How to start your health and fitness journey

Every change we do as a human beings is not easy. We are creatures of habits and changing your lifestyle all of a sudden is very hard and in most cases set up for failure as our will power fades away. I’ve been there and done that and not once. My will power failed every single time. In my twenties I was fed by beauty ideal of lean slim and tall models looking at me from fashion magazines. I was looking at those magazine models every day and felt very bad about my body which didn’t fit the ideal of 90ties and 00ties. To me - I wasn’t tall enough, my legs were not lean enough, my skin was not flawless.Few times I decided to go on a diet but it didn’t last long and I was back at the beginning. I wasn’t overweight, I had normal female body but for some reason I thought my young and healthy body was not good enough. So how got I out of my misery? It needed my thoughts transformation - from being someone who does not like my body through my body acceptance to big respect to my body.  And it didn’t happen overnight. It actually took years. After moving to a new area I coincidentally joined health club (my nephew -a bodybuilder lived with us for a while and needed a gym - so we signed up as a family) I started to do lots of various workouts and discovered those what I really enjoy. If you enjoy exercise you will stick to it and will create new  heathy habit. So instead of relying on willpower it’s much easier to gradually replace old habits with new healthier ways of living. I also started to experiment with food. Some of my experiments were not smart - like drinking only juices for 5 days. But few books with heathy recipes like Hemsley&Hemsley or Deliciously Ella set me up for a new healthy food journey. You see - nothing is a success the first time you start with it. It takes practice and trial and error to find what works. As I was having a workout routine and new meals my body composition has changed and I gained more muscles and decreased the fat %. This happened slowly but surely. What amazed me was what my body can do and how much I can push myself. This was the body acceptance stage. But I push my body too much and a big set back came : knee injury when I couldn’t walk properly for 2 months followed by 3 months of physio and subsequent knee surgery and another year of physio. That experience was one of the greatest lessons I’ve learnt. It showed me that when you push your body too far for too long - you will get injured and the way back to fitness after surgery is not an easy one. It requires patience, determination, consistent physio and lots of respect and care for your body. I’ve learnt that if you fuel your body with healthy meals, give your body adequate but challenging training and good rest your will get healthier and happier mentally and physically. So here I am- a bit wiser and much more respectful to my now older body which can do amazing things. I’m happy about myself and trying to help other women too. 

#passion #livinganactivelife