When I first started my fitness journey, I trained hard and I ate like a bird. My all-or-nothing mindset was purely out of hatred for my appearance. I compared myself to the fitness ‘gurus’ on instagram- comparing our bodies, even if these girls were 8 inches taller and 10 years older than me. I tried every type of eating style possible, only to end up binging on the weekends. Everyday, I’d spend minutes at a time analyzing every inch of my body. Pointing out flaws, taking pictures, only to see no progress. Every. Day.
For 4 years this was routine. And for 4 years, my body remained the same. Very little progress, but a ton of lessons learned. Was it worth it? I guess, because now I know what NOT to do.
Self Hate vs Self Love
I am starting this list with Self-love because it is the driving force for stronger intentions to take care of yourself. Exercising, eating healthy, and beginning a fitness journey out of care for your well-being will change your perspective and give you deeper meaning behind your intentions.
Throughout my fitness journey, I noticed the times that I looked in the mirror and felt disgust, my body wouldn’t budge. For weeks at a time, until I could accept my body and grow to appreciate it, I would look the same daily, if not, worse. It was during these moments of self-hate that I wouldn’t care to workout, because ” It’s not like I’m making progress anyway!” I wouldn’t eat for my health because I felt there was no difference. The moments I hated myself were the moments I cared the least about my health.
When I would look in the mirror and feel love for myself, even if I wasn’t where I wanted to be, I’d see progress daily. You can believe me or not, because I know it sounds crazy! I’d look in the mirror and appreciate the muscles I DID have, and the small progress I WAS making. Progress was made daily, because I appreciated the smallest of changes. From there, I felt energized, I WANTED to eat healthy and train hard. I felt proud after every workout, and ate foods that would heal my body. I felt my strongest when I felt love and gratitude for myself.
When you appreciate what you DO have, you create more of what you want.
Gabrielle Bernstein
The Rice Experiment
Has anyone ever seen the rice experiment?
Basically, it’s an experiment with 2 jars of rice. Yes, rice, like .. the food.
One jar is given hateful words, negative thoughts, and bad energy. The other is given love and gratitude. After days, or weeks, the “hate rice” became moldy and disgusting, whereas the “love rice” was completely unchanged. It proves the power that words and emotions have on progress.
Now, you could say it’s fake, and the experimenter just changed the “love rice” to freshly cooked rice but.. what would be the point of that? What would this person get out of that? It’s not like they’re making money whether or not this rice changes, right?
In this scenario, as crazy as I might sound right now.. WE ARE THE RICE. If you feel, speak, and think, harsh, hateful, negative thoughts about yourself, you are only going to REGRESS or remain stagnant. Whereas, if you feel appreciation, gratitude, and love for yourself REGARDLESS of where you are on your journey, you will only progress everyday. This also ties in with the Law of Attraction which I spoke about in Wake up Happy!
You Train Hard, but eat like Crap
Do you ever think “I worked out today, I can afford this bagel!” when you get home from the gym? Or go to the gym and run for hours after binging on the couch all night? Orrr, train, eat cookies, drink wine, then wonder why you never make progress?
YOU CAN’T OUT TRAIN A BAD DIET
I was 14 when I began my fitness lifestyle. Information was not EVERYWHERE the way it is now. The reason I say this, is because I didn’t know that eating was more important than exercise. I figured, I ran for an hour today I can eat this chocolate chip cake with Betty Crocker frosting, right? Wrong.
What you eat is 70% of what will bring you to your goals. Whatever your goal is – lose fat, gain muscle, become a better athlete- you need to eat according to YOUR goals. You also need to eat foods that will help you perform better in the gym. Vegetables, protein, complex carbs!!
I’ve dealt with eating disorders in the past. Over-restricting, binging, going 24 hours with no food. I would never enforce anyone to hop onto some insane diet. Instead, I am enforcing you to look at food as fuel, and eat the foods that will give your body the energy it needs to feel the best you can. Restriction is never the answer. Develop a healthy relationship with food, and be in tune with your cravings, and hunger.
