On Finding My{Fitness}self Part 1

Life is interesting. It’s ever changing and we need to be ever adapting in the wake of those changes.

As a fitness instructor, healthy eating coach and blogger you would think that the one place in my life that is a constant is striving to be (and stay) healthy.

And it is.

But being “healthy” can look so different from person to person, and can look vastly different for the same person year after year.

Which is what has brought me to writing this post.

Only a few short years ago I found myself in a very different place than I am now. I was teaching almost exclusively cardio classes (because that is where the demand was), I was running (more cardio), and teaching way more classes than I ever should have been. I was the energizer bunny – but mostly running on empty.

Then I got sick from it.

I scaled back my class load time and time again. I changed the formats I was teaching to reduce the amount of cardio I was doing, and became a certified yoga instructor.

As time passed, I gave up more and more classes as I was still not feeling well, introduced different forms of strength training classes, obtained my healthy eating and weight loss certification, and started coaching others on developing healthier habits.

I began teaching yoga more regularly and enjoying the benefits of my own practise, while still running races and challenging myself and even becoming a certified running coach.

But even with all those changing I continued having issues with hormonal imbalance and hints of over training syndrome.

Last fall after my half marathon I felt like I’d had enough. My body wasn’t enjoying running. My lung (for those who don’t know, I have a soft spot on the top of my left lung – which is why I started running to begin with) started enjoying running less and less.

So when 2016 rolled around, I unofficially decided to hang up my running sneakers, and put myself on the “I run only on the odd occasion” list and scrubbed my name from the “runner” list.

After all the movement over the last seven years, my body craves less. It still wants to move and stretch and grow stronger, but it’s not interested in spending hours pounding the pavement and stressing my already stressed body further.

I still enjoy teaching Zumba but I find myself trying to sweat less at those classes, because I no longer have any interest in “killing” myself while teaching. I want my participants to leave feeling out they have worked as hard as they’d like, but I don’t wish the same for myself.

Instead I want to do cardio for “fun” and not for the calorie burn or the sweat. I want to lift heavy things (and then even heavier things), and I want to stretch and flow on my yoga mat.

With that last one in mind, and remembering I said only a few paragraphs ago how I love the benefits of yoga, that I would be diligently practising at home on a fairly regular basis right? Wrong.

I haven’t been practising at home for months. Many months. In fact, I don’t recall the last time I unrolled my mat to do yoga at home just to do yoga.

I’ve felt like if I wasn’t purposefully working to improve upon poses I find challenging that there was no point. I felt like I needed to be doing fancy flows in order to live up to the expectations of myself – and perceived expectations of others. And to be honest, I haven’t felt the drive to do those things.

Basically I have been doing exactly what I tell my students not to do. Allowing what I feel like I should be doing dictate what I actually do.

I read this article yesterday about a girl who did yoga for 10 minutes/day for a full month and as I read it I was a bit irritated with myself for letting my practise slack this much.

If she can do 10 minutes/day certainly I can do 10 minutes/day. If someone who had never done yoga before can manage 10 minutes /day, surely a YOGA INSTRUCTOR can do the same.

oh hands…. I remember when you use to easily meet up in this pose…

And so I am going to try. I’m going to try to commit to at least 10 minutes of yoga a minimum of 5 x/week. I know, I know, I just said I should be doing it everyday, and I should – but I’m going to be nice to myself and scale my expectations back a little bit.

10 minutes, a minimum of 5x/week.

I can do it, and if this post has struck a cord with you, I’d love for you to join in and commit to doing 10 minutes of yoga 5x/week too!

But yoga is just one part of this puzzle. There are a few things I need to get back on track with before I can really say I’ve found myself fitness wise.

Part two of my quest to re-find myself will be coming in my next post, and let me just say….she’s a beauty 😉

In the above pictures I am wearing the new Tommie Copper Shaping Compression Leggings which are comfortable (not transparent!) and lug you in all the right places for a comfortable compression fit that make you look fabulous! Paired with their compression camisole with adjustable straps which stayed in place through all my bending, twisting, and downward dogging. The cami is super comfortable and is designed to be flattering no matter what your body type. I’ve layered it under a flowy tank from Fabletics I bought a year or two ago, but could have easily worn it on it’s own with no trouble.

The leggings are a bit thick to be wearing much in the summer months, but I will be getting lots of use out of them come fall, and the cami is light enough to be worn year round. Since it doesn’t ride up or bunch, it’s prefect for under any summer tops or dresses that may show a bit too much for your liking.

Disclosure: Tommie Copper sent me these items in exchange for a review on their website. I was not required or asked to share them with you on my blog, I chose to do so on my own because I liked them so much!