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Good morning! :D
As you may know, this is the last week of the SGBC.
The theme of this week is: ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’.
To be honest with you, I wasn’t sure that I could write on this topic this week. As I mentioned in last night’s post, I have been really lacking in the motivation department with exercise. I have skipped some SGBC exercises and I just have felt like I have let myself down at certain points.
And then I started to think about it some more.
Let myself down? What?
Sometimes I have to stop and challenge the negative thoughts that creep into my mind because they often are unsupported. One of the most difficult things I still struggle with is the tendency to experience negative thoughts, whether it is about my progress, body, accomplishments, or a negative comment that someone said about me. I have always struggled with this during my life.
Sometimes I am really hard on myself…and pardon my French…but for no goddamn reason!
So what if I skipped a couple workouts or I sat on the couch instead of hitting the treadmill? Is that really bad? Does that make me a bad person?
Of course not.
One of the most important life lessons I am learning is that I can’t always plan my life. Life happens. It is impossible for any of us to foresee a ‘blah’ week, an injury, a family issue, etc. Life just happens and I think the more flexible I am with myself, the happier I will be.
Try to take a moment to sit down and recap some of the changes you have made so far in the SGBC. Maybe you have started to smile at your reflection in the mirror more, written yourself love notes, embraced your skin sans make-up, crank out 10 push-ups at a time, rocked some summer clothes that you were previously afraid to wear, or written down some long term health goals.
Whatever it was that made an impact on your life. Write it down.
Two of the biggest changes I have noticed in myself this month:
1) I have set fun fitness goals that I was always terrified to do (Yes, I used to be too scared to sign up for a race in the past…completely chicken- not sure why but I was.)
2) I have started to appreciate myself sans make-up as well as my muscles and curves. There was a point in my life when I hated curves and just wanted to be a stick, but I am starting to like them more.
Once you do a quick recap, give yourself a pat on the back and just revel in your accomplishments.
I know for myself, I don’t do this enough. Here I was feeling bad for having a ‘blah’ exercise week when I just ran a 10 mile race. I mean, come on. Life is way too short to feel badly over exercise.
Goals can be a great thing, but they can also prevent us from appreciating the present. Sometimes I am so busy planning what I want to do next, I forget to really appreciate what I have done.
Don’t think about next month, next year, or some other big date in your future.
Think about now. Rest and quiet your mind. And just sit.
Reflect on all of the amazing things you do for yourself every single day.
And most importantly, make sure that you allow yourself to feel good about it!
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Did you ever do something you didn’t think you could do but proved yourself wrong? What was it?
I consider one of my biggest accomplishments to be beating disordered eating that consumed my life for 10+ years. No matter what I was doing in my life, as long as that held me back, I could never fully appreciate the life I am lucky to have.
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Wonderful post Angela :) There are so many things I could list that I never thought possible. But I think it really started with graduating high school five years ago. I dropped out when I was in grade 10 because of an issue with agoraphobia. I was briefly medicated and eventually started back at school. But every day since then has been an accomplishment for me, as I overcome it everyday. Now I have one of the most social jobs there is!!!
What a fantastic post! You really have come so far and the beauty is, you now help others through your past experiences. Many of us have yet to beat the ED demon but you show us it CAN be done!!!!!
I never thought I’d be a runner. Now I’ve succesfully completed 3 1/2 marathons. It’s a mental game and I get that now. If you think you can do it…you WILL do it!
B
every time i take a run I feel like I’m proving I can do something that people used to say I was bad at and I love it. Seriously every single run, isn’t that crazy!!
I realized recently that I enjoy cookies and you know what life it too short to try and avoid them FOREVER or to beat myself up for really enjoying them. it’s about balance.
I love your motivational posts. Thank you for them!
Seriously, if we don’t love ourselves, who will?!
I have been feeling rather blah myself the last couple of days and have not worked out. I usually start my day by going to the gym for my workout. I believe for me this is a catch 22 feel blah so do not work out/ do not work out so I feel blah. I have promised myself I will go tomorrow regardless of how I feel when I get up. I aslo believe the weather has something to do with it. Regarding being hard on yourself this does happen. although last year I started to live by ” in the grander scheme of things is this really important” You will find many times it is not. It saves a lot of stress and anxiety in dealing with life and people.
gorgeous post. just so,so gorgeous! just like you! :)
i’ve proved myself wrong in so many ways. establishing a healthy relationship with food. falling in love with yoga. learning i don’t have to torture myself running 5 miles a day and walking 5 more to maintain my weight. being able tun in the first place was a huge accomplishment! the list goes on. :)
Great post!! I wanted to shout at you yesterday (in the best way possible) for being down on yourself- after all you had accomplished; after all you are accomplishing every day! Cut yourself some slack- you are amazing.
I have recently been injured pretty badly and have gianed a true appreciation for my body, for what I can do, for not pushing myself too hard, and for appreciating what is really important.
your messages have been inspiring along my road to recovery. thanks!
You always give me the warm fuzzies, Angela! Thanks for another great reminder that we don’t have to work ourselves to exhaustion to be good, worthwhile people!
oops ignore my previous post on your post-race-depression entry. :-)
planning works for me; i love to know what’s ahead of me and i always enjoy looking forward to the things i’ve planned months earlier.
but it is true that you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself when you don’t do exactly what you’ve planned. that is a difficult thing though; accepting that you are only human. i know what to do, i just don’t know how to!
in fact i’m starting therapy in september because of these kinds of issues. i’ll be reporting on my blog how i progress; maybe you can read some interesting tips and tricks… i sure hope so!!!
big hugs
Love your comments everyone :) We all have many things to be proud of! ~A
Wonderful. I was just thinking that: “why is she down on having a blah week. . . it happens. No biggie.” I think that flexibility in life is part of health. Not just food and exercise. Resilience. Way to go. I’m right there with you. ;)
I love this post!! You rock!!!! Thank you for being honest and inspiring :)
Even tough I’m a little late.. Thank you so much for this post!! I always am (WAS!!) too hard on myself too!! This changed with this challenge for sure!!
I really appreciate my body more for what it does every day and… I’m more content with my overall ME!! I can not believe I just wrote that!! :D
So thanks…! A lot!!