Being More than ‘Nice.’

Story time: one of the first transformative experiences that I had in college was in a history class titled Creating Contemporary America.

Dr. Pollock was not a woman to mince words, and so when WASP behavior, the creation of the American suburb, ticky tacky houses, and ‘nice work’ became the topic of conversation, she didn’t hold back. “What is the POINT of ‘making nice?’ why have pointless conversations about the weather or peewee sports to be likable?” Is never having a ruffled interaction worth a 100 non memorable conversations? What about 1000? A lifetime?

I realized it wasn’t. I have to assume that I only get one life, one chance to EXPERIENCE. I don’t want to spend it biting my tongue, telling half truths to lubricate interactions or feigning interest or sweetness. If someone doesn’t regard me in a positive light, why should I care? Why be ‘nice’?? Why allow your defining characteristic be a lack of interesting experience? I can think of fewer things more distasteful than for this to be my descriptor. ” For fucks sake, BE SOMETHING, anything else.” I told myself. I did not/do not want to be a glass half full, rose tinted glasses person, because this person is in denial. They live in a pleasant Matrix and for this they have my disdain.

To be clear, being KIND is not the same as being nice. Sometimes people need an unpleasant but beneficial reality check. To avoid it, is Nice. To tackle it for their benefit or others is kind. To fight for things that are right is kind, but it is not nice and is often unpleasant. Sometimes ‘nice’ masquerades as kind or kind may be mistaken for nice. The difference is in quality.

‘Nice’ is vanilla. It’s sweet without intensity. The remaining taste in your mouth after a ‘nice’ interaction is as much about what you don’t experience (challenge, intensity, excitement, anger, passion) as what you do.

Be brave.

See things as they are.

Have more depth than superficial pleasantness.

Be more interesting than everyone’s cup of tea.

Be more challenging than likeable.

Be more than nice.

For many reasons this thought has been working its way through my brain. Too many times biting my tongue in the hospital setting? One too many times hearing “but they’re soo nice” as an excuse?

Maybe it’s being passed over for the easier/more palatable option too many times that has effected this post. Regardless, I will continue to be more than just nice.

-NM

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Interview with Seismic Systems

Check out my recent interview with Owner/coordinator of Seismic Systems, Rob Kabrich.

Rob is a health and wellness advocate who, through Seismic Systems helps others develop patterns to achieve their health, financial, and professional goals.

 

Who is Dr. Mims?

Dr. Mims started as an RRCA certified running coach and a NASM certified PersonalTrainer before going to school for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. When I was looking for a trainer to get me to that next level after a long plateau she was the most organized and motivating trainer I found. She structured a solid program for me and in the first 6 months I was in the best shape I’d ever been in my life. She also is excellent at explaining the science of what is going on in your body during each phase of the program and the fluctuation in nutrition needs. I wanted to share her story and also hear her insights on health and fitness.

How did you get into health and fitness?

I initially got into fitness because of my mom passing away.  She was a lifelong smoker. A short while after she passed I decided I was going to run a marathon.  To me it felt like the opposite of lung cancer & copd was running a marathon. The only thing I’d done before that was run track in high school.  I didn’t really know how to approach the marathon distance so I felt that the best way was to get some sort of coach or mentor so I didn’t hurt myself.  I was about 20.

How was the training for the marathon?  

It was a very daunting goal, especially as I had only ever run like 3 miles max so I decided to set a shorter term goal as a half marathon.   My coach, Narissa, was just coming back from a knee surgery and I was so impressed with her. I loved how she was able to lead the group and teach and work with each of us for our specific needs.

How long before you ran the half marathon?

It took about 14-15 weeks.

That seems short…

No, that’s not terribly short to do.  The first long run is about 5 miles. In a given week your mileage would be 20-40 miles with about a quarter of it being on the long run.  It gets technical if you want to do it right which is part of the reason why I appreciated having the group. The plan was kinda laid out for you, but 3-4 months is pretty doable.

So when did you get into lifting?

I started lifting initially in college but not seriously until after becoming a coach.  After the first year or so of running and being really inspired by my coach with RunOn I decided to go through a certification program offered by RRCA (Road Runner Club of America) so that I could do that for others. That was my first certification and I decided I wanted to coach and go the health and wellness route at that point. I had all but a semester’s coursework finished for my undergraduate and so it made sense to me to wrap up my degree and then go the fitness route after.

