Human expectation doesn’t always fall in line with reality. This post specifically regards the human relationship with the body. The body as a home for our minds and thoughts, our transports through life, yet so often we disrespect and criticise too harshly.
I never thought the day would come. Feels like I’ve been doing this challenge since before I can remember. Before doing this 28 day HIIT and ab challenge, I had never really worked out before. So expecting to breeze through these workouts everyday with full force of motivation wasn’t entirely realistic yet thats what I expected of my body. I couldn’t walk after the first day of this challenge and had to take a day 2 off! I was angry and frustrated at my body for not being able enough to do it. The following day, I began again and it was still difficult but I gave myself more breaks and drank more water during the workout. I pushed myself to do them everyday, guilting myself that I’d be fat otherwise. I was still struggling with them but I was actually doing it. Not normal for me at all because I normally stray away from committing myself to too much fitness.
When I got to day 20, I had a weird breakdown thing happen. I was sort of hurt that I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted to. That sounds crazy right! 20 days and I want to look like those girls on Pinterest. I messaged my friend who is a personal trainer and she told me that the worst thing you can do is measure your success by looking at your body in the mirror. It sounds ironic but the only true measure is in how you feel. Easier said than done of course as she said but if you look at yourself in the mirror everyday, which I definitely do then you won’t notice your results as obviously.
After talking to her it kind of smacked me with a bit of a reality check. How amazing it was that I was working out at all and that I was getting stronger. The exercises were difficult but I noticed more when I came to the last few days of the challenge that I could actually do them. I couldn’t do all of them at the beginning. So maybe I don’t have a flat tummy by the end, but I am definitely stronger and have learnt how to assimilate fitness into my day, which was a challenge enough for me to begin with.
Another thing I quite liked about Chloe Ting’s workout challenges is the community that she has created with it. It reminds you that there are so many other girls that want this ‘idealistic’ body and its not crazy to want that. It is crazy though to expect that so quickly. So this community is a space for people to share their progress and comment on other people’s experiences. Chloe accommodates for the variety of body types and has her ‘no one size fits all’ policy that the workout experience will be different for everyone and people will have different levels of progress so you mustn’t compare this too much.
Having a community and a figure like her to guide and welcome me to the world of fitness was highly important and helped me begin to see my body differently. Many cultures have different ways of understanding the body, and I don’t always like how in mine it is so heavily based on criticism and unrealistic expectations. I have already lost 1kg from doing this challenge and whilst that may not seem like a huge achievement, it absolutely is! Let yourself be part of communities that recognise your achievements and encourage your frame of mind.
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