The hardest part about getting into shape for most people is the part that requires you be more active, and to move your body every day. Honestly, it’s more a function of your mind, than the reality of moving your body, that defeats you. Remember last week when we discussed our minds proclivity to ALWAYS over predict the amount and caliber of negativity of a situation? Every. Single. Time. Outcomes are never as bad as we think they’re going to be. Yet people get so worked up about exercise in their minds that they struggle to even get started.
If your fears, doubts and resistance to change are holding you back when it comes to fitness work hard to let them go. The truth is that fitness can and should be fun. The old days when we walked on a treadmill every day are gone. And thank goodness for that! Talk about boring. Fitness and exercise can be anything you want, and should look like play. There’s Zumba if you like to dance. Swimmers have long lean bodies. Runners have buns of steel, and tennis players have great arms. Fitness doesn’t need to fit into a box in order to give your body the healthy results you’re looking for. It doesn’t need to be painful and you don’t need to suffer for your health. You’ve done enough of that already, haven’t you? That old saying, “no pain, no gain” applies to people who run their bodies like fine fitness machines and want to constantly push the limits. That works well for them, but that’s not where you are. You’re just starting your journey down the road to recovery, and for you any physical activity is a good thing.
GETTING STARTED
Remember that last week we determined taking a multi-pronged approach to your whole health was the best way to reach your recovery goals. Remember to pair your fitness goals along with your healthy eating goals, and other self-improvement goals like mindfulness programs, yoga or meditation in order to see more success. If you’re focusing multiple facets of your mind and life toward a healthier lifestyle the outcome is exponential. The momentum of eating well will push forward the momentum of a mindfulness program that pushes forward the momentum of your fitness goals. There’s a symbiotic relationship that will improve your whole health, mental and physical. This multi-pronged approach toward good health cushions you against feeling defeated or quitting when you screw up. Because you will. Everyone does. That’s life. You’ll eat a terrible meal, or eat too much, or have a decadent dessert, or miss a workout. Probably a thousand times over the next few years you’re going to make mistakes. And that’s okay! If you miss a workout, by eating a healthy diet you’re still winning. If you ate a terrible meal, your meditation will re-center you and help you to forgive yourself. If you miss a workout, just reinforce a healthier habit starting tomorrow that will carry you to your next workout and beyond. It all works together.
Another reason to take a whole-health approach to your recovery is because programs like mindfulness meditations are going to help you learn ways to relieve and release stress. When you’re stressed or anxious your body releases something called cortisol. Cortisol is responsible for a lot of negative effects on our body, one of which is the storage and retention of body fat. Being stressed makes you overweight. Being overweight makes you stressed. Rinse, repeat. It’s a vicious cycle and another factor in the obesity epidemic we’re experiencing. So many people live in a state of anxiety, at all times. It’s not natural, and incredibly dangerous for your health.
Find ways to create successes, no matter how big or small, that you can celebrate. Having multiple cross-genred goals toward good health will give you ample opportunities. Celebrate often, celebrate loudly. It’s good for your health.
THE TRUTH ABOUT WORKOUTS
“IT’S YOU VS YOU” – THE ROCK
This quote from Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) is one of my favorites. Why? Because he reminds us to meet ourselves WHERE WE ARE, not where we wished we were. What do I mean by that? I wish I was at my ideal weight, with great endurance, a strong heart and the ability to hike, swim or ride my bike for miles. Am I there yet? Not even close. If I ran a foot race right now against my ideal self there’s no way I could win. If I tried to do a workout right now that was geared toward someone on a fitness level on par with my ideal self I would quit today and never reach my goals. Remember that your recovery is you vs you-from-yesterday NOT you-in-a-year.
What does that mean in terms of fitness and workouts?
Not all workouts are created equally. Most are written for 19/20 year olds looking to push their already healthy body to their limits.
Most workouts are NOT created for people who have been ill or overweight and just trying to recover their health.
Most workouts include some form of jumping or high impact moves, like burpees. Those are something I DO NOT recommend for anyone just starting their recovery.
Your musculature is weak, your bones are most likely brittle, and your cardiovascular system is far from peak performance. If the workout you’re trying to do hurts your body – don’t do it!
The key word for you to remember when you’re beginning your recovery is GENTLE. You’re looking for gentle but effective ways to improve your fitness levels, rebuild your core strength and get your body moving. We’ll talk more about what that looks like shortly.
