THE EVOLUTION OF FITNESS AND OUR BODIES

I wanted to do a little blog post around fitness and the whole journey and evolution.|

I think we have this image of "getting into shape" and then we just stay there forever and it's easy and magical. 

And sure, when we are at a high fitness level- working out feels AMAZING. You feel strong and powerful and like a bad-ass and it feels so good to push yourself to new levels and do things you never thought you could do before.

But the reality is that fitness and our bodies are ALWAYS evolving. I've been on so many different levels of the spectrum over the past few years and I want to share some lessons I've learned and some mindset shifts to help you feel amazing regardless of where you are in your fitness journey. 

I remember when I started working out again after a debilitating back injury. I felt SO frustrated at my body. It couldn't run, or do burpees or do a push up- after I used to be able to do all those things with ease. I was constantly comparing myself to where I used to be and felt like I was coming up short. In a word, it sucked. Getting back into shape at that time in my life was not a fun process. I hated my body and the weight I had gained and I derived little to no enjoyment from my workouts because it felt so damn discouraging! I also felt like I would be stuck there forever. I didn't have faith that things would shift- because I've never experienced that before. I had spent my whole life being fit and fitness had always felt easy to me. I always trusted my body to do whatever I set out in front of it- and it could. I had built a strong identity around having a strong, fit body (regardless of my weight) I knew it could always do anything I set my mind too. 

So when I had to "start over" it was a whole new experience. My body felt foreign and like a traitor. It couldn't "just do it". I had felt like every workout was a failure.

As I look back now from a whole new phase of fitness (pregnancy) I can see exactly where I went wrong. 

1.) I was comparing myself to the fittest version of me and felt like everything I did wasn't good enough. This made every workout feel awful, hard, and discouraging and it was incredibly hard to motivate myself to move. 

2.) I didn't celebrate the little accomplishments and improvements because I still felt I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. 

3.) I wasn't doing it from enjoyment, I was doing it out of a lack, fearful energy where I was trying to force my body back to where it was as quickly as possible.

4.) I didn't have the belief that this was temporary and that I would get back to where I was (and better). I had the belief I was stuck in this body forever and I was a failure. 

So now, as I navigate fitness and pregnancy- I have a completely different outlook and I am SO grateful I've experienced it both ways so I can share this with you!

First, know that whatever phase you are in- is temporary. You will improve. You will get fitter. Things WILL get easier. You will see progress! 

STOP COMPARING IMMEDIATELY. Whether you are comparing yourself to someone else, or a past version of you, or a mythical future version of you; cut it out and celebrate where you are now! Celebrate what your body can do today, get excited that this is just the beginning and it gets to keep getting better and better. 

Exercise for ENJOYMENT. This is the biggest one. If I was exercising to change my body right now- well... I wouldn't because it's pointless when my body is going to continue to shift and change and grow over the next few months with pregnancy. If you are exercising to change your body- you will never keep going because these shifts happen incrementally over time. In order to receive gratification from your workouts and continue to maintain intrinsic motivation- you must enjoy the process! 

So that might mean changing up your workout routine and finding something you love, or doing it with a friend, or simply stop forcing yourself to do the stuff you hate. 

Know that where you want to be is truly inevitable as long as you keep going. And in order to keep going- you've got the enjoy the process!

Now when I workout, I workout because it gives me an instant energy boost, it makes me happy, it relieves stress, it makes me feel powerful, and I just truly love it. (But I wouldn't love it if my focus was on my body changes and being able to do certain things right now because I would be setting myself up for failure!). 

So- shift your focus and know that your goals are inevitable. If you want to run a marathon and right now you can only run a few steps- get excited about the fact that you are about to improve leaps and bounds as you continue forward. Get excited for all the progress you are about to make. Get excited for the time when you look back and in disbelief of where you started and where you are now. 

Where are you on your fitness journey? Does this resonate? I for one and am already getting excited for my journey from post-partum to feeling the strongest I've ever felt!