Stop seeing exercise as an obligation and start seeing it as a celebration of what your body can do. Exercise is a part of our lifestyle, it's a routine, a habit, not a way of punishing ourselves for what we eat.
It’s time we change the way we think about exercise, health and wellness. Healthy looks different on each, and everyone of us. A functionally healthy body is one that is healthy on all levels, inside and out. It requires quality food and quality movement to sustain overall wellness and promote confidence in oneself. For too long we have associated exercise with weight lose. Let's start associating exercise with a healthier body and lifestyle.
Exercise should be fun and easy to complete daily. It should be something that brings you mental and physical enjoyment. It’s not always easy to find, so try out different methods to see what fits best for you. We often think that exercise needs to be structured. This is not necessarily the case and can be completely unstructured and incidental.
So, what is incidental exercise?
Think, functional movements you can incorporate into your daily activities. For example: Calf Raises while you are brushing your teeth or doing the dishes, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, doing 5 squats before sitting in your chair, or maybe skipping from the kitchen to the lounge room. Simple and easy ways to keep your body thinking while you get other things done.
Changing the way we think about exercise can make a huge difference in the way we move our bodies and view ourselves. Let's take a minute to think about the self talk we engage in when thinking about exercise. The majority of the time we associate exercise with weight lose. What if we changed our thought process to associate exercise with creating a healthier body and lifestyle. This shift creates a more positive internal narrative that ultimately provides us with a better overall sense of self worth and confidence. Exercise becomes something to make us feel good on the inside and the outside, something to help us move better and give us more quality of life. It is no longer purely about how we look.
Exercise allows us to live life fully, to do the things we want to do for as long as we possibly can. Make it a routine, a habit, a positive part of your day, and celebrate the wonderful things your body can do.