VFIT STUDIO – Exercise Is My Superpower

 

I just returned from an amazing 2 weeks vacation with my family to Maui. It was incredible on every level. Maui has always been a special place for our family.

I went into this vacation feeling the healthiest ever. And it wasn’t tied to a number on the scale, or the size of my clothes. I just feel like I’m in the best MENTAL relationship with my health, EVER!

And this allowed me to be more present with my family, more active and to go outside my comfort zone which is what vacations are all about.

While I never talk about “my body”, or want to be that trainer who just flaunts her body around to get members, I do deeply believe we all deserve to be proud of our bodies and all that they do for us.

We are so used to judging ourselves, beating ourselves up for not fitting a certain mold, and constantly vowing to “fix” things .

Your body listens to everything your mind believes. Make the story you tell yourself, one you deserve to hear.

There were a few times by the pool or beach that I received a compliment on my body. To be honest, this makes me really uncomfortable. In fact, even writing this out feels weird.  Anyone who knows me knows that is not how I am, but I believe this whole topic deserves to be talked about more.

To me, my physical body is just a nice side effect of all of the hard work and love I give my inside, through food, sleep, exercise and managing my stress.

And as you can see, I am not perfect by any mean – but who made the rules for what is perfect?

To me, my body really does feel great!

My stomach doesn’t have a 6 pack, and muscles aren’t ripping through my skin at every seam. But I am strong, capable, happy, healthy, my family is happy and that is all priceless.

This body of mine has taken me through every step of life and so far we have a 100% success rate together of making it through. 

It has given birth the 2 amazing humans, gone through miscarriages, walked me down the aisle,  it can get up and work it’s tail off day after day, and can bounce back up when I get knocked down by life.

Of course at some point in life we have all  wanted to “look” a certain way and I am no different, but over the past year that stopped being my focus.

And when that focus around my body image left as my primary goal, my health soared to new levels.

When I first got into fitness, I had it in my head that I had to fit a certain mold and look the part.

After my second child was born and things were slower than I had hoped to fall back into place, I had a “let’s get real” moment with myself and one that I often ask my members when they get frustrated with their weight/body image.

And that is: “If that scale never changed, or you never went down a dress size – would you stop exercising, eating well and doing all of these things that make you feel better?”

Without a doubt,  you wouldn’t ever want to give up these things that actually make you FEEL good!

You see, being healthy isn’t just about what you look like on the outside. If you have ever tried “dieting” you know that you can lose weight and feel like crap!

Heck, I was a lot lighter in my earlier years, but I was nowhere near as strong, healthy or happy as I stand here today.

Exercise is my drug of choice for so many reasons.

In one 30 minute workout, you may not notice dramatic changes in your ab’s, but without a doubt you will notice dramatic changes in your mental well being. And that is a super power everyone should be filling up on daily.

Eventually your muscles will start to become defined and that waistline may shrink, but you don’t notice that from one workout to the next.  Having your focus primarily tied to your outward appearance, often times leads to feeling discouraged, not enjoying the journey and eventually giving up, AGAIN & AGAIN!

Nothing and I mean NOTHING looks as good, as feeling GOOD can do for your life.

Since I’ve had my kids, I’ve faced this anxiety that I never used to have. I think it stems from loving 2 humans and my life so much, that I get terrified of losing any of it. It is an anxiety that hits me deep in the stomach and I can’t stand how it makes me feel.

And without fail, exercise has the ability to cure this anxiety each and every time. That alone is enough to get me to show up to my workouts daily.

I am human and would be lying if I said I didn’t care at all what I look like on the outside. But what I deeply believe is – if you care more about how you feel, than how you look – the way you look will come as an added side effect. 

I actually am beginning to love the way I look now, more than at any other time and I am finally wearing that with pride! It started from the inside and radiates from within.

When exercise makes you a better person in EVERY other area of life, you find that you can make time for those workouts and that YOU too matter!

You also find you want to eat better, because food is fuel. And getting those every so important zzz’s becomes a priority, because a clear head the next morning, makes for a much better day.

While health goes far beyond exercise, for me getting that small dose of exercise is the catalyst to improve every other area of health. Like the body, it is all connected together!

Your vibe attracts your tribe and I am one lucky girl to be surrounded by amazing members on our team each and every day.

On the VFit team, we love sharing our newly shed muscle, stamina and overall strength, but I guarantee that our members who find themselves showing up day after day, do so because those 30 minutes they spend on their health, carry over into the other 23 1/2 hours of their day, and you can’t beat that!!

So whatever it may be that is your superpower……that makes you light up….. that makes you proud……that makes you smile from ear to ear….and that can bring out the best out in you from the inside…… go fill up on some of that each and every day. And while you are at it – go enjoy the heck out of life TODAY!