Just remember not to compare yourself or progress to anybody else, only to who you were yesterday. And promise yourself as you move forward that you will be GENTLE with your body. It wants desperately to be healthy again. It wants desperately to carry you into every dream you have for yourself. You have to learn how to do that gently and thoughtfully. If you’ve been reading this series, you’re building a great foundation.
YOUR BODY IS EXCELLENT AT SOMETHING
Another difference between your body and that of the 19/20 year old is that your body is better at energy conservation. The reason that people start to expand in the middle as they age isn’t a function of a slowing metabolism. It’s actually due to a refinement of their body’s systems into more efficiency. By that I mean that your body needs less energy to do the same things than it did when you were younger, leaving extra calories and the inevitable weight gain.
It’s the same reason that children can run around all day and eat candy like a horse, and typically stay on the slimmer side. Their bodies are not as efficient at energy conservation as an adults, and so they require more food and stay trimmer. There are cases of children with liver issues due to malnutrition or cortisol issues due to life circumstances that are overweight. For the most part that’s not the norm.
If you’re starting to see the spread in the middle, or have been overweight, it’s important to know that a large factor for that happening is because of your body’s efficiency. Being overweight isn’t fun, but it’s nice to know that there’s something your body is great at. You have something to celebrate. Now that you know you need less calories to meet your body’s needs you have two choices: one, you can eat less calories. Or two, you can increase your activity levels so that your body needs the extra calories you’re feeding it.
WHAT DOES FITNESS REALLY LOOK LIKE?
Fitness isn’t formulaic. There isn’t an x+y=z equation that I can give you, a roadmap of steps to follow, that’s going to give you the results you desire. Somebody else’s formula for success may not work for you. People are a reflection of a million little choices they’ve made over the course of their entire lives, not just what workout they did this morning. Your equation for success is going to be the food you eat, the sleep you’re getting, your positive and productive mindset and finally how often you move your body. You get to fill in all of those variables yourself.
Fitness looks different for everybody, because everybody has different interests and different goals for themselves. Fitness can be as simple as taking a walk for half an hour a few days a week all of the way up to CrossFit athletes who are in the gym seven days a week lifting twice their own bodyweight. The key is to find ways to move your body that also make you happy. Do you love to swim? Then schedule three days a week at the pool and swim laps. Do you love walks in the woods? Then take a brisk walk for half an hour or longer a few days a week. Do you love to dance? Look for a jazzercise class at your local rec center.
Exercise is not a dirty word. It’s not a boring, torturous and painful experience. Exercise can include doing what you enjoy that gets your body moving. Your simplest goal, as you start your journey, is to get on your feet and move.
Let’s take a moment to address the old, “I don’t have enough time” fallacy. Every single person has the same 24 hours in a day. No, we don’t all have the same circumstances. But the truth is that you’ll spend your time on the things you value most. You don’t need more time to get healthy. You need to use the time you already have differently so that getting healthy with exercise is permanently on your schedule. You need to create the habit of health, by finding something you enjoy doing that gets you moving, and then choosing to do it nearly every day from now on.
Find something you love to do, and make the time to do it. Swimming, walking, yoga, tennis or bike riding are all just a choice away. Not only will doing the things you enjoy make you happy, but doing them will make your mind happy as well.
Simple increases in your daily exercise over time will have remarkable and huge psychological benefits. Even more benefits than other things we have to boost happiness chemically. Clinical studies with people who are clinically depressed (this includes people with major depression) measured the happiness levels of three different groups – people on medication, people on medication and who exercise regularly, and people who just exercise regularly but are not on medication. Can you guess who were happier? The group of people who exercised regularly. Even better, the same group was tested some time later and were still the happiest group in the bunch with the fewest relapses of their depression. Those results are profound!
Doing some form of exercise three times a week for just thirty minutes can give you as much bang for your buck as taking an anti-depressant, and actually does even better than the medicine, with fewer instances of relapse. That’s huge!
If you have children, there’s another reason for you to embrace fitness and recovery. Science has proven that there is a direct correlation between academic achievement scores and physical fitness. Both in terms of reading and mathematic achievement. The higher your aerobic activity, the higher your cognitive achievements as well. This isn’t just kids! This is also true for adults! If you have kids, and you wished they could be doing better in school, then get their bodies moving! What a great opportunity for you and your children to embrace health and fitness together.
