Body Positivity and Mental Health Fitness Plan
I’ve been sharing lately about mental health on my facebook and instagram feeds. I realize that between COVID, Black Lives Matter, hurricanes and fires… our mental health is more important than ever. Last week we discussed how transformation is an inside job and turning setbacks into comebacks. Today’s topic is a little more action oriented. So sit down, take a few notes and my goal is for you to walk away with a few things you will implement today. Remember a plan without action is just a dream. Let’s make your dreams reality.
Find an Activity You Love
In 2018 I was in a pretty rough mental place - my body was also not in very good condition. I had been using wine in place of meditation to curb my stress. I had been working earlier that year for a company who didn’t value what I did nor did I feel like I was valuable in my position. I was stressed out and unhappy. Most of my thought process was negative and I also had tons of negative self talk. I decided that September to do something about it. I lived across the street from a yoga studio and began taking classes. I enrolled in an unlimited membership way out of my price range and told myself I could find one class every single day. I was about 30 lbs heavier - not significantly overweight, but definitely not in great physique. I started experimenting with different types of yoga and landed in a 10:00 am class with an instructor who really pushed his students.
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Take Note of How Your Mental Health Improves
For three months straight I would walk about a mile to class for the extra exercise, then walk a mile home and complete the one hour flow. I immediately lost weight for obvious reasons. I was doing more physical activity than I had done in at least a year maybe two. I also noticed during that time period my brain started being more positive. I began writing again, even blogging more, and my perspective began to change. I began walking more and more places and parking at the back of parking lots to whenever I did drive. The more I moved my body, the more endorphins were released and my mental clarity improved. A good way to track your progress is to keep a journal in your gym bag or on your nightstand. Make a simple note each day when you exercise or don’t exercise to see how you feel.
Walk Daily
Fast forward to 2019, I underwent a cross country move and then came back about four months later. Nothing in 2019 or early 2020 went as planned. Looking back I was incredibly stressed. Ridiculously stressed. A life I was working hard to build with another person disintegrated. COVID-19 hit right after that and I was left to figure out how to make life happen. I wasn’t sleeping very good and I noticed my emotions from the break up were coming in waves. I immediately started online counseling to get a mental plan together and then increased my activity. My daughter and I started walking twice a day. Any time my parents watched her or she was with family I spent my time on long walks to clear my head. It started working. I went from average 3-4 miles a day to 5-6 miles.
Find Accountability
A mentor of mine asked me to sync my activity on my Apple Watch. First of all, let me tell you I didn’t even know a watch could do that. If you have an Apple Watch I recommend finding an accountability buddy and share your activity with them. It pushed me to close all three activity rings every day. Finding an accountability partner helped me move forward and do a little bit more every day. Now I have a group of people I have my watched synced and I love being able to encourage them, too!
Developing a Better Lifestyle
After the crazy stress settled down, I realized it was time to incorporate a few things to continue this as a lifestyle not just a phase I was going through. First, workout clothes, swimsuits, and yoga gear. I stocked up on a new yoga mat and blocks then enrolled in digital classes from that same yoga instructor I mentioned earlier. He bought a studio and they created an online community in addition to live classes. My current regiment includes three-four classes a week to offset being hunched at a desk. I now focus less on distance and more on burning active calories. Currently my watch is set at 600 active calories with a minimum hit of three times a week. Prior to that I focused on 400 active calories for a few weeks, once I was hitting that daily I increased it to 450 and then 500 and 550. I look forward to walks with my dog and kiddo. The yoga classes help with mental clarity and muscle tone. All in all, my body is in some of the best shape it’s ever been in but more importantly my mental health is too.
I encourage you to take a look at your lifestyle - are you looking at your body as a vessel of strength or do you have negative self talk? Are sleeping and eating healthy? You can make a change today if not. You can always improve. Find one thing and just focus on that. If you need more activity strive for an extra mile a day. If you need more fruits and vegetables in your diet - eat one of each more a day. Grow a little every day and soon you’ll look back and see your whole life is different. Also, I rounded up some cute color block athleisure and swimwear. Go ahead and get yourself in a positive mindset and grab a few for your new workouts!