The Usual Fitness Journey Sucks – How to Better Reach Your Goal
Fresh into a new year, many take the time to start making changes to improve health. They’ll go to the gym in hopes of changing their body in some way. Whether that is helpful or hurtful is neither here nor there. The truth is, the usual fitness journey sucks.
Check out why the usual fitness journal does more harm than good, why it can be ok to want to change your body, and how a simple shift in mentality can make all the difference for your health and wellbeing. Here’s your guide to a better, healthier, happier fitness journey.
The Usual Fitness Journey
Many people usually start exercising to change something about themselves. To each their own. They might even have really good reasons, like picking up their kids or wanting to carry more groceries in fewer trips. Whatever the case, many people want to change their bodies, and go to the gym.
Contrary to what some may think, there is nothing wrong with wanting to change something about ourselves. It is normal to see all these different types of people online and want to be like them. It can be wanting bigger biceps like that one dude, it can be wanting bigger hips, or it can be wanting visible abs. Some may want to lose weight, some may want to gain it.
As stated before, a lot of people start a fitness journey to change something about themselves. This, however, common, can lead us to become fixated on a goal that takes away from our health.
Risks and Consequences
Insecurities may fuel you to change, but not for the right reasons. Nor will this mindset allow you to enjoy what a fitness journey should be.
Becoming too obsessed with the way we look can lead to a lot of problems in the long run. It can lead to eating disorders like anorexia, or bulimia, mental health issues like anxiety and depression, and insecurity that becomes body dysmorphia.
Focus on Quality of Life
Instead of wanting to be skinny, we should want to be healthy. Instead of wanting to look more muscular, we should want to get stronger. Think about improving your health and overall quality of life instead of your weight, muscle, or physique.
Yes, this will entail adopting healthy eating habits and an exercise plan, and this can help your weight adjust naturally. Take away the all-or-nothing mentality.
When working out, start with exercising 3 times a week. This will help you avoid burning out and quitting altogether. When we are healthier, we should want to move our bodies, we start to look forward to it. Increase exercise up to 5 times a week, but always make sure you are resting the body when you need to.
For healthy eating, add, don’t subtract. Instead of just eating cereal, add nuts, fruit, and Greek yogurt, and make it a filling meal with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and protein.
Benefits
If we take this mentality on our journey, it will be easier and healthier to continue towards a healthy lifestyle. Be more secure in yourself and your goals. The foundation of a fitness journey should first be rooted in improving our health and quality of life. Then, we can easily and healthily add goals of muscle building, or losing weight as we progress.
Start to focus on how you feel, resting when you need to, pushing, and motivating yourself towards fitness goals that add solutions to your life, not issues.
How to Avoid the Usual Fitness Journey
One of the main pitfalls of trying to be on the usual fitness journey is concentrating on eating less and exercising more. It seems simple, calories in, calories out. In actuality, it is not.
First of all, not all calories are created equally. 200 calories of soda affects the body differently than 200 calories of spinach, 200 calories of salmon, or 200 calories of olive oil. We need to take into account that calories affect the body differently, from your metabolism, to how energized you feel, and more.
Secondly, you cannot just jump into intense workouts and small quantities of food to burn calories. In fact, some research shows that intense exercise without eating properly can lead to a reduction in metabolism.
The Takeaway
The usual fitness journey many of us take is horrible for our mental and physical health. It can cause burnout along with a plethora of issues like eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Concentrating on improving overall health and boosting your quality of life refocuses a fitness journey on more productive goals. It’s ok to want to change your body, but keep the foundation of fitness rooted in health, not physical appearance.
Remember that health comes from within, so eat nutritious meals, move your body daily, and care for your mental health. Try to practice good habits to form building blocks for emotional, mental, and physical health. Take care of your gut health too! Learn everything you need to know about gut microbiota today for free here.
