Just Do It. Once.
I used to get trapped in a thinking pattern, “Ugh, I have to go to the gym today, then I’ll be sore tomorrow. Then I have to go again on Thursday. When will it end? I hate exercising!” If you keep thinking that going to the gym or going on a jog will be the start of a whole fitness journey, you will immediately overwhelm yourself. Take fitness one day at a time. Each attempt to be active is a great achievement in itself. Think: Today I will go to the gym for 45 minutes to improve my health and feel better. And that’s it.
The Playlist is Crucial!
My workout playlist has me lip-syncing to songs, pretending I’m in my own music video –sometimes it doesn’t even feel like exercise at all! Take notice of the songs that empower you, boost your mood, and are distractingly good. Include that song you always play at the pregame with your friends. Add the Tiktok song you always catch yourself dancing to. Save that throwback Disney Channel song that you just have to sing along to! Associate music from good memories with moving your body and you will be riding on an endorphin high forever.
Don’t make it about your body
Make fitness about your mind and spirit. Working out to get “snatched” or “shredded” is not for everyone. Exercise is proven to relieve anxiety disorder, OCD, and symptoms of depression. It’s a way to pause your mind from school or work and focus on yourself, your breath, and your mood. Between social media scrolling, picking out what we wear, and making our meals, we think about our bodies enough; as counterintuitive as it may sound, exercise is a time to stop ruminating over how you look and start focusing on how you feel. Having a moment of your day away from screens and stress feels like a breath of fresh air (even better if you are able to actually get outdoors!).
Redefine “exercise”
If you’re moving, it’s exercise: walking instead of taking the subway, playing Just Dance with your cousins, jumping on a trampoline, watching Netflix on an elliptical, cleaning the house, contemplative stroll while listening to a podcast, ice skating, joining a wiffle ball team, Karate, biking to a park, dance, ballet … you get it. Find an activity you enjoy and stop punishing yourself by doing an exercise you hate or can’t fit into your lifestyle. We have become increasingly sedentary and busy, it’s true, but by incorporating more movement into our daily routines, we are celebrating what our bodies can do everyday!
Food is food. It cannot have morality.
Exercise is not a way to reverse the “guilt” from eating dessert last night, the same way drinking a green juice is not equivalent to doing a pilates class. Going for a run in order to “earn” a cheeseburger creates a toxic relationship to food. Erase words like “cheat meal,” “junk food,” “guilt-free,” from your vocabulary. There is no inherent morality tied to your food! Eat in moderation. Eat what makes you feel good. Eat for energy. And eat for enjoyment. The best diet is no diet at all, being mindful of your choices and maintaining a positive relationship with food is the ideal way to go.