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Hey there precious,
I have been talking self-love for months now, and have avoided the exercise topic like a plague. If anything, I am probably the laziest person to ever live in the face of exercise. This combination with procrastination has been doing the most, which has resulted in me buying work out outfits that I would use for one week, and then never wear again. Actually, this was the practice for the past 4 years, every beginning of the year, I would pledge that this is the year I was going to go healthy. I was going to ensure that my before and after picture was going to be flabbergasting. I would go as far as following every work out page on both Instagram and Twitter. I would go as far as buying every healthy food out there so as to ensure I can maintain a healthy diet. These efforts would last a week, and as we might all have guessed, would result in no results whatsoever.
When the Monochrome team decided to dedicate an entire week to fitness, I wanted to roll over and mourn my laziness. Bear in mind, I am hard working at anything that does not include getting on to a treadmill and sweating. I decided, well smack! Maybe this is the push I needed all along to get off my cute butt and get to working out. It has been amazing. Except for taking note of how little water I actually drink.
The pledge is as follows for #MonoHealthWeek if you would like to join (it is never too late to start, tomorrow can be your day 1);
Commit to drinking 3litres of water for an entire 7 days (everyday)
Healthy Eating
Day commitments;
Day 1: Yoga
Day 2: 15 minute routine work-out (cardio)
Day 3: Yoga
Day 4: 15 minute routine work-out (cardio)
Day 5: Mountain climbing and a smoothie treat
Day 6: Fun exercise
Day 7: Cardio (to you discretion)
Self-love at a point has to move from mental health and care to physical health and care. This is because after uprooting the toxic mind-set, you now have to move on to getting the image you see in the mirror to look as healthy as YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO LOOK. It is not about losing weight and trying to look like the supermodel that makes you drool. Rather, it is about feeling good and healthy, which is the same for all of us regardless of shape and size. I do not discourage losing weight, because if it helps with your body outlook and perspective, go for it. On the other hand, if you like your curves and love the soft edges of you, that is perfectly fine. The exercise is a means of loving on your body to ensure you feed it life and health, as it is the vessel that caries you around. It has to be taken care of and has to be loved on with the right foods.
We need to learn to love ourselves right, and a healthy body is a healthy mind. That comes with uprooting the laziness and procrastination and simply saying, now and today is where I start. For those who have been doing the healthy walk a minute – kudos to you. For us that have been struggling to get up and make a change – let’s do it. Nike says just do it, because getting up is a mental exercise as it is a decision.
What I have learnt;
The difficulty to commit was because I had no support system
Get someone to keep you accountable
Start up a Whatsapp group chat to share on your progress
I did not like exercise because I was doing the things I hated, so I found a love in yoga and running
Find the type of exercise you enjoy – read up on dancing classes, yoga classes or find home work out routines
Allow yourself diversity in your work out plan to ensure that you do not get bored
I found that I could commit a week and after taking the weekend off, come Monday I couldn’t find my rhythm
For those starting up, ensure you commit a whole month before you take off days, this is because it takes 21 days to formulate a habit
Find your rhythm and time that works for you and stick to it. Make sure you have a set work out time, and it should be a commitment like any other in your life
Have fun
Exercise can be so much fun, for as long as you put the fun in it
Get ingredients to make nice smoothies, award yourself with healthy foods and spoil yourself it
I would love to take this journey up with you. Send me an email on the contact page and let’s have some fun with it.
With a whole love of crazy and procrastination
Here is to healthy living
Love Mavis