Change Your Mind About Working Out

LET’S TALK FITNESS

Summer’s coming to an end, we’re gearing up for fall sweaters, pumpkin lattes, and holiday foods and parties so you might be wondering why I'm trying to motivate you to up your fitness game right now.


Why bother, right?


People are busy! And there's not that much coming up to be honest.... weddings are post-poned, trips cancelled, borders closed #quaratinelife - so why now? Why not just wait until there's a better reason to get back on track?


First off, I'm 100% guilty of having thought this way myself in the past, but I now know that this is the WORST outlook you could adopt for anything in your life... the idea that there will always be a better time in the future to 'start fresh.' 


A healthier, more beneficial perspective to adopt is this:


Taking charge of your life, your health, and your goals DOES NOT need to wait until 2021, or next week, or the first of the month, or Monday morning.


You decide how you live your life every moment of every day, so why not choose to live it as your best version RIGHT NOW? 

Remember when we talked about motivation and how it doesn't exist? And how you're never going to just magically 'feel like' doing the hard things required to make your dreams a reality? Well, this rule applies to fitness as well and I'm sure all of us can relate to the feeling of just not feeling like it. 


That's the hardest part about exercise and working out - it's not the physical aspect that's hard, our bodies were built to move and stretch and run. The hard part is the mental game.


Have you ever noticed that the best athletes, models, and strongest body builders in the world are all a bit twisted when it comes to their workout routines? They have crazy regimens and an inhuman level of willpower to stick with it...


Well, that's not because they're physically stronger or fundamentally any different than the rest of us, it's because their mental strength is NEXT LEVEL.  (& probably a bit obsessive and a tad unhealthy in their own way if we're being honest, but that's besides the point)


What I'm trying to get you to understand is that the biggest part of getting back on track is realizing that the only thing holding you back is your own mindset. If you could learn to master your mind and swat away those negative thoughts and bullshit excuses like flies, you'd have achieved all your fitness goals by now.


Which is exactly why you have to change the way you think about fitness in order to keep your brain happy and stop it from sabotaging your goals for the 1,000th time.


This is why it's so important to move your body in a way that FEELS GOOD for you.


If you keep trying to force yourself to run but you absolutely fucking hate running, your brain is going to convince you stay in and watch Netflix instead because it remembers how many times you've told it that you despise running.


"We hate running, remember? Why would we ever go do that voluntarily? Here, look, this couch is so inviting isn't it? You've had a long day. You deserve some rest. Let's just relax whaddya say?"     -your brain speaking to you.


Your brain is like your best pal, it listens to your feelings and it tries to protect you by helping you avoid things that bring you discomfort.


But sometimes the things that bring us discomfort are actually the best for us and the pathway to GROWTH & TRANSFORMATION. So in order to change the brain's response to exercise you have to convince it (aka truly believe and feel) that you ENJOY moving your body. 


This is good news! Because if you hate running, it means you can stop doing it now.


Find something (or a few things so you don't get bored) that you genuinely like doing whether its incline walking, lifting weights, HIIT, cardio, yoga, hiking, dancing, spinning, boxing, or a group class of some kind - and just do that!


In order to jumpstart the process of rewiring the subconscious mind and the way it responds to thoughts about exercise you must avoid doing workouts that you hate and instead practice telling yourself that movement is easy, enjoyable, fun, and makes you feel great. 


Use affirmations like, "I love feeling powerful, strong, and accomplished every day after moving my body" 


Remember that YOU are the master of your mind, and you always have the power to veto whatever silly thoughts or excuses it's coming up with. Navigating fitness is a mental game, and the strongest minds come out on top with the strongest, healthiest bodies as proof.


If you want to make your health a priority you and only you are capable of making it happen for yourself - not tomorrow, not next week, but TODAY.


You are powerful, and capable, and fierce AF. And you deserve to be in great health 💪🏼