It all ties in with appreciating, caring about, and loving YOU. Make a fitness goal because you want to feel good. Eat clean because you want to feel even better.
Fitness is not about aesthetics, even though that’s what society has made it out to be.
Impatience = Inconsistency
Consistency is key when it comes to progress. And honestly, I’ve probably “fallen off track” more often than I actually remained “on track.” I would go 5 months consistent, then slip up once, and spiral into a 2 month downhill slope.
The reason we fall off track so easily is because we don’t see the results we want (right away), so we say to ourselves “Screw it, I already hate how I look, what’s the difference?” or, “If dieting and exercising isn’t working, and eating cheesecake for breakfast isn’t working either, then I might as well choose the more enjoyable path of cheesecake.”
We become so impatient and expect these quick results. So when we don’t see progress, we assume that it simply isn’t working. Stop taking progress pictures 3x a week, and get off the damn scale every morning. Be patient, and check in every week / month, to see a change. Results will not occur overnight.
We need to understand that progress takes time. Like 6-18 months time. Quick fixes, crash diets, cardio + starvation – it all leads to a slower metabolism, muscle loss, and fat gain.
You’re not Focused
Are you only focused on the end result? On the “before and after” that will get you a bunch of likes and views? Or are you focused on pushing your mental boundaries, going out of your comfort zone, growing and changing, learning new skills, meeting new people, and becoming mentally and physically strong..
The problem is, our mind goes on autopilot and we think “Have to workout to be skinny. Have to workout to have big muscles. Have to eat the broccoli to lose the weight. Have to run on the treadmill so I fit in my dress.” We focus SO hard on the end goal, that we lose sight of what is truly important during the whole journey.
Take in every step of the process of reaching your goal. Learn with every mistake, bounce back when you slip up. Focus on gaining new skills in the gym, proving your ultimate potential. Instead of zoning in on losing that little bit of fat on your lower back, zone in on becoming the healthiest and happiest version of yourself.
When you shift your focus to what is more important, it will be easier to remain patient and see the progress you want. It’s all about perspective!
You’re Comparing Yourself to Everyone Around You
Comparison is the thief of all joy
Theodore Roosevelt
The women or men you are admiring on the FITSPO Instagram pages are all lighting, angles, editing, and flexing.
Stop comparing your body to theirs. You are not built the same, you do not know if they look like that in reality, and you are not them! Once you begin to compare yourself to someone else you immediately strip yourself of your worth. It will only drain you emotionally and leave you feeling discouraged.
*** If you follow a page that makes you value yourself less, block the page. Out of sight, out of mind. If it does not add value to your life, you do not need it. ***
You are only going to set yourself back when you compare yourself to these unrealistic people. Sure, they might ACTUALLY look like that, but who’s to say you can’t reach that potential?
ACCEPT where you are now, LOVE who you are now, and be WILLING to work towards YOUR goal. You are on your own journey, so keep your eyes on your own progress, instead of looking around at everyone else’s.
You Think that Fitness is only Eating Healthy and Training Hard
Let’s say you do train properly, and your eating habits are on point. Yet, progress is still very slow.
Months ago, I was eating good and training consistently, but I was GAINING weight and looking more and more bloated everyday.
It reached a point that I had to see a gut specialist. Turns out that despite my fitness regimen, my stress levels were so high that I wasn’t digesting food, my acne was worse than ever, and I LOOKED like I was 6 months pregnant.
I either slept all day, or got no sleep at all. I was constantly depressed, tired, stressed out, and disgusted with myself. All of this, held me back from making the progress that I wanted.
My workouts were harder and harder to get through. I had no drive to eat healthy, because I only looked more bloated after every single meal. I was drained mentally and emotionally. It wasn’t until I healed my mind, that I was able to finally feel like myself again.
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