I graduated spring of 2010 and decided to move to Austin a few months later  both because I had friends here, and there was a good fitness community. I knew that I probably wouldn’t be able to make a good income only doing running groups, so I had branched out towards PersonaI Training and was studying for my Personal Training certification through NASM.  I took my certification after moving to Austin and then got a job working for Gold’s Gym. As they say, the rest is history.

So then what made you decide to pursue a Doctorate?

It was kind of a lot of different factors.  Training requires a lot of “selling” and it really didn’t let me have the work-life balance that I wanted.  I was also a bit bored. I was able to help people achieve their goals but it was often a method of ‘just apply the formula.’.  Another component was that the gym environment is very testosterone driven. Success and respect had more to do with how much muscle mass you have and not necessarily what you knew.  A person could be a twig but that doesn’t mean they don’t know what they’re talking about. Vice versa you can gain muscle mass while doing things wrong. Just because you haven’t been injured yet, doesn’t mean you won’t.  So it ends up that because women don’t have the benefit of testosterone…a lot of us aren’t taken seriously.

 

I didn’t feel like I was having as much impact on people’s lives as I could and Physical Therapy seemed like a way I could do that, without having to deal with the things I disliked about training.  

Tell me more about a trainer not looking a certain way, cause I’ve felt that way about trainers myself

It’s understandable to, for example, want to go to a hairstylist that has good hair but in the gym it went further, it went into being female.  I was pigeonholed into being more about fat loss because I was female…still am, last time I checked anyway. There are plenty of women that do just fine, but it was another thing on the laundry list.   Now I can say “I’m a Doctor here are my credentials.” Also in PT I don’t have to sell, they’re already there to see me. And there’s never a simple formula which keeps things interesting.

What would you say to people about having a trainer?

First it’s about getting the right trainer.  Having a good trainer is a very valuable resource.  

Because…?

Trainers, when they’re doing their job properly, have a plan.  They take the information, they do an evaluation, and see what you need.  Which is easier for them than it might be for you to do for yourself. You might think you need a bigger chest but really there is a posture issue and you need to work on your back so you aren’t hunched forward and essentially hiding your chest.  Hopefully they know what they’re doing, and they’ll be able to advise you on how to lift, not just what to lift. Ballpark estimate, 75% of the people I see in the gym are lifting poorly. Lifting with bad form won’t necessarily affect you today or next week but eventually you’ll bend down to pick up a pencil and that’ll be the day your back gives out.  It wasn’t the pencil, it was years of improper movement and lifting. A qualified trainer can help prevent that by adjusting form.

 

There’s the variety as well.  Not doing the same thing everytime you go to the gym.  Being taught how to do new things and lift in new ways, well.  Having accountability. A good trainer is going to take initial measurements and do checkin measurements along the way to see if you’re headed in the right direction.  They’ll also grump at you if you don’t show up. They’re also the one that is going to make sure you’re doing your homework.

Any person’s success in the gym, or anything else in life really, is consistency.  So if you’re not doing the things you’re supposed to do when you’re not with your trainer, you’re just throwing money down the drain…a good trainer will emphasize that to you.

What are some examples of homework?

It could be the dietary changes you need to make.  Most often it’s doing your lifts outside of when you see the trainer.  Most people can’t afford to see a trainer all of the times they should be at the gym.  Your homework would be doing the workouts in between the times you’re seeing the trainer.  That may be repeating a workout or doing some specific exercise classes.

For example with fat loss clients, I would often have them check in with me before they went to a spin class.  They were getting accountability for those other workouts.

What would you suggest for people that can’t afford a trainer?

Using the resources trainers use.  ACSM, NASM, ACE, there are even PT’s that do videos on youtube about how to do specific exercises.  You can get a training program from a credentialed person or a book and then look up how to do the exercises properly.  Main takeaway is to get a program from a credentialed person not just your fit friend, ‘Joe.’ Just because someone has muscle mass doesn’t mean they are educated or qualified to give advice for your specific needs.  

 

You want the resource that you’re getting fitness advice from to be evidence based.  So if your fit bro tells you that ACSM says to lift 3 times a week and do 150 minutes of moderate cardio…they’re not wrong, and they have a resource. When it comes to fitness in general, people need to get better about asking “what is your source?”  

 

One of the frustrations about health and fitness is that everyone has opinions about things but most of the time they don’t have evidence to back it up.  You end up with a lot of conflicting information.

