Why do you exercise? Some of the most common answers are “I want to get healthier”, “I want move more outside of my sedentary job”, but most would say: “I do it because I want to lose weight.” Now, while that is a perfectly valid reason, it is an inherently wrong motivation for exercise. Training can only become consistent when it becomes something that you love with your heart and soul, not something you have to drag yourself out of bed for every morning. Want to know how to reach this blessed state? Read on for Exercise: For Enjoyment, not for Abs!
It’s All About Perspective
The goal of weight loss is often associated with becoming more attractive, happier and more confident in your body, but actually those things are completely unrelated. It is all about your perspective. If you’re not confident in your body and do not love it unconditionally, on days when you don’t feel like exercising, you will not find the motivation to do it.
When exercise and training come from a place of self-love and wanting to improve upon what you already have, only then will you be able to keep going when it gets difficult. Set yourself the goal to further improve the beautiful body you already own, rather than changing something that you don’t like about it.
Accepting Your Body
Appreciating your body as it is does not come overnight, it is a long journey of finding your true strengths and accepting your flaws. Furthermore, you need to realise that flaws are anchors that can actually serve as your biggest strengths. In fact, calling them flaws is wrong, they are rather ‘uniquenesses’ that make us so very individual and better at things that others may not be so good at.
People who have a chronic illness may think they can’t do anything about it, but what they can do is change their perspective and mindset. Living with a chronic illness impacts you daily, and if you keep thinking about how much you hate it, you will end up living a very depressed life.
Everybody is Unique, Incredible & Beautiful in their Own Way
Instead such people need to learn how to accept and enjoy life with their own bodily flaws. It’s the same for all of us: everyone’s body is beautiful in its own way and you need to find why it makes you unique and incredible, rather than dwelling on why you hate it, and work on really developing a positive attitude towards your body. The key to happiness is in your mind, not in a six-pack or skinny legs. (There are people that have those who aren’t happy too remember!)
For some inspiration on body positivity & learning how to love your body, check out this TED Talk by the amazing Taryn Brumfitt!
Exercise Makes You Happy & Confident in Yourself!
There’s hardly any doubt that movement is good for us physically, but it is even more important for us mentally. Exercise makes us happy, and that happiness does not come from the change in our body shape, it comes from the confidence that we gain in ourselves, the pride we feel when we complete a workout, and simply do what we set out to do. The funniest thing is that the workout does not have to be hard per se, you just need to give it your best attention, and enjoy the process which will help you to feel proud afterwards not to mention, immensely grateful!
Do Exercises that You Enjoy
Your current physical appearance and weight have no relationship to your level of happiness, and should not guide your choice of exercise. You should choose the type of training that you truly enjoy and that makes you feel better: spinning, boxing, weight training, running, swimming, the choices are endless and the pick is yours. Love your body and give your all to any workout you choose to do.
