Hi everyone!
Finals is approaching, and I have been crazy busy. I'm sorry for the lack of posting; I promise I'll have lots to share with you after this week passes! For now, I wanted to talk about how my mentality about exercise transformed into a way I began to treat my body with the love it deserves. My body is something I am proud of, not because of appearance, but because of what it does for me. It takes me to class, allows me to run, play sports, travel, the list goes on. Exercsing is my way of showing my body appreciation.
I feel like a lot of people use exercise as punishment, as dramatic as that sounds. They use it as a tool to lose weight and burn calories. If they ate out a lot the past weekend, drank too much, or pigged out on Christmas cookies, they feel they need to counterbalance their indulgences with exercise. I used to have this mentality, and it made fitness a chore. When I began to use it as my "me-time" and for stress release, I changed as a person and I became healthy and fit as an added bonus for the hard work I put forth when working with my body.
I started running to lose weight in high school. I did not eat well, and I gained a few unwanted pounds because I was not active either. I wanted to be healthy, and that is why I began to exercise. I gave it up as soon as I hit my goal weight. Fortunately, this set off my healthier eating habits, and I maintained my weight as a result. When I approached exercise with the mentality of using it for stress release, everything changed. I now use it as a stress reliever and to be the most healthy being I can be. On-and-off, I have made myself exercise to perform (i.e. the marathon), but that was due to a personal goal. Trying to pressure myself to perform even transformed fitness into a chore. I began to lose my love for it during my training, at times. Don't get me wrong; I would never trade my marathon experience for the world. I stressed myself out a little too much to accomplish my goals, though. I am now in a place where I am purely running, spinning, walking, using the elliptical, dancing, or using weights by choice. I am rediscovering what exercise means to me, and I am happy with the balance that I found.
This post is not me bashing the goal of exercise for weight loss; I want to make this clear. Exercise is important to maintain a healthy weight and benefit your heart and mind. Using exercise to shed pounds is an important goal, but it shouldn't be purely that. This is my personal opinion; every feels differently about what exercise should mean. When relying on exercise to lose weight, it does put an unwanted pressure on the individual, at times. I hope that if you are out there and choosing your goals, that you remember to take pride the most in your efforts to be healthy. Remember to appreciate your body and give yourself time to get in shape. Feed it with healthy food to fuel your workouts, and remember to appreciate what your body is doing for you. Allow yourself to go at your own pace, and think about exercise as your "me-time", too. It is a time to relax and clear your mind. I hope you grow to love it, but, if you do not, that is okay! Try new things, be adventurous, and be kind to yourself. If you want to indulge on your mother's special Christmas cookies, enjoy birthday cake at a party, have a drink with dinner, do it! If you truly want something, never deny yourself those cravings. If you restrict yourself too much, your health journey will become a miserable experience. Just regulate your indulgences while still making your health a priority.
You work hard, and you deserve to fall in love with yourself because you are making strides in taking care of your body. Take care of yourself, and stay well(:
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