What are the most common misconceptions you heard as a trainer?

whew….One of the biggest ones I saw and was guilty of believing in myself for a while, was that you should do everything minimalist in the gym.  Wrist wraps were bad, weight belts were bad, supportive shoes were bad, gloves were bad. All of the things that in these people’s minds kept your body from adapting were bad.  The idea was that if you did unstable lifts without any assists, then you would overall become stronger and more stable. The thing is, doing a lift unsafely plus weight doesn’t mean you’ll adapt, it just means you’re more likely to get injured doing it. Many other things aside, does this make sense in a risk/benefit ratio?  In the end isn’t health/muscle building without injuring yourself, more important than bragging rights about being able to do a deadlift without a belt?

How do you work around this bro mentality of “I know what I’m doing?” Even though it’s wrong?

Again, I’d go with seek out credible resources and be ready with them.  Has someone done studies on this thing you’re interested in? Is it a group that has done credible studies in the past?  Are they independent, or will they somehow profit from the results? If an independent group has done a study that x number of grams of protein after working out has a maximum amount of benefit that’s different than if a company that sells protein supplements says it. Also, how recent is your information?  If it’s older than 5 years, you may want to check out newer studies.

I remember you talking about how magazine’s job’s are to sell you magazines

A magazine tells you you should buy this new type of shoe because the shoe company pays for ad space.  

What about the workouts in these magazines?

It depends on their credentials, those articles are written by people.  If someone has the education or experience to back up what they are saying, they will include that in the article.  To be clear, education doesn’t necessarily mean a degree, it means certifications, experience, references, etc.

Any other common misconceptions?

Tons…”fat is evil, carbs are evil.”  “If you want to lose fat you have to eat under 1200 calories per day.”  One of the biggest ones, that’s a pet peeve of mine, is that if women start to lift they will look manish.  I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had that were worried about this. If you find a way to bulk up like a bodybuilder on accident, I want you to call me because I will sell that shit.  Women bodybuilders that are at that level put in tons of time and focus on their diet to get specifically to that point. It’s disrespectful to those women to think you’re just going to wake up stacked one day.  I think that myth is dying off somewhat but it’s still a thing.

 

One misconception/fad that I’ve heard of recently is you’re not lifting heavy enough if you don’t lose bladder control.  

That sounds like a terrible idea…

Yeah, no kidding.  I think this was another one of those lovely fads we can attribute to crossfit.  Occasionally the pelvic floor can become weak in some people and they can develop what’s called ‘urinary stress incontinence.’  The person may have bladder leakage when they bear down during a workout….but this is by no means healthy or a sign of ‘trying hardest,’ and glorifying it causes people (women especially) to ignore a real health problem.

O_0….holy crap!  So, yeah, there are tons of misunderstandings about lifting and nutrition.  The successful people that I know have good eating habits. Nutrition is like a whole huge thing and we could spend another interview just to go into nutrition.

True, it’s a topic that can get very complicated, very quickly.  One of the few cliches I’ve heard in the gym that actually stands up is the one “you can’t out-exercise a bad diet.” Most people eat more than they think they do and burn less than they estimate with their exercise.  If I had to emphasize anything I’d say “be conservative with your estimates and make good common sense choices.”

 

Check out Rob’s website at seismicsystemswork.com 

If you like this article you may also like: Max Strength – ‘How To’ and Sample Week

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Midnight Wonderings

Laying in bed contemplating, mind wandering through wonderings.

A risky tangle, underbrush in which to stray…lost. Losing the forest in the trees. Or is it the other way around? Do I miss the picture in the details of memories or are the memories lost with the foreknowledge of their ending.

And I wonder if any thoughts like this plague your mind. Do you sleep soundly?

And I wonder if you care enough to wonder, even for a moment.

I wonder why I didn’t compare. And why I couldn’t. And why I give a fuck.

…And I know I’ll never know, and it wouldn’t matter if I did.

But still I lay here, and I wonder.

About the Author:

This is NOT one of “those sites” where the author gives advice without evidence or confuses their opinions with fact. My name is Nicole Mims. I am a Physical Therapist living in Austin Texas. I was an RRCA certified running coach and a NASM certified Personal Trainer before going to school for my Doctorate in PT. I plan to discuss health and wellness with a holistic perspective. My life and education have equipped me to do this. I believe that people should have access to evidence based information to better their lives. In my effort to give back, this site is free and non ad driven.

