Last week I was reading an interview that Kaisa Larkas did with Muireann Carey-Campbell and one thing that she said spoke so loudly to me that I have been thinking about it ever since:
I work out because I love my body, not because I hate it.
Read it again.
Does that not sound perfect to you?? Did you not just have an “Aha!” moment??
How often do I still hear women say “I have to drag myself to the gym, I still have 2kgs of baby fat to loose. Ugh.” or “This cake looks great, I have to have it – but the Diet will have to start tomorrow!” ?
Think right now:
Do you exercise because you don’t like your body OR do you exercise because you love your body and moving it makes you feel good/strong/happy/healthy?
Do you deprive yourself from all the foods you think taste nice because you don’t like your body OR do you feed your body the best real food there is (even when it’s cake made with real butter, real cream, etc.) because you love your body and eating this way makes you feel good/strong/happy/healthy?
The mindset of deprivation has definitely not worked for me. For years and years I focused on what I should NOT do or eat. These days I think the other way around, I think what I can do to ADD to my life – go for a walk/run/etc., let the kids get messy, go to bed earlier and forget about the ironing 🙂 and eat loads of fresh and REAL food because — eventually the good stuff will crowd out the bad so naturally that you don’t even notice that you don’t want cake all the time.
What do you think?
15 Comments
Metropolitan Mum
May 11, 2013 at 9:42 amI work out too bc I love my body. And bc I love working out.
MrsB
May 13, 2013 at 9:32 amGood answer 🙂
HazelPonsford
May 10, 2013 at 11:59 amRT @MrsB_LDN: Do you exercise because you don’t like your body? –> Mindset http://t.co/YCybffAWou #exercise #food
iron_mum
May 10, 2013 at 11:58 amRT @MrsB_LDN: Do you exercise because you don’t like your body? –> Mindset http://t.co/YCybffAWou #exercise #food
running_kmlv
May 9, 2013 at 7:07 pmLove this post so much! I’m working so hard to get to the point where you are when it comes to attitude towards food. And even if I’m not there yet, I’m so much better than just a few years ago! 🙂
MrsB
May 13, 2013 at 9:26 amI’m definitely not 100% there yet either. On work days I have eating under control because I have a schedule, on weekends on holidays I still eat way too much 😐
Helen
May 9, 2013 at 1:23 pmhmm I don’t love my body, I’m working on it and most of the time I’m ok with it. However I workout not to punish it anymore but because it makes me feel great. It’s a mental thing. However I do agree that a lot of women use hatred of what their body looks like to motivate their workouts which is sad.
MrsB
May 13, 2013 at 9:32 amI used to use exercise as ‘punishment’ for something I ate and can say it’s not an effective way to get healthy – if in your mind you’re just stomping away at a step machine until all the calories you’ve consumed from 3 giant cookies are burnt, you still still emotionally crap afterwards. I try now not to analyze my body too much, I just go with how it feels to be in my skin – if I feel strong and flexible and not bloated, I’m happy 🙂 (nevermind that I know that I don’t have a waist and my upper arms are genetically gigantic! it’s just a fact right now and not connected to emotions… most of the time 🙂
RochRia
May 9, 2013 at 12:20 pmRT @MrsB_LDN: Do you exercise because you don’t like your body? –> Mindset http://t.co/YCybffAWou #exercise #food
Little_Miss_Zee
May 9, 2013 at 12:12 pm@MrsB_LDN I’m pretty fond of my bod. Running is for my head but brilliant added benefits for the body too!
Katie
May 9, 2013 at 9:42 amI love that saying; so much that I shall store it in my motivational quotes for when I’m feeling down.
I won’t lie…at some points starting the workout feels like a effort but the worst workouts are the ones that don’t actually start 🙂
I totally agree when you talk about ‘real food’ after only 3 weeks of changing my ‘treats’ I’m amazed by my energy, weight loss and resistance towards cake,nutella, chocolate etc..It would appear that real food is most definitely the way forward 🙂
MrsB
May 13, 2013 at 9:24 amWorking out often feels like an effort in the beginning, especially if it’s early in the morning 😐 The best thing I’ve learned is to ignore any pre-exercise feelings or mood I might have and just get on with it.
As for treats – I need to re-evaluate again – I’m eating way too many sweet things even though they’re raisins, dates, etc. My trouble is that once I eat a little bit of something super sweet, I want more!
ToriDumitru
May 8, 2013 at 11:35 pm@MrsB_LDN I love this. Love!
Monika
May 8, 2013 at 8:15 pmYou are so spot on! The only way to success is through love- love of a goal, of oneself, of the journey.
This is a fab post for me to read, particularly today! Thx! 🙂
MrsB
May 13, 2013 at 9:21 amIf only more women realised that exercise is not punishment for eating cake but an endorphin-reward for your body & mind 🙂