Body Love. Exercise.

When I started this year my focus was on no longer dieting. Specifically to lose weight while no longer dieting. I was doing really well with following hunger signals and giving myself permission to eat. But without realizing it, I made exercise my salvation. If I was going to lose weight without dieting, I must need to increase my exercise.  So I did, subconsciously. As I continued to increase my workouts I grew dissatisfied with them and began to feel trapped and resentful of “having” to work out. After I skipped a workout for some much needed journaling and meditation time I realized what I had been doing. And vowed to stop. I only want to move my body because it feels good and invigorating to do so. I only want to move my body in ways that provide joy. Does this mean I won’t push myself in a workout? Of course not, I like to feel strong.  Does this mean that I will force a workout when my mind and body are screaming for rest? Absolutely not.  I spent the summer not working out at all, because I was in full time student mode as well as parenting 3 young boys in the evening. It was a good time to keep my focus elsewhere. Once I returned home I spent the next couple of months really playing around with what works for me. My favorite workouts; walks that allow jogging or sprinting if the desire arises, dancing for five minutes to random dance mixes online (often with my children) a few times a day if I’ve been sitting to long, kettlebells once or twice a week, stretching/yoga as desired, swimming, playing soccer or other sports with the kiddos. With the exception of walking I really like to keep my exercise sessions between 10 -15 minutes and sprinkle them around the day. That is one of the reasons I tend to wear workout clothes unless I have somewhere specific I need to be.

October 27: Today I love moving my body, and the process of learning what kind of movement my body actually enjoys. I love doing what makes me joyful regardless of size.

Frugal Self-Care today: Well a gentle and invigorating stretch session after a kettlebell workout of course.