I don't normally blog about fitness, but today I must. There's a big problem running rampant in our country. Misleading information. It is everywhere! For some reason, someone has signed me up for certain magazines. You know the ones - hot girl on the front wearing little, and those abs are sweet and sexy. Headlines plaster the cover: Lose weight!, Great Buns in 5 Moves!, and so many more.
Everywhere you look; Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and probably others that I don't have accounts with, they all share articles written about how to get the body you want. So what do we do? We read it. Oh, yes, that makes sense. I can do those moves. I wonder if that really works... Every article quotes someone. There's a doctor somewhere giving this information. Those moves come from the hot new trainer in L.A. Look, let's face it, for enough money people sign their names to anything. On top of that the resources and data are often minimal and unreliable. If you want to know what is going on, read journals. There are medical, nutritional, and fitness journals available to people everyone. Our minds are infiltrated by the constant flow of media. Within the media, there are presentations of how to be fit and healthy. However, so often what is given is misleading. Yes, those 5 moves listed on the cover of the magazine will give you great buns IF you also are doing the cardio that removes the fat off your body and eating well. And what happens if you do only those 5 moves for a month. Then what? Where do you go from there? The challenges that pop up on facebook: Squat, plank, sit up, push up. What do you do after week 4 of learning how to squat 200 times in a day? We are taught to go balls to the walls from the start. Well, eventually, we'll cap out. We hit the max. Our body doesn't change anymore. Why not? Without challenge there is no change. It works that way with everything we do. I teach my daughter to read and write starting with letters. We aren't sitting down ready Plato, though it wouldn't be the worst thing. We start at letters, move to sounds, sight words, reading those words in books and on signs. We put it all together until she learns to read books. Then we go to more challenging books. We must keep adding for our minds to expand. We must keep adding for our bodies to make changes. These drastic changes kill me. There has to be progression in each stage. Unfortunately, in order to change how we approach our health and fitness life, we have to change our mindset. We have to weed out the crazy instant fixes we see online. We have to wade through the slush of insanity to get to a healthy mindset. I'm going to share the number one thing I use to remind myself of how to do this the right way. Ready? Love your body. I know I know. You have some pudge in the middle. Your thighs rub together when you run. Mmhmm. I hear you. I'm with you. But think of it this way: You love your spouse, so what do you do? You take care of them. You help them with housework, chores, meals. You love your kids, so you feed them, clothe them, play with them, educate them. You love your job. You show up on time, smile, do your best when your there. When you take that love and place it on your body, great things will happen. You love your body. You appreciate how it can lift that weight. You love that your posture is great. You love your body by dressing it well, not hating that outfit. You feed it right. You take care of your body like you would your kids. When they have done too much, you make them rest. When they are sick you make them rest and eat right. So why don't you do that for yourself? My struggle is right along side you. I am currently in "recovery week." I have been pushing hard for months. I have been tracking my food and exercising. I went back to the heart rate monitor watch to track my calorie burn better. So this week, I am giving my body the chance to recover from hard workouts. I'm letting my muscles rest. I'm still eating well, probably less, but not tracking. I am allowing for my head to relax. At the end of this week if I gain a pound or two, so be it. If I lose a pound, woohoo. But I must rest. BUT GUESS WHAT I DID?! I did two difficult workouts Monday and Tuesday. Why? Because in my mind, it was "I would have done two workouts today, so at least this is less." There's also fear. I'm afraid a week off will kill my hard work. It won't. I know it won't. Truth is, I take a medicine that makes me gain weight (right now my left foot is swollen from water retention) and I don't know if I will keep gaining weight or just plateau. I use recovery weeks to try new workouts and play around, but often do not recover or rest. Well, as of yesterday afternoon I changed my mind. It is easy peasy from now on. Light exercises. Fun times. Actually recover. Please know that you are not alone in the mind revamping. Everyone goes through it. Even people who know the truth. Love yourself.
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AuthorI have a lot to say about a lot of things. Archives
May 2023
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