#SomeDays
"Some days" happen to everyone and today, I want to break the shamey shit apart that usually comes with them.
Some days, I get to the gym and work out for an hour.
Some days, I only have energy for 30 minutes.
And some days, all I can do is get out of bed and adult for the day.
I used to beat myself up on the days when I couldn't do as much as I expected myself to do. "Just suck it up," I'd think to myself. "Just push through!"After much experience, I've realized that pushing through spells nothing but disaster for me. I end up burnt out or resenting the activity I'm forcing myself to do, which makes going back to do it again the next day much harder.I've found that honoring my lower-energy days allows me to recover more fully and come back to the activity with desire and lightness.So let's talk about what goes on in our heads when we super-feelers fall short of our own expectations. Let's use my process of Reading and Freeing The Situation to reset your Mental Optics around giving yourself a break.
Read The Situation
Many of us feel that if we're not doing the most we can possibly do, we're not doing enough. Or we feel that if we're not living up to some standard of activity or "healthy living" that performance health has taught us we need to live up to, we're failures.When we go into any kind of lifestyle with these perfectionistic mindsets, we're dooming ourselves for inevitable failure.
When we can't stick to an intense exercise schedule, we give up entirely.
When we can't resist a food that's "off plan," we binge on it.
...and we blame ourselves like it's some massive flaw within our DNA to not be able to stick to this overly-regimented cycle of punishment.We forget that health isn't supposed to feel like prison; it's supposed to feel good! Hell, it can even be fun!
Free The Situation
Don't like feeling how you feel when you fall short of performance health expectations? Free that shit.
What if the reason why we don't stick to unrealistic performance health plans, programs and diets is that inherently we know that shoving ourselves in a "perfect" box flat-out sucks?!
What if some deep, down part of us just won't let us be the victim of some performance health guru's body tyranny?
What if we our bodies know that there's no body type, metric or measurement that's going to save us from pain and struggle?
You get to choose how you react in every situation; that's how you free it. You'll feel the pull of your default reaction, but it truly is your choice whether you follow it or not.Instead of defaulting to forcing or shaming yourself, choose gentleness. Choose honoring your body's needs. Choose giving yourself a f**king break!
Some days aren't representative of your strength or worth; they happen to all of us. When we meet them with gentleness and ourselves with forgiveness, we can move forward from them more smoothly (without the self-sabotage that happens with the shamey default reaction).And hey - this won't be perfect. Freeing The Situation takes practice and requires a bit of failure to truly get good at it. Welcome it instead of fearing it. Failure our greatest teacher is (Yoda quote for the win).
Get Back Up
Don't want to do this process alone? Awesome, 'cause neither do we.
Join us on Instagram for the #SomeDays campaign!
Post a pic of you giving yourself an effing break on a low-energy day.
Tag us (@stronginsideout) in the pic and caption.
Use #somedays.
Or just come comment on our #SomeDays post on the @stronginsideout Insta with some support and we'll love you right back.You shouldn't have to go through this process by yourself. Changing habits is hard, dude. Let us get your back!Your punk rock cheerleader,Amy