I walk many different paths in my day to day. I’m an avid gym goer, PT, artist, advocate for sobriety, dog mom, lay buddhist, and often simply a human with all the related strengths and foibles. Advice here will be fact based with resources, but it will also be a sounding board for what I’ve found to be true in my life. Some articles are just personal expression of feelings that need a way out (located under personal). Hopefully we’ll both find something we can use here.

With love,

Nick

Goals, Milestones, and Finish Lines

I began this blog approximately 5 years ago, at the same time I decided to go back to school to become a Physical Therapist. I was working in the gym as a personal trainer at the time, and honestly I was miserable. I was bored, I hated selling, and I wanted the skills and knowledge to help more people and help them in a deeper way.

Saying and doing are two very different things though. I set off on my path in Jan 2013 taking prerequisites and earning volunteer hours at clinics. I applied, interviewed for, and was admitted to the PT class of 2014… I was dismissed from the program 2 months later for technical bullshit on a practical. I dusted myself off (I drank too much…another story), and I was readmitted to PT school in the cohort of 2015. This time it took. It was an adventure, there were dragons. Lots of dragons. There were many times I had to compromise, bite my tongue, and pacify egos.

In May of 2018 the Odyssey ended. I graduated and found a great job within a month. Since that point there has been an amazing shift in my life. The politics and drama of PT school are over and I get paid to help people. In summary I accomplished my goal.

In the months since graduation I have had friends and acquaintances ask how I did this. How do you go from having a far reaching goal to making it your reality? To quote Dr. Strange “study and practice, years of it.”

Seriously though there were a few underlying themes to my story and I’d like to discuss them here.

• Set your goal: Know clearly why you want to accomplish this and what you’re willing to sacrifice to do so.
• Visualize and believe
• Maintain focus
• Set and celebrate milestones
• Count down

Set your goal: be specific, know when you will have achieved that goal and know what you are willing to sacrifice to do so (and what you aren’t). Know why you want to do this.

–For my case it was “I want to become a licensed physical therapist so that I can use my skills to help people while making a comfortable income.”

–I was willing to sacrifice a lot. Time away from home and friends, the better half of my twenties, and occasionally my pride.

Visualize and believe: there will be people who give up and those who will fail. Decide now that its not going to be you. If you’ve addressed the first bullet point you know what your end result will look like. When things get tough (and they will) take the time to focus on this. It sounds silly, but it is invaluable to check in with yourself and remember why you are going through whatever it is you are doing.

Maintain Focus: this goes hand in hand with the previous point. When you have far reaching goals distractions will almost definitely pop up along the way. You may become infatuated with a person, want to set another goal like “getting in shape,” or you may have doubters that will tell you all the reasons why you can’t or shouldn’t want to do, whatever it is you want to do. Remember the first two things we discussed. You may need to sacrifice that budding relationship (if they are a hindrance/distraction), keep your fitness goals small and build them slowly, or cut out the people who doubt you. It may sound severe but if a person is trying to make you doubt yourself, they are toxic and they can bring you down. Know now that you are going to miss out on things. What that means depends on your specific goal.

Set and celebrate milestones: you have set your goal, you know what it looks like and what you’re willing to do to accomplish it. Now break it down into bite sized pieces. In my case it was a set of steps that would take me to graduation. Ex) prerequisites, admission, year 1, year 2, comps, residencies, research project defense, graduation. What does yours look like? Can you break it down by time line or steps along the way? When you cross one of these off your list make sure you celebrate. You are one step closer. Reflect on all of the previous bullets. Get ready for the next step. Believe you will reach the next milestone as well.

Count down: All of the above is useless if you don’t keep the end result in sight. Sometimes it might seem like you are watching grass grow, but over time you will be able to look back and check how far you have come. If it’s possible to set a finishing date do so. If not, try to quantify what you can and then count down from there. Trying to lose weight? How many lbs to go? For me this was graduation. What is it for you?

Cross your finish line: this looks different for everyone. Recognize when you accomplished your goal. Celebrate, be proud, and then help others. (Where I am trying to be now)

(Did it!)

Set another goal.

Everything in Moderation – how I stay healthy without extreme dieting

As a Personal Trainer and health advocate, the most common story I see about losing weight is that of the dreaded yo-yo. When clients hire you for weightloss it is necessary to impress on them the importance of diet for their success, sadly this is a double edged sword. Often people overdo whatever method of diet they choose to pursue and after initial success they see decreasing results, feel trapped, become frustrated, and then quit. I have been asked multiple times what I eat/do on a regular basis that I can indulge in that occasional pint of ice cream or dinner out.

