the office are great ways to get moving and don’t cost a lot of money.

Micro-action: Find 30 minutes in your day and get active.

3. Eat fresh and real food.

Eating good, real food has become part of my simple fitness plan.

Last year, I read In Defense of Food and changed my diet dramatically. Rather than eating packaged foods, most of my produce comes from the local farmer’s market. Eating real food has increased my energy level and is actually a lot less expensive.

If you have a local farmer’s market in your city, take advantage of it. I used to think that fast food was quick and easy. But I’ve changed my perspective. Cooking food at home saves time, money and it really is healthier and simpler.

Micro-action: Does your city have a farmer’s market? If you don’t know, find out and take a trip to the market.

4. Make time.

Make time in your life for physical exercise. Everyone has at least 30 minutes a day to participate in some-type of physical activity. If you don’t have the time, consider reorganizing your priorities.

Other options include unplugging the television or selling your car. I did both and finally moved off the couch and went outside.

Micro-action: Schedule a physical activity everyday.

5. Be patient.

Reaching any type of fitness goal takes time, so be patient. Getting in shape won’t happen over night. For instance, I just started doing yoga and realized how weak my core is! I have a lot of work to do when it comes to strength training and I know it will take time.

Starting out is the easy point, but sticking with your fitness goals is the hard part.

Micro-action: Connect to a support network or find a workout buddy to keep you focused.

Closing Thoughts…

Above all, do what you love and brings you joy. Your body will thank you.





3 Reasons Why Minimalism is Elegant

eleganceWriting and photo by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter

I’m going to get a little scientific on you, and let me tell you in advance that I’m no scientist, so forgive me if I have this all wrong. I was reading My Stroke of Insight this afternoon, which is a brilliant book about a woman who loses use of the left half of her brain because of a stroke and discovers oneness with the universe, she later regains use of that side of her brain and writes the book –anyway, I’d suggest reading it.

The author, Jill Bolte Taylor Ph.D., was explaining the difference between the left and the right hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere is the side that worries about things, thinks about the past and the future, it’s that little voice inside your head that’s always screaming at you that you’re doing things wrong. She was describing the right side of the brain as like the part of the brain which embraces the now, and can comprehend the big picture. The author lost use of the left side of her brain, hence finding Nirvana.

This got me thinking about how elegant minimalism is.

By adopting a minimalist approach to life you’re reducing things like…

  • What kinds of food you eat
  • How busy your schedule is
  • How much money you spend
  • The amount of stuff in your house

…You start to free up space in your brain to be creative, to look at the big picture, and just be open to what happens to you. It’s a very effective way of balancing the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

And this opens you up to an entire universe of understanding that just isn’t possible when you’re overwhelmed and overburdened by your life.

Pursuing this way of life can open you up to an entire new universe.

  1. You can begin focusing on the big picture. This is really important, without the ability to focus on the broad spectrum of existence, you’re trapped in a world of day-to-day monotony. Repetitive daily tasks and letting the little voice inside your head rule your life keep you from seeing what’s really possible.
  2. You can spend more time doing what’s important to you. You’ll be working less, and spending less time organizing, among tons of other things. So You can spend more time with your family, with people you love, talking about things like neuroscience!
  3. You can start making your dreams happen. Because you’re not spending as much money, you can work less and start investing in what you really want to do with your life. You can begin building your house, working towards the job you want to do, saving for retirement, or traveling…

…Which I’m going to be doing this weekend. I’m out for the rest of the week, because my girlfriend is town for a brief 5-day period and I’m going to spend every second with her! Because she’s awesome.

But be sure to check in. Tammy from Rowdy Kittens will be guest writing an exciting post tomorrow, and my minimalist roommate Anika will be posting on Friday. Don’t miss what they have to say by subscribing to our RSS feed.





How I Chose Liberation: The Decision to be Minimalist

portland

Written and photographed by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter

My minimalist roommate Anika just exclaimed “This life we lead is good, isn’t it?” It is, I say. She’s been living out of a backpack for awhile now, traveling from here to there, you’ll hear about her adventures and advice on Friday when she’ll be guest posting here. Tammy from Rowdy Kittens will be guest posting here on Thursday, which I’m incredibly excited about. Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed, so you don’t miss their posts!

I’ll be in Seattle for the end of the weekend with my girlfriend who’s visiting from NY, we’re seeing what that city is all about. If you know the area, let me know what to check out while we’re there.

