I used to always be asked why I train, why I go to the gym? 'Wouldn't you rather spend the time doing other things, you're always at the gym Robyn!'.
Then one day back in 2012 a guy approached me at the gym and asked me. You train so hard Robyn, are you happy with the results you're getting? I gave a blank look, actually more of a 'how dare you' look as he was implying I was looking the same all the time.
It was at that point where I really questioned why I was going to the gym. Was it habit? Was it to counteract the copious amounts of food I used to eat? Was training yielding results? I had no real purpose, it just became so embedded in my routine. Finish work, go gym.
My food back then didn't compliment my training and my training never complimented my food. I definitely always ate more than I should have and just ate according to hunger, not a goal.
It was that moment when I started noticing other people's training behaviours at the gym. The cardio bunnies, the ego lifters, the socialisers, the bench hoggers and the list goes on. Did anyone here have a purpose? Was everyone's goal to be 'healthy and fit 'or were they too counteracting the copious amounts of food they were eating.
It was then months later I was encouraged to 'compete'. I had no idea what that was at the time, all I knew was to follow my coaches diet and training protocols for 12 weeks and I would look 'good' for stage. So here I was eating and training with purpose.
Everything I did had meaning and headed towards a goal and I enjoyed every moment of it. The discipline, the hunger, the intensity, the focus.. it truly reminded of what it was like being an athlete again back when I used to be an elite basketball-er.
WOW, is this what it feels like to really train with purpose?! 12 weeks had past, I jumped on stage and there I was reaching my goal and then tomorrow came. Was there no purpose to training anymore? I reached my goal and here I was stuck, back to where I started. Even though I was praised so much I just got skinny, entered the wrong category and had digestion issues. Is this what training with purpose ultimately meant. To restrict your life and live tunnel visioned until your goal was reached?
Four weeks later I moved to Dubai and started to shift the way I thought about health and fitness discovering the true mean of a healthy and fit lifestyle.
I started to incorporate the following 4 things:
Removing the end date:
I found that I was always put an end date to my gym and nutritional efforts. It was either a holiday, show, event etc.. An end date no longer exists and suprisingly I managed to effortlessly achieve consistency.
Ceased the negative thoughts and self-worthless conversation:
I stopped talking to myself every time I looked in the mirror. I realised I was mentally abusing myself and grabbing fat bits wishing it was gone. I was always so mean to myself and even at my lean stages in life I would still find areas to criticise. The bullying stopped.
Stopped the comparisons:
No more comparing myself to those around me and to those that I would follow online. We all have a different genetic make-up and I will never look like anyone and better yet no will will ever look like me!
No more food restrictions:
The more I placed food restrictions the more it led to self sabotaging behaviour and endless binging. If I feel like chocolate I eat it, I don't 'reward' myself with food, I learnt to love myself and my choices.
As Lorna Jane preaches: Move. Nourish. Believe.
Four weeks later I moved to Dubai and started to shift the way I thought about health and fitness discovering the true mean of a healthy and fit lifestyle.
I started to incorporate the following 4 things:
Removing the end date:
I found that I was always put an end date to my gym and nutritional efforts. It was either a holiday, show, event etc.. An end date no longer exists and suprisingly I managed to effortlessly achieve consistency.
Ceased the negative thoughts and self-worthless conversation:
I stopped talking to myself every time I looked in the mirror. I realised I was mentally abusing myself and grabbing fat bits wishing it was gone. I was always so mean to myself and even at my lean stages in life I would still find areas to criticise. The bullying stopped.
Stopped the comparisons:
No more comparing myself to those around me and to those that I would follow online. We all have a different genetic make-up and I will never look like anyone and better yet no will will ever look like me!
No more food restrictions:
The more I placed food restrictions the more it led to self sabotaging behaviour and endless binging. If I feel like chocolate I eat it, I don't 'reward' myself with food, I learnt to love myself and my choices.
As Lorna Jane preaches: Move. Nourish. Believe.