Let me preface the following with saying that I am not a body builder or professional athlete, I am a normal woman who has found a (mostly) healthy relationship with food and exercise that allows me to stay well within a healthy bodyfat percentage and also eat out without regret.

Here’s a 3 day example of how I eat

Day 1 –

Breakfast – scrambled egg + egg whites + turkey sausage, coffee, water

Lunch- Turkey suasage links, salad, apple

Dinner – baked chicken breast, steamed veggies

Day 2 –

Breakfast – Oikos greek yogurt and 1/2 grapefruit.

Lunch – forgot to eat this day (:0)

Dinner – baked chicken tenderloins and steamed veggies

Dessert – whole fruit sorbet

Day 3

Breakfast – sausage, jalapeno and cheese kolache, raspberry kolache, coffee.

Lunch – chicken and steamed veggies (again, darn you mass meal prep)

Dinner – forgot to take a picture, SUSHI!!

As you can see, not too crazy in any direction. I also ran 2 of 3 of those days and lifted weights 2 of 3 as well (different day).

I believe that keeping a fairly regular workout routine along with consistent but not extreme meal planning is what gives me the latitude to have the occasional splurge. Not consistently denying myself things prevents the obsessive eating and then guilt/denial that i feel contributes to the yo-yo dieting.

As always comments, questions and feedback are welcomed.

What I think about while running

I know this seems like a weird topic for my first personal post; however, it is a question I am asked often.  The exchange usually goes:

(friend/family/acquaintance: so how long do your runs take?

me: Depends on the distance, usually an hour or so for shorter runs but up to 4 hours for my longest runs.

other person: wow… so do you listen to music?

me: no, its not really safe when you are running on roads and sidewalks.  I’ve gotten used to not having it.

other person: so what do you think about for that long?

So what I think about…
Running has become my personal time, my chance to get away from things.

I usually start off thinking about events of the previous week or day.  These thoughts are concerning both events in my life and also what is going on in our country.  I consider what is going on in Syria and the recent White House issues,  movies I have seen of late, and friends I should catch up with.  I also think about encounters I might have had and how I did, or should have responded to them.

A certain person who will remain anonymous often dominates my mind for the beginning of a run.  This person has known me for my entire fitness journey, but due to circumstances beyond my control they have decided to leave my life.  Because they were so involved in my running, I feel a certain hole in my heart each and every time I begin a run.  I so dearly want to text this person and ask what they are doing for their long run this week, or brag about my recent speed improvement because I know they would be proud.  This is not possible and I have managed to push these thoughts from my head with increasing efficacy in the last month or so.

I then  briefly consider my running form.  Are my shoulders back, head up, core active, am I striking on my midfoot?  How the weather is often comes to mind at this point as well.

As I mentioned, I tend not to run with headphones.  I do have a Garmin 410, and so about once every 10 minutes I will check my pace to make sure that I am on target for the distance I am doing.  This helps keep me from overexerting or getting lazy.

For the most part though, I just experience life and running. So many people do everything they can to not exist in their world.  I walk around campus and see the majority of people around me talking on their phones, playing  games or listening to their ipods.  We are the result of millions of years of evolution creating an awesome form to take in and experience the world around us…why would you want to miss that?

For the most part then I can say that I think about the beauty of the trail and trees, the adorable dogs, the feeling of sun on my skin, the exertion of my legs and my ease of breath.  I consider the burning in my quads when I ascend a hill and the gleam of the sun on water.  I think about the final minutes of a marathon when the world drifts and the only purpose you can conceive for your body is to push through till that finish line.  I think about why and how I experience life and the individuality of my experience.  No one else will feel this trail in exactly the same way or time that I am right now, and I never will again.

I try to take everything in and allow my mind to have that peace that exists without constant input from the internet, phone, television or music.  I truly believe that this is how we are supposed to experience running, without distraction.

Selene M.

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Every journey has a beginning

This is not it, but it is a milestone. I began my journey into fitness in 2009 when a person that I loved died because she did not take care of herself. I decided then, that I would run a marathon before I turned 25. I was 20 and had no idea that I could reach my goal before I turned 22. It was all over after that, I was hooked! I am now 24 and a certified running coach and personal trainer.

Every journey also has ups and downs. I was at my best point in fitness (to date) in November 2012. Much to my embarrassment I slacked off after my last marathon and have only been doing maintenance work since then. Until now that is. I am starting this blog to stay motivated, share my journey, and perhaps even pass on some information or motivation to others.