How I made the decision to liberate myself.

I’ve always had very few possessions, but being a minimalist isn’t just about what you carry with you. It’s your entire engagement with the world. I spent the last three years in New York living with very few possessions, but I admittedly did spend a lot of money. New York is like that, it sucks you in and spits you out without your wallet.

There’s a moment when everything changes, when you can’t turn back.

I think there was a tipping point, when I figured out just how rewarding this life would be. Living day to day, place to place, consuming the minimum, existing a little bit on the fringes. Watching the busy people running around frantically trying to support their overextended lifestyles, smiling, and then going back home and writing a little. Trying to help spread a little more knowledge about where I’ve been, where you can go.

I think the moment when I couldn’t go back came when I started meeting people who were living this way, at the minimum, traveling from here and there making their living doing new and exciting things. I saw how they could get by with little, and I started to realize that I didn’t need to be making as much money (and spending as much money) as I was in New York. I hope by writing this I can help a few more people achieve this state of being.

I gradually began to stop consuming and started living.

Minimalism is like the secret room that no one wants you to know about, and how peaceful it is. We’re all bombarded by advertising every day, claiming that we need one more thing, that we’ll be happier if we just buy more. It’s not hard to understand how we’re conditioned to want to spend, but it’s hard reversing the work of (rough estimation) hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate spending to make us want just one more thing.

The rewards are infinite though. Freedom can’t be bought, it can only be found.

It’s sitting right here, you’ve just got to slowly work your way backwards from the grand buildup of possessions and spending and join us on the minimalist path.





Minimalist Ideas: 100 Things You Can Do Today to Live Simpler.

quiettreeWritten and Photographed by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter

When people think about minimalism, some of them think that it’s really hard and it involves throwing out all of their stuff and being a freegan or something. It doesn’t. Minimalism is about small steps toward a simple goal. It’s totally achievable, but the idea of running around with just a backpack is really terrifying for folks who have a house full of stuff and a packed schedule.

You’re not going to be a minimalist overnight, but by taking tiny steps you’re getting there slowly, and more important, simply.

If you can do one of the things on this list today, you’ll be a little more minimalist, and that helps! Yes, they’re small, but that’s fine. Maybe try doing one of these once a day for a hundred days? Maybe some of them will stick, and then you’re doing 100 things that make you more of a minimalist. That’d be pretty cool, and I think you can do it!

Here is 100 things you can do today to simplify your life and become more of a minimalist.

