Gym Motivation | “ I Want To Workout, But Can’t Get Myself To Just Go!” This is for You

Let me start by painting you a picture: Let’s say you live in this beautiful, wonderful, amazing one of a kind house. It’s the only one you will ever own, and it’s truly built just for you. Wouldn’t you take pride in this ONCE in a lifetime house ? And what do we do when we take pride in something? I know for me and our newly purchased home, I like to keep it clean. I water my plants, I wipe down the windows, dust off our porch, and try my best to make it sparkle. Of course there are days when none of that gets done but overall, I take pride in my home so I nurture it and take care of it.

What’s the difference between taking care of your home and taking care of your body? After all, your body TRULY is one of a kind. There is no one else out there quite like you (how cool is that?) Also, you only get one body in this lifetime right?

So why not treasure it, nurture it, take care of it, and love it.

Much like our house we live in, we also live in our body. Sounds obvious I know but my point is to present a new way of thinking to you. How many times have you started a diet by saying “ Okay, starting tomorrow no more junk food!” So you eat all your favorites that you know you’re about to deprive yourself of tomorrow and then the next day comes and boom.. it’s the same cycle.

Personally for me, motivation for the gym didn’t start until I had my son. Before my son my whole purpose for working out was to strictly lose weight and be skinny. I didn’t care if I was strong, had stamina, and what’s endurance ? Couldn’t tell you and honestly I didn’t care.

It was a vicious cycle of food deprivation, body-shaming myself, and loads of anxiety. I didn’t have a healthy relationship with food and I thought that if I had any rolls on my stomach or dimples on my thighs that I was fat. So I’m sure you’re wondering what changed ? Once my son was here and he began to get more active, big, and oh did I mention heavy? I swear he has the appetite of a grown man.. but that’s besides the point. The point is I wanted to be able to hold him, chase him, throw him in the air, play with him, walk with him, and pretty much just keep up with him. It was in those moments I realized I needed to be STRONG. Not skinny, not a size 2, not jiggle free..just strong.

So I began how all beginners do: at the bottom. Working out after a baby is like starting on your fitness journey all over and I’m so glad it was a fresh start because my last fitness journey was not healthy nor consistent.

I began by asking myself WHY?

To my readers who are wanting to lose weight or change your health I promise you, if you do not find your WHY you will burn out and fail. I know it sounds harsh but it’s true and I’m saying that with so 👏🏼 much 👏🏼 love! When you don’t have a reason for your actions, it’s so easy to quit. My why was my son. Find yours. Find what’s at the top of the hill that you are choosing to climb and find what’s waiting for you at the top. Is it a healthy you? A mentally stronger you ? A stronger wife? Mother ? Friend ? Sister ? Daughter ? I don’t know, only you do! So find it. Dig deep and ask yourself why do you want to workout? And as cliche as this is: talk to yourself like you would talk to someone you love. You would never tell your best friend she’s fat or has love handles or her thighs are too big would you? Abso-flippin-lutely NOT.

So why tell yourself that? I remember talking to myself in the worse way and it led to me hating my perfectly functioning, beautiful, one of a kind body that the good Lord has blessed me with. How naive of me to think that I needed to look like the Instagram models. I’m pretty sure the Instagram models don’t even look like that but that’s a whole other issue of it’s own. Once I started talking to myself with love, respect, and kindness my world changed. I started working out, because I am so worthy of the endorphins. I deserve to chase my son and have the stamina to chase him around all day everyday. My next topic is about HIIT. That’s my favorite type of workout. But before I get into that, let’s talk about the girls. Yes, the girls. Nothing worse than being more focused on them staying in their lane instead of your workout. For all my curvy women, this sports bra is for you. You are your girls can thank me later. Check it out HERE. I feel best when I do HIIT. HIIT is high intensity interval training and it doesn’t take a long time. I can get in a great, efficient workout in within 30 minutes and be drenched in sweat. While each of us have our own “why” we also each have our own workout style. This is your journey so find something you love to do. Explore all your options. You don’t need any equipment. YouTube is full of workout videos that you can do literally anywhere. Don’t over complicate something that is meant to be fun 💫 I always take my favorite pre-workout before any exercise because it gives me that extra push that I need to finish my workout and be my best - self! The Alani Nu one has stolen my heart. WARNING: you will sweat! And it’s gonna feel so good! I get clean energy from it and I always crush my workouts! Did I mention it’s delicious ? Well all I can say is #yum!

Another one of my favorite parts of working out is being able to wear fun workout clothes! Something about a bright pair of leggings gives me superpowers I swear! Here are some of my favorite ones! High waisted leggings ? Sign your girl up! These ones hold everything in place and are perfect for high intensity workouts and keeps everything where it should be your entire workout.

As my fitness journey progressed I found myself eating an 80/20 diet. 80% of the time I’m healthy and 20% of the time I’ll indulge. I NEVER deprive myself. And when I say never I mean never. Life is too short and I work too hard to tell myself. I do everything in moderation and I can happily say I have a healthy relationship with food now. When my mind shift from “you have to be skinny” to “you deserve to be healthy” I got into the best shape of my life. My fitness journey is never ending. Everyday I want to be better than who I was yesterday. I never compare my fitness journey, weight, or body shape to anyone else because comparison truly is the comparison of joy. When you are so focused on what you’re lacking you miss out on all the blessings God has placed right in your lap. Don’t be so busy chasing after something so unattainable that you miss out of the miraculous things right at your feet.

When you begin to love yourself SO much that you’d do anything for yourself, like tell people no, ask for space, create healthy boundaries, and take time for only you, you won’t believe the mental and physical change you will see. I’m so happy I was able to love myself enough to show my son how to love himself too. To all my mamas, don’t forget you have tiny eyes watching you. Show them how to be active and eat a cookie for dessert. Show them how to be kind not only to others but THEMSELVES as well. Our body is our only home we will ever know, don’t spend your life at war with it. ♥️

Written by Hannah Grenz.