In October 2021, after a year of suffering from symptoms of imbalanced hormones, I decided to finally stop the intense exercise I was continuing to put my body through: heavy weights, cardio, running, you name it, I probably did it.
Fast forward to today, a year and (almost) a half after I decided to completely change my relationship with fitness, it’s done me, and my hormones, the world of good.
I’ve always struggled with exercising less, so the biggest change for me was how I changed my mindset and attitude with fitness. Here’s how I did it…
Detach yourself from the unhealthy habit
This will by far probably be the hardest thing you do. Breaking habits are never easy, especially habits that have formed over a certain amount of years.
I knew I had to take a break from the current thing I was obsessing about at the time (CrossFit) and that’s exactly what I did.
I’m not saying you have to give it up completely in order to detach yourself from an unhealthy habit, but instead, try and work on yourself until you know you can return to it later on with a completely different mindset. Personally, I decided to stop focusing on the numbers (how much weight I could lift etc) and instead, I focused on doing all the things that made me feel good – mentally and physically. This meant going completely cold turkey on heavy weights and focusing on the other types of less intense exercises I enjoyed like swimming, walking, yoga and pilates. Once I did that, I focused on this…
Research how to train with your menstrual cycle
Seeing as the whole reason I decided to give up CrossFit and any other intense training was because of my imbalanced hormones, I decided to start researching into cycling my workouts to my menstrual cycle in order to help support my hormones. Read: How I’m Syncing My Exercise With My Menstrual Cycle & Why
If health is a big priority for you, then learning about the benefits of training with your menstrual cycle and why can really help shift that mindset of yours. At the end of the day, ask yourself what your goals are right now. To look good, or feel good?
Once I started realising the importance of ovulating, having healthy periods, getting optimal sleep and recovering well (all of which I wasn’t when I was obsessing about my fitness), I was then able to take a different approach to fitness.
The wonderful thing about our bodies is that we are all different, so taking the time to understand yours is one of the most important things you can do.
I’ve now been loosely syncing my exercise with my menstrual cycle since 2021, but since I started working with a nutritionist in September, I’ve been taking it more seriously and it’s really helped support my body.
Detach yourself from fitness accounts online
Repeat after me: a social media detox is always healthy. When I gave up CrossFit, I had to unfollow many accounts on my Instagram so I didn’t experience any FOMO. Finding and following accounts that inspire, motivate and most importantly, make you happy online is so incredibly important, if not just for your mental health.
Also, following people who follow a lifestyle that you wish to adapt to can help you on your journey to stop obsessing over fitness too. For me, that was following more accounts that focused on yoga, pilates & a whole lot of self-care too. It allowed me to learn a new way of living (and exercising), rather than focusing on a pretty intense training schedule that was go-go-go 24/7.
Find the Ying and Yang of fitness
As humans, we need a significant amount of balance in order to thrive, especially when it comes to our work/life balance. So why don’t we treat fitness the same way? For the past year, I’ve been approaching fitness in a completely different way where I focus on a contrast of different exercises that compliment each other, otherwise known as the Ying and Yang.
This past year alone I’ve been mixing things up with pilates and yoga to help re-balance my body whilst still working towards my strength and conditioning goals and along the way, it’s not only allowed me to re-adjust my mindset when it comes to fitness but it’s also opened up a whole new world of trying new exercises, especially ones that are kinder to my body.
While it’s important to move more, do the things you love & keep your body active both mentally & physically, it’s just as important, if not more, to slow things down and understand the yin & yang of fitness. Go for the high-intensity workouts if that’s your thing, but also learn to go a little slower when your body needs it. Fitness isn’t about how much weight you can lift, how many miles you can run without stopping or how many days you can work out in a week, it’s about improving your quality of life.
Hannah x