Fitness shouldn’t compete with your life
Something I’ve noticed throughout the years working with women is how much fitness is misunderstood. Not because of them, but because of the way it is presented to us. When we think of the word “fitness,” the first thing that comes to mind is hours at the gym, weighing every ounce of food you eat, never eating anything other than whole foods, and doing a ton of cardio. And that’s exactly the issue.
When we put fitness into this box of perfection (with very specific steps you have to follow) it becomes unachievable. Unachievable because for us, real women aiming for a healthier lifestyle, a confident body, and juggling a zillion things at once, it’s very unlikely we’ll have the time and energy to do all of that. Especially when we’re drinking coffee while working, cleaning the house, and getting kids ready at 6 am (LOL).
You’ve probably been there: January 1st, beginning of the month, Monday, armed with a plan that seems perfect, and you feel like this is the time you’ll finally do it right. Then a couple of weeks go by, maybe a month, and life shows you that the “perfect plan” ChatGPT made for you is not going to last very long. You stop weighing every ounce of food, you don’t go to the gym as often because of lack of time, and you slowly fall back into old habits. And there you are: the same person who started the oh-so-perfect plan, but now with one more frustration added to your background. This is why I got into fitness coaching. After years of seeing women around me struggle to change their bodies and reach their goals, feeling like they just weren’t made for fitness,I knew we deserved more than this endless cycle of starting over again and again.
Fitness, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is part of physical well-being: the ability to perform daily tasks with vigor and without undue fatigue. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), it’s a combination of cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. AKA a healthy, capable body that can perform daily tasks with energy. Did you notice they didn’t mention how long you have to go to the gym every day? Did you see any mention of not enjoying carbs or never eating the food you’ve been craving? You didn’t (and you won’t) because fitness is more than that. It goes beyond whatever social media culture is telling us today. It’s about health, well-being, and a balanced life.
Fitness shouldn’t compete with your life, it should fit it. It should be part of who you are and the things you do. It should guide your choices, not limit them. And don’t get too excited when I make it sound simple, because simple and easy are two very different things. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to require effort and work because there’s no magic bullet. But when you put effort into something that fits your real life, something that works long term because you’re chasing balance instead of perfection, the journey toward your goals becomes lighter and a lot more enjoyable.
So if you’re taking anything from this, let it be this: stop trying to follow plans that aren’t made for you. Stop trying to fit into a routine that has nothing to do with your life. Make peace with your life. Make peace with fitness. And let it be part of who you are, not something that dictates what you do. I guarantee real-life fitness is a lot more fun :)
