What It's Really Like "Going To The Gym" 220+ Days In My Fitness Journey

I'm not going to lie. It has been since August 3rd. That day marks the last time I worked out (cringe). Those of you who have kindly been following my journey throughout the months know very well that I was consistent with my routine for a while. I was going 1 hour a day, 5 days a week… switching up everyday to include a healthy mixture of cardio, weight lifting, and meditation. I really was killing it. But then it suddenly got harder. I'm still not too sure what exactly made things harder for me. But it wasn't until this week that my motivation returned. One can only hope that at some point I'll get back up and try again, right?

The rest and recovery time I think was necessary. I needed solitude; some time away from the normal in order to gain perspective of what's going on. We also had family visit from Sweden. They stayed with us for the last two-three months; but honestly that's no excuse. At the end of the day, I was just super overwhelmed. Between my day job and doing everything to run my handbag business, I think in my mind skipping the gym seemed like the easiest thing I could do to curb some additional stress.

With the help of GIFS, here are my stages of "going to the gym" 220+ days in my fitness journey.

1). First, I started to skip one class a week. I convinced myself I worked out enough and there was no longer a need to go 5 days a week like I was. For someone who tries to do the right thing, I felt a bit of a badass breaking the rules.

2). Skipping one day a week turned into two. How rebellious of me. My mentality at this point = one two, same thing. Sometimes you can be your own worst enemy. Watch out.

3). At this stage, missing two work out classes a week resulted in classes looking a lot like this Mr. Potato scenario. Before slacking, I was so good lifting that 10 pound dumbbell. But just by cutting two classes a week it suddenly felt heavier. Why??

4). So as a result, I felt stuck and a little defeated. I really was trying but at the same time I didn't want to admit that cutting workout classes was the reason for my defeat. At this stage, my head was somewhere else. My routine was changing, my priorities were way out of whack. Working out went from a stress reliever to a stress igniter. For anyone who doesn't know, having guests over is amazing but it definitely makes it harder to follow your normal routine.

5). Once workouts began to feel like work, I let it all go and I let God. I focused on my guests, I continued with my day job, and remained occupied with creative work. From all this. I was content but missed feeling strong. Working out helped eliminate a lot of toxins. Be sure to catch up on my fitness journey / progress in next month's post!