If you still aren’t convinced for the need to exercise consider that science has also proven that executive function (decision making), spacial reasoning (moving through spaces without bumping into furniture, banging into walls or tripping over rugs) and response speeds don’t get better with cognitive exercises like those mind gymnastics games, they improve with your physical activity levels. If you’ve broken a hip or have trouble navigating through spaces without bumping into things then get to the gym and do physical exercises.
If you’ve been sick or overweight and your energetic gas tank has been on empty for too long, you need to realize that in order to draw more energy into your tank, you have to spend more energy. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true. The more you spend your energy on exercise, the more energy your body will have afterward. So let’s get moving…
GETTING YOUR BODY MOVING
YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL SHOULD ALWAYS BE TO WORK TOWARD STRENGTH,
NOT TO BE SKINNY.
You need to remember to work your way up to your goals. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.
Make your fitness goals incremental, achievable and realistic. “I want to lose 100 lbs” is great. Do you have the patience to wait for 2 years through all of your hard work before you get to celebrate a success? One hundred pounds over two years is the same thing as losing 4.2 lbs. a month. Wouldn’t you rather celebrate every month? Or even every week?
As you’re thinking about starting the fitness aspect of your recovery, start where you are and do what you can. After you’ve gotten your feet back under you and some strength to your core, then you can branch out and try harder things. For now, remember to be gentle and that fitness should be like self-care, not self-harm.
Don’t be too proud. Don’t jump into a workout routine or fitness program too fast. Don’t overestimate your abilities or resiliency when you first get started or you could get yourself hurt and derail all of your hard work. Build slow, stay consistent and eventually you’ll get to whatever level of fitness you envision is ideal for you. Meet yourself where you are, not where you want to end up being. Be okay not being able to do it all at once. You may not be able to do every move or pose in a workout. Be okay with that, and don’t feel defeated or quit because of it. Don’t let the frustration or disappointment derail your progress. Do what you can. You’re laying a foundation for a lifetime of health and wellness. You’re just getting started. Accept that, treat yourself with kindness, and you WILL get better.
THE NITTY GRITTY
As you’re starting down the road to recovery, aim to do some sort of physical activity five out of seven days of the week. In the beginning, for the most part, the workouts and activities you choose will be gentler and less rigorous. That’s okay! That’s good! You’re on your feet and moving, and that’s all that matters. You’re rebuilding the strength in the core of your body, and that’s the most important thing at this point.
As you move up the scale of endurance and ability you can shift to more rigorous workouts three days a week instead.
For now just remember:
Never go longer than three days between workouts.
Never miss a Monday (it’s a great habit to build so that you set your weeks off on the right foot).
Always give your body at least one day of rest a week. That’s the time where your muscles will heal.
Listen to your body. On days when your body feels strong, grab it by the horn and go big. Big workouts, lots of steps, healthy eating. On days when your body feels tired, give yourself permission to rest. Don’t use “I’m tired” as an excuse not to exercise too often, however. Still get in your workout days more often than not.
WORKOUT EARLY IN THE DAY
I strongly encourage you to make your daily workouts the first thing you do in the morning, even before you eat. Fasting cardio is a great way to burn body fat because there’s nothing else in the tank or you blood stream to power your muscles and your body is forced to pull from your body’s energy stores to get you through. You’re also ramping up your metabolism for the rest of the day after you’ve worked out.
Add a consistent weight training or resistance band routine to your week at least three days a week. This tells your body that your muscles are important, and need to be built instead of depleted and your body will metabolize stored fat instead of your important muscles when you work out.
To begin focus on shedding excess weight to a more manageable level, improve cardiovascular and circulatory health, and build your core strength. Eventually when you’re closer to your overall goals you’ll be able to work up to sculpting trouble areas. That’s when you can bring a laser focus to trouble areas like flabby abs or saggy bottoms.
Hedonic adaptation reminder – remember hedonic adaptation? It’s that part of your mind that normalizes the emotional impact of your experiences. Hedonic adaptation is another reason to do your workouts early in the day. Your body recovers energy levels more quickly in the mornings, you’re not spending all day worrying about your impending workout and dealing with your mind trying to stop you from doing the work, and you’ll hedonically adapt away from any negative emotions you felt more quickly so you can enjoy the remainder of your day worry-free.
WHAT WORKOUTS TO LOOK FOR
Look out for workouts, programs, or “challenges” that are tailored for an older audience. I don’t care how young you are, if you’re in recovery then you need to start with workouts that are going to allow you to succeed, that will build strength, and get you moving.
Workouts tailored for older audiences have more modifications (alternative, less difficult ways to do the various moves in their workouts), and tend to build in intensity more slowly than a regular workout tailored for a younger more fit audience.
