It’s Monday! So appropriately, my blog today will be a “motivational Monday” story. I am going to tell you how exercising regularly and eating right changed my outlook.
I grew up a very active girl, my parents put me in many sports at a young age. Gymnastics, though, was my passion. I did that all through my childhood and teenage years, I got in excellent shape! When I reached my final years in high school my commitment to the sport I so loved, dropped. I wanted to spend more time with friends and be more of a normal teen. Though I have always been a petite girl, 5ft even, when I stopped gymnastics I could see that I was gaining weight and losing my muscle. Growing up in such a competitive sport I have always been hard on myself and was very self-motivated to be the perfect gymnast, student, overall the perfect me. So I became disappointed with myself and unhappy with the way I looked when I started to gain weight.
Soon after, I graduated, moved into an apartment and started going to college. Still unhappy and unmotivated I decided it was time to make a change. I was working a lot during this time and made enough to pay for a gym membership. My self-motivation kicked back in and I started to work out more frequently, I even got back into tumbling. Very slowly I started to see some results and feel a little better about myself. On top of that, I was grocery shopping on my own and taking nutrition courses at school. My growth in knowledge and freedom to buy what I want form the store helped me make healthier decisions.
It has been about 4 years since I started that journey in my life and I am now back at the weight I was while in gymnastics, and I feel fantastic. I am even running 3-4 miles four times a week, and I used to HATE running! Eating healthier and exercising every day makes me more energized and confident in myself. Since then, I have received two amazing internships in the health related field and will be graduating in May with a degree in health and wellness.
Ups and downs definitely occurred during this process, but sticking with it, making it to the gym and meal prepping every week turned me from an unhappy and unconfident young ex-gymnast to an older, yet more confident, (almost) graduate who is in better shape than she was 4 years ago.
It is amazing what a little self-motivation can do! Building these changes into my daily routine made them a habit. The more I worked out and meal prepped, the more fun they became. Many people have hard day and struggle times, I still do, but you need to remind yourself how far you have gone and all you have accomplished.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ―Thomas Edison
Hope this helps you to keep going, or motivates you to change your life and become the healthier, happier version of you!
Happy Monday!