You're doing great, you have a routine, you stick to it, you eat fantastically, you feel amazing and then..... it ends. You get sick or you have a holiday or you just lose track because you got too busy. It happens to everyone at some points - multiple points even. And that's completely okay! It's happened to me a few times and every single time I try my hardest to get back on it right away and it's almost like nothing ever stopped me. But this last time. This time was different. I got busy, a little sick, very tired, had other things I wanted to do and basically just lacked the motivation to add a workout into my day when it was 11:30PM and all I wanted to do was sleep. This meant I did workouts about once a week for nearly 3 weeks and that made me feel terrible. Not because I felt bad but physically I felt lazy, like I lacked energy, I was sleepier and ate worse because I missed eating as much as I did when I worked out regularly. I really didn't like this so I knew I had to up my game again. And right when I was thinking this, both UFit and F45 presented opportunities to help me. So what did this teach me? 1. IT'S OKAY TO FEEL WEAK When I made the decision to get into my routine, I jumped right into UFit bootcamps, boxing, intermediate yoga and many F45 classes. I figured since prior to this bump I was very active, I could keep up and it'll come back to me to me. The truth is as much as I loved being active and not feeling so lazy again, all of those classes kicked my ass. I felt weak. So weak. Like I almost lost all my strength and stamina. It's definitely not like I wasn't able to get through a class, but it left me feeling like I was struggling to get through the hour. I wasn't expecting a miracle, but I did expect that the workouts would feel easier. It did disappoint me to realise how much I had lost during this "break period" but after just a couple of days I realised this was how it works. That's why normally I keep going, because I like taking steps forward, not back. But this wasn't me taking a step back. It was me listening to my body and resting because I needed it. So feeling weak wasn't me giving up, it was me taking care of myself and that is completely okay. When I'm ready (like I am now) I get back on track.] 2. CHANGING YOUR ROUTINE HELPS Every other time I've "fallen off track" I get back into it by doing the exact same thing I did before. Same workouts, same equipment, same space. As someone who gets bored of her workouts easily, it was never a great idea to go back to the same thing. But I guess I never really thought about changing things up. This one time that I did, I enjoyed working out way more than I ever thought I could. I already loved it because of how it made me feel, but I was now doing completely different workouts, challenging myself, meeting new people and actually didn't have to plan my workouts. It was all ready and I just had to show up. I loved it, I was way more motivated and it felt great to introduced to a new way to get stronger and take care of myself. 3. START DRESSING FOR YOUR WORKOUT If you haven't realised, I'm a huge fan of dressing as colourfully and bright as I can. I love prints and different fabrics and coordinating my workout clothes. It feels fantastic. But because I was trying something so different and I was going to be around other people AFTER taking so much time doing almost nothing, that fancy outfit did not make me feel any better. The first day I went for a class to "jump into it" Instead of actually planning an outfit that I knew could make me feel great, I just wanted something to help me breathe, feel comfortable for the workout I was going to and not make me question if I had the wrong pair of tights on. Now, let me explain - Before all this, I worked out 4-6 times a week and was so comfortable doing strength, HIIT and yoga that it doesn't matter what I wore. As long as I had a good sports bra on, I'd feel fine. Compression or lightweight tights don't matter, loose or tight shorts don't matter. But this time I needed to be comfortable and feel fine because I knew there was a good chance I would be sore and tired and I would want to be comfortable. So for F45 and bootcamp workout I picked tights with support, for yoga I had my comfiest lightweight (and somewhat loose) tights on, and for anything outdoors it was 7/8 length black tights with support all the way. But most importantly, wear the right shoes. A workout is a workout regardless of what you wear, but dressing in the right pieces actually did help me feel better and perform better - especially now when I needed it. It felt great to already be on track and know what I needed to do, but having this little bump in the road and having to start it over helped me change things and improve myself. There's more to it then the 3 points listen above, but if you need some help getting motivated to start working out again or if you want to find a way to make things feel better (especially if you get bored like me), take a step back and see what you can change or need to learn to help yourself do better.
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