This is not a failure or taking the easy way out. Being able to succeed builds confidence and encourages you to keep going.
Starting more slowly helps you to avoid injury and builds a strong sturdy foundation that you can build on.
Look for activities that are low-impact. A bunch of jumping and hopping around when you’re rusty and not at your best can lead to serious injury and derail your journey.
Gentle is the name of the game, when you’re first starting. You can achieve your health goals without crazy high intensity workouts or punishing moves. Think swimming, biking, walking, or calisthenics.
Personally I look for “Challenges.” They’re typically 4-6 week long prescribed workouts that are themed. A 21-day plank challenge, or a 31-day ab challenge are just a few examples. Challenges are fun, short-term commitments that are useful because they allow you to try new things. By deferring to people who know what goes into a good workout, and following their recommendations, you have a better chance of seeing improvements in your health and you get to experience different ways you can carry forward to help you stay fit and healthy after the challenge has ended. You can find challenges all over online. Start with Pinterest, and go from there.
GYMS AREN’T NECESSARY
Don’t think you need expensive exercise equipment to succeed. You don’t!
Find or make a workout program that you can do at home, to get started. Gyms can be expensive, intimidating and are not necessary for your success. Avoid setting yourself down a path to success that might lead to feeling embarrassed every time you try to work out. The last thing you need when you’re just starting getting back into shape is the feeling of being judged poorly by people who have no understanding of who you are or what you’ve been through. Nobody needs that kind of negativity.
When you get to a point in your fitness journey where you’re ready for strengthening exercises, you can use resistance bands instead of weights. They cost a lot less for a full set, and take up a lot less space than weights. Resistance band workouts are easy to do in the comfort of your own home. If you come to a point where you prefer using weights, you can buy a set or a machine for your home.
If a day comes where you want to go to a gym for whatever reason, then go! In the beginning, however, gyms can be more off-putting than not. As I said earlier, those banks and banks of elliptical machines and treadmills aren’t necessary. A walk around your neighborhood is just as beneficial.
Gyms do have the benefit of having personal trainers on staff, if you want or need the extra assistance. Personal trainers are expensive, but if you find a good one who can tailor workouts to your level and goals, they’re worth their weight in gold. You can find personal trainers not affiliated with gyms that can meet you at tracks, or at your home, at their own home gyms and can achieve the same results. It’s up to you what your level of need or financial ability is.
WHERE TO FIND WORKOUTS THAT WORK
There are thousands and thousands of fitness apps (for android and apple). Apps are helpful because you can access them anytime and anywhere you’re able and ready to exercise. They’re also reviewed by other people similar to yourself who have already tried them out. Most of the good apps allow the input of your level of fitness, age and whether nor not you have access to equipment (like weights) or not and can provide a somewhat tailored workout for you. Some apps have free versions (with ads), but most cost money. I see them anywhere from $5 a month to $20 a month. They still cost less than a gym membership. Some of the apps I’ve seen and like are “Jillian Michaels” and “Sweat with Kayla Itsines.” I like them because they use calisthenics, don’t require equipment, and have helped people achieve some really great success.
Pinterest is a well-spring of workouts, for free. You have to mine through the good from the bad, but there’s a lot of useful information to be found on Pinterest. Keep your searches to “beginner workouts” or “workouts over 40” or the like. Anything that claims to get your fit in a matter of weeks is all marketing with little substance. We all know that fitness takes time, commitment, and consistency. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is not believable.
Fitnessblender.com has free workout videos that suit all fitness levels. The website is https://www.fitnessblender.com/videos .
Youtube is another wellspring of information and workout routines for free. Ignore most of the comments on those videos however, they’re not as useful.
If you’re interested in creating your own workout routines you can go to the ACE (American Council on Exercise) Exercise Library. They have thousands of calisthenic and resistance bands movements categorized by fitness level and target body area and offer written descriptions of the moves as well as gifs showing them being performed. The website is https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/exercise-library/body-part/butt-hips/gluteus-maximus(glutes) .
YOUR WEIGHT IS NOT A GREAT MEASUREMENT OF YOUR SUCCESS
Once you’ve started your regular work outs it’s very easy to fall into the old trap of stepping on your scale day after day and feeling frustration because the needle isn’t budging. There are so many reasons why your weight won’t change often or quickly when you’re first starting out that it’s best to avoid the scale all together. You’re replacing fat with muscle, you’re hydrating and shedding water weight, your liver is purging toxins and retaining your fat stores because of stress levels, your body has plateaued while it’s creating a new set point for your weight. There are so many reasons your weight may not shift when you begin, don’t let it stop you.
