Recommitting to Yourself

Well ladies, as of this writing most of you all have been at Freedom Fitness for almost a year. (With that I have to say congratulations because you have made a positive change for yourself, no one else.) If you are like me, you have times where you just don’t feel like making the right choices. You want to eat that Quarter Pounder with Cheese or that piece of chocolate cake. And I hope that you do take time sometimes and splurge on something that you really like. We all have to remember that exercise is a lifetime thing and we can’t compartmentalize it into a short time period. We have to take a daily walk with our health and make more good decisions than we do bad ones. The key is to love yourself enough to do what is right for you which is not always what you want to do.

Making the right decision, we all know what we should be doing. We should come to class on a regular basis – at least three times a week if we want to maintain our fitness level and four to five if we want to improve our fitness levels. Of course, that is easier said than done. The problem is that life happens, the kids start school, you have a deadline at work and have to stay late, the kids are sick, the dogs have to go to the vet – many things happen. This is where exercise sometimes takes a back seat. But what I want y’all to know is that just because you can’t come to the gym don’t let that stop you. Take a walk around the neighborhood. We are all blessed to live in Missouri where they don’t know what flat land is – take advantage of it! There is nothing to work the legs like walking hills. Your butt will stand at attention and thank you later.

I have noticed in the many, many years that I have been exercising is that I have an ebb and flow to my routines. There are months were I am extremely dedicated and will work around everything to make sure that workout happens. Then maybe I get sick and have to take a couple weeks off. It takes time to get back up to par and feel better and have that same energy. I don’t fall off the wagon and say “well if I can’t be as strong as I was two weeks ago, forget it”. No I have to understand that my body has limitations and you have to learn to live within them and slowly work yourself back up. I know eventually I will be back to that fitness level but sometimes my body just needs a break. Allow yourself that break – just remember how you felt prior to taking that break and jump back in. Just remember, it takes time for the body to return to that fitness level, don’t come in gung ho and hurt yourself. Allow yourself time to get back into things slowly and don’t hurt yourself.

One of our patrons, Christine took a break – and let me tell you she took a break from the gym but lost an amazing amount of weight while she was gone. She is proof that you can learn habits and not have to do the same thing always to lose weight. She took care of herself and now is well on her way to her goal. She is a great role model – my low impact guru. Ladies, there is no reason not to do something – we all have things happen that we can’t control so try and control the one hour a day you can. Even if you don’t show up to class do something for yourself – get out and walk, hit the treadmill, pop a video in just take care of yourself.

Remember, even aerobics instructors have lulls in their desire to work out hard – you just have to recommit yourself. Life is ever changing; don’t let life throw you off of the track. Your goals will be met if you keep your eye on it.

In closing, just keep in mind, we all have different body types, we will all meet our goals at different times but we will meet them. Don’t compete against others, compete against yourself. You are the best reason to keep going! If you feel yourself falling off the wagon, let someone know. We have all been there and if someone tells you they haven’t – they are not telling the truth. Anyone at the gym would be more than happy to help you get back up and start exercising again. We are all close here and that is what makes Freedom Fitness a great place to work out – we can talk about our families, our jobs and exercise. So if you need a helping hand, just say something – someone will help you out of your doldrums!

Tina