(As we continue to explore the series: Everybody act normal)
I’ve started re-working workouts.
5 minutes at a time.
After a year of waking consistently at 5:15am, to have a cup of coffee before waking my 15 year-old son for 25 minutes of HIIT in the living room, summer 2025 hit us in like a blocked lane on I-95.
We started with the detour.
We shifted wake-ups to 5:45am, added weights on some days, and also enjoyed the trademark of a real summer… sleeping in .
Then, we hit full stop.
Then, a new school year came and he was completely and totally obliterated by the obligatory new-school-year-cold.
My clothes fit differently. The scale hasn’t budged, but the fluorescent lights and 3-way mirror at Macy’s last weekend told the story.
It’s time for me, my son, and Shaun T to spend our mornings together again.
In the time it takes to write two emails, Shaun T can help me burn 300 calories, fill my system with an endorphin high, and make me believe in my heart-of-hearts that I can handle whatever the day throws at me because I already did a million burpees (not really, but it certainly feels like a million when I can’t breathe).
Will we (can we?) return?
As my son and I prepared to re-start on Monday, we strategized on Sunday (we always decide what workout and how long the night before. I highly recommend ‘pre-deciding’ to eliminate choices and opt-outs in the morning).
In the infinite wisdom of a child who hasn’t yet programmed assumptions, societal norms, or limiting beliefs, he suggested we do 5 minutes of the 30 minute (hard as H*ll program called Insanity Max:30).
The dread inside me instantly lifted. My brain emphasized the message in a loop: “I can do 5 minutes.”
On Monday, 5 minutes. I was out of breath and broke a sweat.
Tuesday, the next 5 minutes of the same workout. I was out of breath, and my abs hurt. We added a few sets of bench presses in the former guest-room-turned-gaming-and-weight-room (aka: teenage boy playroom).
Wednesday, the following 5 minutes (yep, we’re at 15 minutes now and Shaun T is telling us “You’re half-way done with the workout. You can do this.”).
Thursday, we’re doing this.
Friday, we ended the week with bench presses.
Rep by rep:
It’s normal for women to do bench presses.
Yes. Bench presses. Women do bench press. Despite the fact that every free stock photo website failed to have a photo of a woman doing bench presses, women are more than capable of laying on a bench and lifting the bar overhead. Maybe even adding some weights to each side.
To actually download a stock photo, it would have cost money. So, to prove a woman is capable of doing this incredible multi-muscle exercise, I had my son take this photo yesterday.
I credit my dad for dispelling the myth that the bench press is for men. During middle school and high school, my dad would coax me to do a few sets before I had to hustle to the bus stop.
When I told myself terrible things about my thighs through decades, I had very positive inner dialogue about my arms. He may have saved me from absolute body dissociation.
Today, the bench press is back in my life. With it, I’m fighting gravity and feel the freedom to grunt-like-the-hulk on those last reps. Mind, body, spirit, baby.
Page by page:
It’s normal to escape.
I told a friend I started reading the book she recommended, Circe.
She touched her heart.
That told me everything I need to know about what awaits in this beautiful prose.
Bite by bite:
It’s normal to feed your family.
This Ma Po Tofu recipe is a family staple.
Recipe notes:
You don’t need the oyster sauce if you don’t have it.
Add broccoli, but don’t overcook it.
Using ground pork is essential.
You can crisp the tofu in an air fryer prior to adding it to the meat. Coat it lightly in corn starch. And if you’re not already using air fryer liners, they are a game changer for clean up.
We always have a family size siracha bottle on-hand.
So good. So easy. Bite by bite.
Word by word:
It’s normal to write your feelings.
There’s a lot to process these days — in the world and, particular to my own experience, in America.
Writing your thoughts and feelings can be a powerful, effective addition to your well-being.
A few years ago, an uninvited change was the catalyst to re-defining how I live my life.
I wrote my way through that journey.
It felt that those lessons might be helpful to someone else. So, I’ve pulled together story, the writing, and the important questions that got me through in the hope it will give others hope and fuel perseverance.
No one is immune from change. Yet, the tools to navigate — and the faith it will make us new — are harder to come by.
It will be available November 11 on Amazon. But, if you want to hear me read one (or three) of the poems within, I’ve posted them on my website: https://nobodymakesitalone.com/freetofly/
You can also opt in to be reminded when it’s available (along with receiving a few extra goodies): https://forms.gle/8LybfnpiiwuPnfGQ8
Day by day:
It’s normal to think about today, and today only.
Thinking too far ahead can be too much.
Worrying about the future can eat us alive.
I cannot ignore the shocking, unprecedented, risky things taking place all around me and out of my control.
Every sunrise is a choice.
Be fully present and aware of my impact on others in the world - today.
Or
Worry myself into a paralysis about the future.
One note: Present is not passive.
Take care of yourselves, friends.
Bit by bit.
Your son and his 5-minute approach are SO wise.