There are so many better benchmarks for progress and recovery. RESILIENCY AND RECOVERY are the best measures of improvements in your health. By resiliency and recovery I mean how quickly your body heals. Did you twist your ankle, bang your knee, scratch your arms, or tweak your back? When you start to eat right, and move your body, your internal systems that repair damage are strengthened and they fortify your body more quickly and better. Resiliency can also mean your ability to catch yourself when you stumble, or land on your feet instead of your backside when you lose your footing. Once you strengthen your core, and you’ve nourished your systems, your reflexes are heightened and your body is more able to do what’s necessary to avoid injury.
As you’re getting moving, notice the little things like these. They may seem small to you, but inside your body they are indications of huge health gains.
Alternative measures of success besides weight loss can also include a lowered prediabetic index. If you’ve been overweight then you’re probably familiar with your index number. Just by losing weight you lower than index and pull your body back from the edge of some serious health issues. The same thing can be said for cholesterol levels.
Body measurements are another excellent and more accurate way to track your fitness progress. Start right now by using a tape measure and measuring your body. Your weight loss may plateau, but your body will continue to shrink. Muscle is a lot denser than fat, and takes up a lot less space. Even if you’re weight hasn’t budged you may be losing INCHES. If you’re taking measurements weekly, you can keep track of that progress and stay motivated. It’s fascinating to see the ways that your body will redistribute before it sheds the weight completely. Measuring your body provides ample opportunity for you to celebrate wins.
How do your clothes fit on your body? Are they looser, more comfortable? That’s progress! Also, a steady stream of being able to do things with your body this week that you couldn’t do with your body last week is a HUGE indicator that you are recovering.
Be patient with the process, stay consistent with your fitness and you WILL see the changes you’re working for. That outcome is as solid as the laws of physics.
PLATEAUS IN YOUR WEIGHT ARE NORMAL, AND A GOOD SIGN THAT YOUR BODY IS DOING WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE DOING
As you start to lose weight and get healthier you’re going to come across something called a weight loss plateau. That means that your weight loss is going to stagnate, and the needle on your scale is going to stop moving. While this may seem like a tragedy, the truth is that weight loss plateaus are great signs.
A weight loss plateau means that your body has recognized that you are a smaller version of yourself, and it’s reset the set point for your weight. That means that your body now requires fewer calories to maintain its systems. It also means that your body and weight are more resilient. Where before your weight may have swung up and down with the winds, now you’re able to have a few missed healthy meals or workouts and your weight will most likely not change, or not as much.
Plateaus mean your new size is your new norm. Congratulations! In order to get through a plateau you may have to pour on the gas for a little while, and up your workouts and decrease your caloric intake to unstick the needle on your scale. Once you’ve done that, you’ll weight loss will continue as it had earlier until your next plateau.
Just remember, plateaus are a great sign that your body is functioning in a very healthy way and doing its part to support your healthier changes.
GOOD SLEEP IS CRITICAL TO GOOD HEALTH AND WEIGHT LOSS
Science has shown that getting good sleep regularly is just as integral to weight loss and good health as eating a healthy diet and exercising.
Always aim to get between seven and eight hours of sleep every night.
Studies have shown that people who sleep for less than seven hours a night were found to have the most chaotic eating patterns, were more prone to diet lapses and were more likely to exceed their weekly limits for alcohol consumption.
Set yourself up for success by giving your body what it needs, namely, good sleeping habits. Good health is self-care, and it’s all about being kind and gentle to your body and nourishing it in the best ways that it needs – good whole fresh healthy foods, good sleeping habits and exercise.
GETTING TO THE MAINTENACE PHASE
If you’re exhausted just thinking about having to work out every day for the rest of your life, good news – you don’t!
Breaking through big walls to regain your health takes big work. You’ll be working out, or being more active, for most days of the week to get your body some balance back now in the beginning of your journey. But then you get to a place where you look good, you feel good, and you’re happy with yourself. Then you can ease back on your intensity and work to maintain that weight, or size with only three to four workouts a week instead. You can shift gears from fourth to second, and can enjoy the spoils of all of that hard work.
