Hello, my friends! I hope everyone had an A-MAZ-ING week last week. To kick off another week on the POSITIVE, this is The WOW, The Workout of the Week, from GoodAttitudeFood.com. This is the Mindful Study Intervals Workout.
This week I am going to discuss some new study methods that are helping me focus on the class work I need to do. The Food this week is another Quinoa crockpot experiment! The Music is an EPIC playlist. The Workout is a great routine!
Study Habits
I have 43 days left, as of writing this post, before my scheduled exam for the class I am taking right now. It is a self-directed study program with a certification exam at the end of it. In the last few weeks of REALLY getting into studying the program, I realized my study habits have gotten SOFT since finishing college.
Over the last few weeks, whenever I sat down to study I realized would waste a minimum of 15 minutes “just piddling around” before even reading three words. I have always had this issue, #CreativeAvoidance, but when I was in classes on a regular basis I beat it by scheduling my days and then following the schedule. Since finishing school, I have left these scheduling habits behind.
Wow, do those “muscles” go quickly when they stop getting used!
It is really tough to get back into those old habits.
New Method – Utilize the Interval Timer
Yesterday, when dealing with this same issue, I thought – why not use my interval timer to help study?
So I did! I set my timer for 3 sets of 20 minutes of “work”, with a 5-minute “rest” interval after every 20 minutes. Read for 20 minutes, take a break for 5 minutes, then repeat until I have read for an hour.
Pavlovian Response
In this experiment, I have proven myself to be quite the Pavlov test subject. I have truly conditioned myself to “work” when I hear the beep!
When the timer beeps, work, when it beeps again, stop working, and repeat. Doing interval training workouts for the last few years must have hard-wired the “when that thing beeps you work until it beeps again” response into my brain!
Using my interval timer worked really well for studying. I got through two lesson plans yesterday and another one this morning. That is more progress in a single week than any other week so far studying this program.
Writing Down Goals for Each Day
Last week I started the week by writing down my workout goals and study goals for every day of the week.
#LPSAGs = Little Puny Specifically Aligned Goals.
I already know that writing down goals helps achieve goals. I have built my life from age 28 to present by doing it. The process of taking a big goal and chunking it down into the small action steps needed to move in the direction of a big goal has been very effective in my life.
Using Mindfulness to Stay on Track
Mindfulness –I learned from the Mindful Athlete – is really one of the biggest keys to staying on track. When I sit down to read it is really easy to let the mind start wandering. Boy, does my mind want to wander on me. Just as easy as it can wander, I learned I can bring it back through Mindfulness! **Through focused breathing!
When my mind starts “walking around” I can bring it back with a few seconds of mindful breathing and the stern command of “breathe and focus, now read”. When my mind wonders again, I catch it, breath, and repeat the command.
My mind wandering happens more than I would like to admit, but it’s easy to bring it back with the breath and focused intent.
Study Intervals and Mindful Intent
Using my interval timer has conditioned me to “work”. Combining that conditioning with the mindful intent of “breathe and focus, now read” is an effective way for me to stay on track.
I chose 20-minute work intervals because I have a short attention span, hah! After 20 minutes, I take 5 minutes and scroll The GoodAttitudeFood-Instagram or play a game of chess or text a friend back. After three 20-minute reading sessions – one hour of reading – I take a little longer break, or on weeknights, call it quits and relax.
I have 43 days left for this class. I have been studying hard, but until this weekend felt like I was just going through the motions. Using the techniques of Mindfulness and Pavlovian conditioning, I actually finally feel like I am making real progress.
The Food
This week I am making salmon, in my crockpot. Never tried this before, so we will see how it works. Adding in quinoa, carrots, tomatoes, onion, and rosemary.
The Prep
- cut the ends off the carrots
- wash carrots and tomatoes
- cut an onion in half, quarter half of that and save the other half.
- cut tomatoes in half
- measure about 1 cup of water
- measure about 1 cup of quinoa
- plop all that stuff in the crockpot
- forget about it for a few hours
The finished product was pretty good! Timing isn’t quite right. The salmon and quinoa turned out good. The carrots needed a bit longer to cook. I bet if I chopped the carrots they would have finished cooking at a closer rate to the rest of the post. Despite the carrots being a little undercooked, this turned out good. Real ingredients, real food, great taste.
I made a plate up and topped it with a fried egg and some Siracha – So GOOD!
I netted three meals worth of food out of this pot!
The Music
3 Hours of EPIC “Battle Music” to help you find your flow! I love studying with this kind of music playing in the background. Not sure why, but it gets me in the zone. Works great to focus at work too! I found this playlist on the Musical Nation YouTube Channel. The channel has hours of Epic Music! Check them out!
The Workout!
Round 1 – Get Those 7K steps in – 5 Days min
A continued theme here – get those 7,000 steps in. I will be getting 7,000 steps in with the goal of hitting that 5 days this next week. There will be some intervals – like some run/walk Tabatas, or some 30 seconds of running followed by 30 seconds of jogging. I will be throwing a few rounds of disc golf and maybe mix in some HIIT rounds too.
All steps count, so even just normal walking through the course of a day, or running errands like grocery shopping counts.
Round 2 – Tabata Circuits – Core, Resistance, Freestyle! – 3 days next week
Another continued theme – Tabata Circuits
Interval timers set to 8 x 20X10. One minute break between stations. I work on these using my FIIT principles – Flow Intensity Interval Training – 85% max intensity.
Circuit One – Core work
- Crunches
- Leg Raises
- side leg raise right
- side leg raise left
- flat plank
- side plank right
- side plank left
- T-Pushups
Station 2 – RBFTB – Resistance Band FIIT Tabata Burner
*With resistance band anchored
- Wood Choppers Left
- Wood Choppers Right
- Standing Bench
- Pull backs
- butterfly
- reverse butterfly
- Curls
- One-Two Punch combos
Station 3 – Freestyle Shadowboxing with Weighted Gloves
Last round is a set of freestyle shadowboxing punch combos with weighted gloves. Freestyle so HAVE SOME FUN!
Round 3 – Yoga Video – Goal of 6 Days This Week
I will be working to get in a yoga video before work most mornings this week. I found this great “Warrior” yoga video from the Sean Vigue Fitness YouTube channel. This dude is definitely in my top three or four favorites for Yoga videos and this work out delivers a great routine. Check it out and show Sean some support for the awesome free yoga!
Have An Awesome Week
There you have it, friends! This has been The WOW – The Workout of the Week from GoodAttitudeFood.com. This has been The Mindful Study Intervals Workout. A “YUGE” thank you to everyone for reading! A great big “YUGE” thank you to the content providers! – Check out their stuff and show them support!
Be Happy and Healthy my Friends. Try adding some mindful focus techniques to your Hero’s story this week!