Some people love it, some people hate it, but we were all born to do it.
“Exercise is a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what you ate”
Is the meme that sits on my gym wall.
But how many people really think this every day, when they go into the gym or out for a run or a hike?
How many of us have a negative mindset before we exercise or the reason for exercising, saying things like:
“Ugh, I saw myself in the mirror this morning and I need to make a change”
“I’m going to the beach next week…quick I need to lose some weight”
“I need to work on that six pack otherwise my wife won’t love me”
How many of us think:
“Wow I feel good today, I’m going to see how far I can run/ how much weight I can lift”
“Let’s see how I can help my body add muscle today!”
“I’m going to help my body detox, get healthier/ strengthen my immune system today!”
Why Is that?
Is it because we are bombarded with social media’s perfectly airbrush images of genetic freaks/ starved individuals/ 18 yr olds etc that we try so desperately to keep up with? Is it because few of us have a real understanding of what our body does every day, how complex its system and organs are, how it keeps us alive and healthy and enables us to hug our pets, friends and family. How many people do you know in real life that are ‘perfect’?
I train most days as well as eat pretty damn healthily, but I’m still not perfect, neither inside nor out. Do I sometimes go down the negative mindset route, absolutely, I’m human! Like anything in the health, fitness and wellness field, everything is a journey of discovery.
It's Time For a New Mindset
We need to actively change from “health and fitness because you hate your body and want to change it, to ‘health and fitness because you love your body and all that it does for you, wherever your abilities lie’. You don’t need to do what everyone else is doing, you need to do what you can do and what makes you feel good. If you have goals that’s great, but please make them positive goals.
Respecting and loving yourself and your body just that little bit more will do yourself a world of good.