Just bare in mind that this overwhelming uphill climb you’re facing doesn’t last forever. You WILL see gains in your health and fitness levels. You WILL reach new goals with the size and shape of your body. You WILL be able to ease back on all of the effort (only if you want) and just maintain the beautiful healthy body you’ve forged in the near future.
FIND OR FORM A SUPPORT SYSTEM
Getting healthy and physically fit are so much funner and easier to do if you have someone to do it with. If you’re celebrating alone every day, your success may seem underwhelming for you. If you don’t have a support system in place, meaning someone to share in the journey with you, then find someone.
Facebook Groups – there are a number of supportive groups on Facebook for people like you who are beginning to rebuild their health. You can always join and just observe if you’re shy. Every now and then an “I hit my goal!” post from you will have supportive comments and likes to keep you going.
A word to the wise on Facebook groups – Beware the MLM companies that want you to join their team. They promise to help you lose weight, and show you how. In truth they’re trying to make money! Which is fine, but the underlying truth is that your progress and health are not their priority. The shakes they try to sell you aren’t the best source for your nutritional needs, and paying someone else money while you give them rights to your photos and success story are unnecessary and predatory. Leave those distractions behind. Do this for YOU. Drive your own progress, make your own choices, and keep yourself open to trying new and different things without getting tied down to someone else’s program. Your success story is YOURS, not anyone else’s.
I do have a Fitness and Health Support Group on Facebook for anyone who wants to connect. My intent is to create and post a fitness program for free for anyone interested. The fitness program is still in the works while I work on finishing a few challenges to report back here to you first. The intent of the Facebook group is to be a safe and supportive place to share stories from our journeys, recipes and fun times together. I welcome anyone of like mind to join.
FITNESS ISN’T JUST ABOUT STRENGTH
If you’re only working out to build strength or slim down you’re missing half of the equation. It’s like eating a sandwich with only half of a bun.
As equally important to your health and fitness as muscle strength is your mobility, your flexibility. It’s often overlooked by the normal person who’s just trying to go to the gym and “get in shape.” We’ve been sold the line that fitness is a function of pushing weights and doing cardio. That’s partly true, but it’s only a sliver of the picture.
There are different ways to build up your flexibility, from simple stretches to yoga or Pilates.
I’ve chosen yoga. Yoga feels more like self-care than exercise, but has been proven to be more effective at slimming the body and building strength than any other form of exercise. If you think of yoga and picture people doing handstands, don’t. That’s one part of it, for those individuals who want to pursue yoga to its most extreme forms. Most yoga is static stretching poses with flows between positions. It’s stretching the body, holding positions and building core strength. Yoga, when done well, feels like you’ve worked your body but you’ve also massaged it from the inside.
Yoga builds long slender muscles that hug the bones, high tight butts, and a strong inner core. If you’re looking for somewhere to start I would recommend Tara Lee’s “Elements” videos (available on Amazon). There are three disks, all with unique flows, that address different purposes. I have tried a LOT of different yoga flows by different teachers, but have ALWAYS come back to Tara Lee. In fact, when I started working on creating my own home yoga practice I drew a lot from her videos. She’s worth every penny, and your body will thank you for the effort.
With yoga, doing it for 20 minutes every day is going to lead you to profound effects. Some people think that if they’re not jumping around or sweating buckets that they’re not getting any benefits from the activity. That’s not true, at least certainly not with yoga.
IF YOU SIMPLY HATE EXERCISING
Your mindset is going get you across the finish line to your fitness goals or it’s going to force you to quit resign yourself to a mediocre existence of illness and being overweight. You choose your mindset, and your mindset will choose your future.
If you dislike exercise, change your mind. Or change your definition of exercise. But change.
TAKE BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES!
This story is your story. Your recovery is going to be entirely up to you. Take before pictures of yourself today. Right now. Then promise yourself that there will come a day when you’ll get to take the after pictures. You’ll have earned it!
I want to thank you for coming on this journey with me. I know we’ve covered a lot of information in this Rising from the Ashes Series, from motivation, nutrition, mindset and now fitness. I’m proud of your commitment to come this far, and can’t wait to see you soar!
Stick around with Vital Living as we share healthy recipes, mind mapping minutes to help you stay in control of your mind and outcomes, and inspiring articles for your personal development. As always we’re committed to providing you with honest, tried and true information that helps every one of us live lives full of vitality and health.
Rising from the Ashes: Part 1: Where the Healing Begins
Rising from the Ashes: Part 2: Nutrition and Healthy Eating
Rising From the Ashes: Part 3: Mindset
Vital Living Life 