Mathews World: Health and Fitness Should Make You Feel Good About Yourself

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A health and fitness regimen should make you feel good about yourself. Yes, that sounds like a common sense statement, however …

Obsession; deprivation; frustration; guilt.

Those are not words that make you feel good about yourself, and we certainly wouldn’t choose to experience those feelings. But they do, unfortunately, describe the health and fitness journey of many people.

Are you one of them?

If so, you’re not alone. I’ve been in this game for over 16 years, and I still hear the same stories from clients, women who reach out via the newsletter, and read comments on my social media accounts from those who are fed up with the direction their health and fitness regimen has taken. (If you recall, I’ve shared my experience before.)

They’re frustrated with their lack of progress, either in the gym, with health improvements they’re trying to attain, or weight loss goals.

They feel guilty when they eat dessert or go off their meal plan.

They feel deprived when they skip their favorite dessert, and then end up overindulging on other foods later — foods they didn’t even want!

They feel like health and fitness has become too obsessive, causing them to think about food and fitness far more than they would like to. It dominates their life instead of fitting neatly into it and complementing it.

It feels like they take two giant leaps forward … only to take three back.

To top it off, many people couple those self-defeating thoughts and experiences with a negative body image.

Screw that. All of it.

You deserve better. The “how to” for flushing out frustration and making health and fitness the empowering lifestyle it should be will have its challenges, but it all starts with acknowledging the fact that you do deserve so much more.

And you can begin by doing what you enjoy (the exercises you like most, the rep ranges you like most, the type of exercise you enjoy most) and do more things that make you feel good about yourself (whether you prefer lifting weights more often, or doing more cardio, or you like recreational activities). Another useful tip: Avoid resources that constantly have you comparing yourself to others, make you feel like you’re not good enough, or otherwise don’t help you become the best version of yourself while understanding your journey is unique to you.

You deserve to feel good about yourself.

You deserve the very best from your health and fitness routine.

So today, demand more. Demand better. Know you deserve it. Then take one step in the necessary direction to make it happen.