Workout every day
Eat healthy
Take time for yourself
Do things you enjoy
Etc.
Those things are ways that we need to take care of ourselves. However, we often don't think of NOT doing something as taking care of ourselves. Sometimes, we overwhelm ourselves with the need to overwork in our rest. For example, I have to workout to be healthy. I have to eat healthy to be fit. I have to take time for myself and do what I want to do. Sometimes, we need to let things go instead of add things to our plate in order to truly take care of ourselves.
In my job as a trainer, I have burnt myself out trying to do more and do more to make ends meet financially. I talked with my parents, wrote out my schedule, and realized I was definitely overworked, so I am beginning to (slowly but surely) let things go. In the midst of this, I realized that other things needed to go...dreams, goals, things I was holding onto.
I found this thing on Pinterest (LOVE IT) that was 50 ways to help you lose 10 lbs (http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/diets/simple-ways-lose-10-pounds) . I was interested to see what it had to say. I realized in little ways, I was neglecting myself. Some include the following:
Not drinking enough water
Not sleeping enough
Not meditating
Not being creative
Doing those things help you lose weight! When you meditate, your cortisol, or stress levels are lower, which help get rid of fat. High cortisol levels make you retain fat. Sleep helps your body rest. Having a creative outlet gives you satisfaction and that increases self-esteem, which causes you to not eat. It also occupies your time. The one that I loved the most was this one tip: "Fantasy binge. Before you dig in, visualize yourself eating a treat. Science suggests that those who do this mental exercise will eat less of what they first imagined."
It's a similar concept to sports psychology, or any form of psychology. When you visualize yourself doing something, or achieving something, you are more likely to succeed. When you fantasize yourself binging, you are LESS likely to do it. It really works! I tried it, and I was like, mmm I don't wanna eat all those calories! Haha. It gives you a satisfaction.
All this to also say, I began training for a powerlifting competition several months ago, and my back has been in a lot of pain lately. I have back problems, but in the beginning, I thought, "My back will be fine; I'm gonna do it and not worry about it and be AWESOME." As I started taking care of myself in these little ways within the past few weeks and listening to my body (and a conversation with my trainer), I began to look at things more objectively. My body was telling me, "Abby, I don't like this. I need to limit you!" It's like when you eat too much food and don't hold yourself accountable, you find that you've eaten more than you want, but when you step back and look at things objectively, you realize how much you actually ate. I needed to be put back in my place, look at things from an outside perspective, and realize that my body can't handle squatting a huge amount of weight...my knees, back, and shoulders don't like it! Many times, you need to step outside of yourself in order to go somewhere. I have decided not to compete, because my body doesn't like it!
In life, not only in fitness, our humanity often brings us back to what's important. In fitness for me, it's shown me that my goal of becoming really lean is what I want! That's going to keep me healthy for my entire life! That's going to keep me strong...mentally, physically, and emotionally. Spiritually, sometimes our greatest struggles and our deepest hurts are what bring us back to the essentials...God, love, family, friends, etc. We don't focus so much on the physical, and we can find what's really important to us (living by faith and not by sight). Emotionally, our deepest scars that haunt us day in and day out make us realize, regardless of how long or short it may take, that we need to be grateful for what we have NOW and that we are alive, rather than living in the past. When we come to the point where we feel life isn't worth living, we need someone to validate our existence, and it makes us realize that we truly are blessed.
When we take care of ourselves first, we are able to see life more objectively, and we are able to acknowledge our limitations, accept them, and move on to a greater thing...or back to the thing that we've always dreamed of!
I challenge you to take care of yourself in some way that you haven't done before, be objective, and see how the quality of your life improves!
This isn't easy...trust me! I still struggle with a lot! No one is perfect, but we are on a road TOGETHER and are being PERFECTED! We will never be perfect, so live life like today is your last day, and the finish line doesn't exist! Keep going, visualize your future, and never let go of your dreams just because it may take a while to get there!
DIG DEEPER; AIM HIGHER!
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