Part 1: How to Love Exercise and Consistently Show Up

This is PART 1 of the Series “Stepping into the Best Version of You”.

After signing up to become a health coach, I knew that I had to start up leveling my entire wellness routine big time. The first area was exercise. I had not consistently exercised in over 3 years and I knew that this was something I wanted FULLY in my life not just sometimes. My relationship with exercise previously wasn’t the best…so I had some resistance. Before I saw exercise as a means to an end..the point being to only get a better body. If I was exercising it wasn’t going to be just for fun, I was expecting results and improvement. I saw exercise as a way to manipulate my body and take out my anger at the world and if I was happy with my life and my body well there wasn’t much motivation to exercise then!

At the beginning, getting into exercise was not easy…I resisted a lot and I skipped classes after I had planned to go to them. I was always making excuses of being tired or thinking I will just skip today, no big deal. But one day turned into another and another and soon the weeks and months would go by and I wouldn’t have gone to the gym as much as I would like.

So how did I get to a point of actually making it a habit?

#1. I started IDENTIFYING myself as a person who would exercise regularly. The whole process of becoming a health coach definitely helped me in making this identity change.  I knew I needed to set an example, so this added pressure helped me to actually take action. And I didn’t want to just be all talk..I want to fully embody the life of a strong and fit women! I had goals and exercise would help me achieve them. I wanted to be a better dancer, I wanted to be more flexible, I wanted to be a better yogi, I wanted to lift heavy weights, I wanted to memorize and do a wide a variety of exercises!

My fitness routine has changed over the years since consistently going to gym. But I do KNOW that every day I show up, is one step closer to me being a better dancer, more flexible, stronger.  And heck It also helps to make the movements not feel so awkward! J (that awkward fumble goes away eventually I promise – and I still deal with it whenever I try something new!)

So ask yourself – how can you start creating an identity as someone who LOVES exercise?  Do you need to put pressure on yourself to commit and take action? (Don’t worry most of us do! – Start by telling someone your goals and hang reminders so you can SEE the person you are becoming by DOING the actual work.  *Remember* Each day you SHOW up is one step closer to becoming a stronger and fitter you! <3

#2. Schedule in time for your workouts. We have busy lives…and I for one know that schedules help A TON. If you want to actually DO something, you need to schedule it in. Think of your work out time as non -negotiable and do whatever you can to not book over it. For me, I always go after my day job. It is easy to fit in and I drive right after work. Since it is always in this time slot, I don’t worry about making time, and instead it just happens. And I’ll be honest, I don’t always schedule it in on the weekends because I like them to be open..and my workouts tend to not happen on the weekends because I don’t schedule them in. It is much harder to make a DECISION in the moment so make the decision easy by creating a schedule.

#3. Dig into your past relationship with exercise. – As with anything you want a good relationship with something in order for it to be lasting and healthy. You might have a negative relationship with exercise or heck you might just not like it at all. There are 2 parts to renew and release your relationship with exercise…1) See exercise as a way to boost your vitality for life instead of a way shape your body into perfection. Now there is nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight and feel better, but I think that most of us find ourselves using exercise to mold our body in a way that society deems acceptable and well-praised! The truth is that exercise has SO many mental benefits AND it keeps our body strong and fit. But when I was in my exercise phase, truthfully it wasn’t for the mental benefits, I was motivated to go the gym because I was angry and I used the gym to take my anger out on my body. When I stopped being angry…I stopped going to the gym. And the days I did show up…it was only out of desperation to change the shape of my body so society would still praise me. Definitely not a healthy relationship and not sustainable for life.  When I started back at the gym, these initial thoughts popped back up…I tried to get myself angry, I tried to yell at myself again.  But all that was gone..I wasn’t angry or in a volatile state of emotions.  I knew it was time to see exercise in a different light and renew my relationship with it.  I had to get my ducks in a row!! And that started with understanding my past relationship and then re-focusing how I wanted my NEW relationship to look like! And then I had to show up and consistently work at that relationship!  Just like all new relationships! It takes some extra work! And only after time, trust, and consistency will it become MUCH easier!

So ask yourself  – how do you see exercise? Is it only something you HAVE to do to lose weight? Is it only something you HAVE to do to be deemed as acceptable in society? If you feel the pressure to exercise because you HAVE to, you definitely won’t fall in love with it.  So challenge yourself to see exercise in a new light and let go of any societal pressures!

My relationship with exercise is completely different now. Now I see it as something I can show up consistently for because it is daily self-care practice for my vitality, detoxification, and feeling super damn good. It is a self-love practice not a self-hate practice. I show up daily for me, not because my body needs to be whipped into shape to meet society’s expectations.

Exercise because you WANT to for you, exercise because of how you will show up DAILY in life, exercise because of the community, improving your self, and learning something new!

Why do you want to make exercise a daily part of your life?

(Heck writing this post REALLY makes me want to exercise right now…haha, I seriously love the SWEAT dripping down my entire body! <3)

I hope that inspired you to get out there and feel amazing!

Part 2 of the blog!! I decided that every week I am going to share something new with you! I try SO many health products that I want to share them with YOU all! <3 So each week, I am going to feature at least one new product – the good and bad! (heck possibly more than one!) 

This week, up is DANDELION TEA! This stuff is so good! I bought this box and I just poured in the stick of tea and my hot water turned into this black coffee like substance!! It mix in VERY well and I felt like I was drinking coffee without any of the negative side effects!!  It tastes SO good and dandelion is great for the liver! I highly recommend giving it a try if you love the coffee taste and want to try something new!

You can check it out here on Amazon or try your favorite health foods store!
*PS. if you choose to click on this link and purchase through amazon, I may receive a commission.  🙂

Do you have a blog topic that you want me to cover? Post a comment below! And don’t forget to share WHY you want to love exercise! xx