Fitness Is About Freedom
Fitness is about freedom. Freedom to say yes to the things you love with people you love. Freedom to say no to the things that don’t matter as much to you. Last weekend, I went on a trip with two of my best friends in the world. One of them moved away a couple years ago and we don’t get to see each other that often. We also have 10 kids between the three of us, so getting away is tricky at times. We ate food, we had some drinks, and we had a great time. I didn’t workout at all, but I did play pickleball for the first time.
This is what my fit life looks like: I felt free to enjoy my meals & drinks without any guilt.
I felt confident to play pickleball without fear of injury even though I had never played before. And, Monday, when I got back, I had my normal breakfast, did my normal workout, got my normal steps, and got right back on track.
When the “normal” of our lives is one way, then the occasional “abnormal” is a drop in the ocean.
A fit life gives us the freedom to:
Wear whatever clothes we want in our closet without wondering how they’ll fit
Have enough energy to play on the floor with our kids for hours at a time
Do a new activity or workout without fear of injury
Go on a hike with our friends even though we haven’t hiked in years
Enjoy our favorite foods & be social without guilt
And the best freedom? It gives us the mental space to not actually think about it.
One of my clients told me recently that she always used to listen to fitness and weight loss podcasts on her commute. Basically all the accounts she followed on social media were fitness accounts. It took up so much of her bandwidth to think about what she was doing, what she wasn’t doing, and what she “should” be doing that she couldn’t really think about much else. She messaged me the other day to tell me that she listened to a sports podcast on the way to work that day and loved it. She had rediscovered a passion and enjoyment for something that had gotten pushed out of the way by the amount of mental space she was giving to her fitness journey. It was freeing. That’s what it’s all about.
Our fit life is about being free to actually live our lives. Without fear, hesitation, self-doubt, guilt, or insecurity.
The work is hard, but it’s so worth it. Enjoy your freedom.
I recorded an entire podcast episode on living your fit life and making sure that your fitness routine is providing you with more freedom and not more restriction.
