Hello!
We hope you're enjoying the festive break. If you're already fed up listening to your family, retreat to the washroom, settle in on your butt cheeks, and read about some of the best health and fitness content that Team BOMB have enjoyed this year.
Book - The Naked Mind by Annie Grace (Christine)
The Naked Mind has been the most impactful book I have read this year, maybe ever.
After struggling with "Dry November", "Dry January, "Dry Anything", I picked up this book and haven't had a drink since. I will be one year sober on January 1st! Even though I never hit "rock bottom", my drinking was negatively impacting my life in many ways.
I owe MANY thanks to this book but almost one year later, here are two BIG lasting impacts it has had:
1) I no longer miss or crave drinking.
2) I have healthy hobbies now! I was forced to reassess what I actually enjoy doing versus what I enjoy doing while drinking. It turns out drinking had become a part of every part of my life (other than work). Dinners, park hangs, bike rides, concerts, cooking, movie nights, and so on. There was a very depressing moment when I realized, Sober me doesn't have any hobbies or interests. Now I take pottery classes, draw, read, play sports during the warmer months, meditate and more!
Order it at your local east end bookstore.
Podcast - Joy Snacking (Sally)
Joy Snacking is about finding moments of happiness and wonder in the mundane day-to-day, and it can be an antidote to stress and negativity.
To practice joy snacking, start by being open to experience joy in the everyday. Savour a sip of coffee at the perfect temperature. Notice the way sunlight shimmers on fresh snow. Choose the prettiest route for your walk to work. Slow those moments down and allow yourself to revel in them.
Listen Here
App - Steps/Pedometer App on Your Phone (Kevin)
Yes, this is not a mind blowing recommendation but I've found it pretty powerful this year. On top of tracking my workouts, I've been setting a daily step goal through the iPhone Pedometer app to see how long I can streak at it (130 days and counting). This includes completing the monthly challenges that are only revealed at the beginning of each month.
Jerry Seinfeld once said to a young comic that he should write one joke per day and then mark a big X on a wall calendar when it's done. Then, the only job is to not break the chain. This is the step version of that for me and it holds me accountable on days when I can't be bothered and it even gets me out in snow storms.
If you need accountability and have a record of being hard on yourself, this is a low-hanging-fruit first step to help you get going again.
Movie - Everything Everywhere All At Once
BOMB attracts a lot of awesome people from the neighbourhood. Our members volunteer at food banks, fundraise for their school, support local businesses, and devote their time and money to local charities. They give a shit and it shows and this is a huge theme of this movie (one character says to another, "My kindness; it's both strategic and necessary"). It's not strictly a health and fitness related movie but, much like our members, it drips with empathy.
The movie is bananas. On one hand, it's about a lady who just wants to get her taxes done, but then there's multiverse travel, talking rocks, hotdog fingers, a fanny pack fight, and inventive ways to dimension travel.
It's like watching a naked Einstein throw sh*t at the wall for a couple of hours; it doesn't appear to make sense but you feel that you're in skillful enough hands that it will eventually get to E = MC² (which it really does).
Released back in March, but finally getting the attention it deserves, you can catch it streaming on Amazon Prime. Bring tissues.
Enjoy the rest of your festive break!
Kevin & Victoria
P.S. January is almost here! Did you know you can check us out with a no-commitment 14 day trial for just $49+HST? Or if you need a bit more accountability and hand-holding check out our Reboot Challenge beginning on January 16th! Smash a button below for more details.
