Finding True Value of Your Health and Fitness
When you are motivated and having fun, no one needs to convince you to exercise or eat right. That’s the “easy” part. It’s when you lose motivation, miss a day or even a week, this is when we need help. It gets hard when you are going day in and day out and still don’t see results. This is something that happens to everyone and you are not alone.
When you build these life long habits of daily movement, over time you’ll begin to rely on them when things get tough. It’s easy to give up. But you learn nothing from giving up. Instead you punish yourself, put yourself down, beat yourself up, and the list goes on and on. What you are doing to yourself now is creating a bad connotation to exercise. Your brain begins to reject what you are telling it no matter how much you tell yourself exercise is good for you! This is a really hard place to be in, but you are able to get out of that hole when you create little, healthy habits. Even if it means going for a 5 minute walk after dinner instead of sitting down to watch TV. A 5 minute walk everyday gives you 35 minutes of exercise that you were not doing before. It’s very important to start with small attainable and sustainable goals.
When I am going through difficult and stressful times, I don’t go to the gym to get stronger. Instead, I use it as a way to relieve stress, which for me could mean practicing mobility drills or some light stretching before calling it a day. And another day that could mean focusing on one single lift for the entire day. It all depends on my current state of mind. If you are ever stressed, I would recommend a workout that is going to be a little more restorative and healing, rather than a workout that is going to keep your heart rate elevated the whole hour. Our bodies are smart, but not smart enough to decipher between mental stress and physical stress. When you are stressed from work/family, your body is already at a disadvantage, so use that as an opportunity to make yourself better. I know that if I am able to control one thing and win at that, then I can overcome other obstacles and continue to build on those. I will put myself into a position to be successful mentally and physically.
Knowing how your body responds to exercise is just as important as knowing how your body responds to what you eat. Stress eating is easy, but mindful stress eating is hard! What I mean by this is that when you are stressed and there is a piece of cake sitting on the counter, it becomes an obstacle. An obstacle that we have demonized. Yes, that cake may taste really good and give you instant gratification, but is it worth the long term effects? Is it worth feeling crappy later for eating half of a cake? If your answer is yes to either of these questions, then you have already put more thought than most. What I like to do is look at the positives and the negatives. Yes, I would love to have cake, but I don’t need it right now because it doesn’t make me feel good. Or you say, yes I want that cake, and yes I know I won’t feel good tonight but I accept the fact. That is when you know that you truly value health and fitness.
A huge reason that we struggle with this is because we go into fitness with so many goals and all of this motivation. However, when the motivation disappears and those goals seem to be getting further and further away, it becomes very discouraging and we often burn out. This can lead to a bad meal, which then becomes punishment at the gym (negative connotation to the gym). Punishment at the gym may result in another bad meal or even worse starving yourself, which may lead to one missed workout. One missed workout could then lead to a week of missed workouts, which leads to another bad meal, and all of a sudden your goals seem that much further away! In reality, they are right there in front of you and actually have never moved. Your goals will always be there, but your motivations should not be coming from someone you follow on social media. It should not come from your favorite movie, nor should it come from someone yelling at you! Your motivation should come from within, that is the motivation that will NEVER leave you. If you truly know why you want something there is no need for any outside noise. Know your ‘why’ and it will only be a matter of when!