1, Recycle, donate, throw away one item.
2, Eat one less mouthful.
3, Spend one less dollar.
4, Drive one less mile.
5, Watch one less movie.
6, Count how many things you own (I own 79 things.)
7, Drink one less cup of coffee.
8, Cook one meal at home.
9, Think one freeing thought.
10, Walk to the store once.
11, Work one less hour.
12, Spend a half an hour meditating.
13, Skip dessert.
14, Skip the soda.
15, Drink one glass of pure water.
16, Cook with carrots.
17, Cook with kale.
18, Give one less gift, give a hug instead.
19, Bike to work for one day a week.
20, Walk around the block instead of anything.
21, Plant one plant that you can someday eat.
22, Write one list about how you could be more minimalist.
23, Read Tammy’s RowdyKittens.
25, Read Leo’s Mnmlist.
26, Read Dave’s Minimalist Path.
27, Donate one book after you read it.
28, Email one story about minimalism to your best friend.
29, Write one minimalist thing somewhere prominent in your house.
30, Read Walden by Thoreau.
31, Create one piece of art with one tool.
32, Do one thing at work that you’ve been meaning to do, but have done fifty things instead.
33, Take a plane trip somewhere with only a backpack.
34, Unfriend one friend on Facebook.
35, Unfollow one person on Twitter.
36, Follow me on Twitter.
37, Cook without meat for one meal.
38, Sit in front of a fire for an hour.
39, Sit under a tree for an hour.
40, Watch birds for an hour.
41, Dedicate one hour to reading a book.
42, Unplug your TV for one evening.
43, Write one paragraph on how you could become more minimalist.
44, Donate/recycle/trash one memento that you’ve cherished since high school.
45, Tell one person you love them.
46, Take the train to work once.
47, Take one yoga class.
48, Give some of your money to a charity that helps starving children.
49, Quit your job that you hate (don’t worry, you’ll be okay.)
50, Write one blog post on minimalism.
51, Tweet once about minimalism.
52, Dream one dream that you could never do if you had a house full of stuff.
53, Redefine your idea of success as being freer.
54, Work from home for one day.
55, Turn off the lights for one day.
56, Walk on a beach with a friend, once.
57, Make your own coffee in the morning, once.
58, Make one payment to get yourself closer to being out of debt.
59, Walk down Broadway between Houston and Canal in Manhattan and don’t buy anything.
60, Walk down Hawthorne in Portland without buying anything.
61, Read a book in a bookstore without buying it.
62, Take your lunch to work for one day.
63, Cancel your cable TV.
64, Cancel your Netflix.
65, Delete your Facebook.
66, Turn off your phone for one day, call everyone back the next day.
67, Don’t drink one more beer.
68, Do one action without doing any other action.
69, Watch a butterfly.
70, Watch a fruit fly.
71, Clean your counter top so the fruit fly goes away.
72, Clear your desk.
73, Take everything out of your car.
74, Decide what you’d take with you if you left today.
75, Realize that you can’t take it all with you when you die.
76, Think about what people will remember you for when you’re gone.
77, Send one short email that conveys just as much information as a long email.
78, Have one friend over to dinner.
79, Spend one day with your dog.
80, Subscribe to this RSS feed.
81, Buy one (necessary) thing with that jar of change that everyone has.
82, MP3 and sell/donate/recycle/trash one CD.
83, Stay home for one friday/saturday evening.
84, Take a photo of a tree.
85, Buy one less boxed thing at the grocery store.
86, Avoid buying in bulk once.
87, Breathe slower and more steadily.
88, Close your eyes for ten minutes.
89, Smile at someone you don’t know.
90, Walk slower.
91, Say thank you, smile, and look into the eyes of someone you don’t know.
92, Sit on a park bench.
93, Lie on a beach (with sunscreen on.)
94, Leave your house without a backpack.
95, Leave your house without your cellphone.
96, Sell/donate/recycle/trash one object you haven’t used in a month.
97, Sell/donate/recycle/trash one object that you haven’t used in a year.
98, Think one thought for 15 minutes.
99, Do one yoga pose.
100, Text your girlfriend/boyfriend/someone and tell them that you love them.

Whew, that was a lot of thinking for one morning.

If you like one of these ideas, share them with one person.

I probably left some out, can you think of one thing that you do to be a minimalist? Leave it in the comments.





The World is (a lot) Less Concrete Than You Think

concreteworldWritten and Photographed by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter

I had a conversation with someone last night that ended up trapped in my head for the entire night, even after meditating and staying in sarvangasana for fifteen minutes–a yoga pose which is supposed to clear your head!

I have this tendency to always suggest a thousand possibilities when someone asks me for the solution to a problem. (What about this, what about that?) I’m just not content to limit any thinking to one solution. There is never one solution, and most of the time the solution isn’t anywhere near where you thought it was.

Because the world isn’t concrete.

She was like ‘what do you mean?’ and I couldn’t answer, because it felt kind of self-explanatory. It’s not, I suppose, so I thought I’d try harder to explain

You know that the world isn’t concrete if you’ve ever:

  • Created a work of art out of nowhere.
  • Had a glimpse of universal consciousness.
  • Saw one of your ideas spread virally around the internet.
  • Got an amazing job without trying.
  • Stargazed in a rural field or beach.
  • Been part of a movement.
  • Realized that you’re the decisive element.
  • Concluded that there is no bottom of society to fall off of.
  • Found success that didn’t equal massive amounts of money.
  • Had a solution came to you in empty space.
  • Moved slower and accomplished more.

Nothing is for certain, and the world is changing at an incredible rate. The world that our parent’s lived in is gone. We can instantly communicate with hundreds of people simultaneously across the globe. When did any of the tried and true methods take that into account?

We now live in a post geographical society, and it’s time that we all started taking that into account. We can live anywhere, we can work anywhere, we can create anywhere. We can touch any person who is willing to be touched. We just have to be brave enough to reach out and share our ideas, no matter how unpopular they may be, they will find an audience because the audience is everyone now.

And this is your life, so why are you wasting it doing something that you don’t want to do? The audience is out there for your crazy ideas, you just have to get those ideas out of your head. Free the ideas, publish your ideas. Especially the crazy ones.