You Don’t Have To Exercise!
May 8, 2013 22:22:40 GMT -5
Sarah Butcher, anozira, and 2 more like this
Post by Serene on May 8, 2013 22:22:40 GMT -5
Annoying! Is that how it feels to HAVE to fit your work out in? Is it always weighing on your conscience - literally a pain in your behind? “I have to exercise so I hate it and it feels like punishment!” Are those your thoughts? If so, I want to help change your mind set.
You are not locked up in an exercise prison camp, forced to do squats or else receive the "cat-o-nine" tails lashed across your back. Where does this "HAVE TO" mindset come from? Let’s lose this despise for exercise. The false feeling that exercise is a chore can shed today!
If you would rather scrub the toilet or clean mouse poop behind the fridge than exercise – you need a Serene intervention so let’s get on with it!
I want to help you change the way you look at moving your body. If I looked at exercise as a "have to" instead of "want to" – like a compulsory school exam that I am forced to take daily before I can enjoy myself, then yes I’d dread it too.
Why do so many of us think of exercise as cruel but necessary punishment for the right to be thin? Well, first of all, that thought is a myth! Get this - you don't HAVE TO exercise to lose weight. Some people are downright skinny and don’t exercise at all. Eating the Trim Healthy Mama way can help you shed excess weight without a scrap of exercise. It is not a “have to” on your THM journey. It is your choice. So why do it?
Because it makes you FIT, STRONG, YOUNGER, HEALTHIER, MORE RESISTANT TO DISEASE, NO LONGER FLABBY AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO FEEL LIKE A SLEEK MOUNTAIN LION. Nobody needs to force me to go for all these perks. This is a no brainer. You don’t have to work out for hours to receive all these benefits. Twenty minutes four times a week is enough. These short and effective exercises we recommend can bring back the perk to the places in your body that have lost their perkiness. Once the idea of exercise transforms from a “have to” to a ‘want to,” you can embrace the idea of vigorous movement rather than despise it.
You don't feel like you "have to" take a shower or make your bed or eat your dinner. You "want to" because you will feel so much better afterwards. A cleaner nourished body is a better one. A cleaner, organized home is a better one. You want to do the things that pay up… the things that further your cause… that shape your future!
Those of you with green thumbs – you don’t "have to” plant a garden. You "want to" hoe, scrape, dig and weed because you love the harvest. It doesn’t feel like a burdensome chore even when the sweat runs down your back. No, it’s not a cake walk but it is your hobby, your recreation... your joy. Your goal keeps you going as you toil under the sun. You envision the budding vines, the abundant harvest on your table and a root cellar full of pickles and canned bounty for the winter. The fruit of your labor brings energy, purpose, resolve and the love to your labor!
The same bigger vision can be applied to exercising your body. You don’t have to feel giddy with joy when your thighs burn or your heart pumps. No, parts of it don’t feel easy but the rewards will keep you going. You can love exercise - not for the burn but for the results.
Twice in my life I have been put on bed rest during pregnancy. They were both for weeks on end and I was only allowed up to crawl to the little portable potty next to my bed. I gladly laid there for the life of my babies but I drove myself nuts with the strong and natural instinct to get up and move. Movement is a God given gift to never take for granted. Many people are stuck in wheel chairs or assigned to beds for a whole lot longer than my little seasons. I had only a glimpse into what they face. While I laid there counting the myriad of ribbons that hung around my wall to be plucked down after each long day was completed, I thanked God for my two legs and working arms. I thanked him for the ability to get up when those ribbons were all gone. Moving your body is a privilege!
I love to see my children running through our fields with the wind in their hair and the freedom of life in their exaggerated leaps. We used to own horses and as they would gallop back and forth on a whim, it looked like it was just for the sheer pleasure of feeling their hooves pounding the earth and the pattern of their own powerful rhythm. Our baby goats in the meadow would literally do flying cartwheels and back flips with the overwhelming love of movement.
We were designed to move and thrive with the use of our bodies. Movement breathes energy into our bodies and it is thrilling and refreshing. I was more tired during my bed rest seasons than at any other time in my life. A sedentary life equals less than adequate circulation and oxygenation of our cells. Laying or sitting around is exhausting!
Imagine a job advertised online. It requires only twenty minutes of effort a few times a week but the payment is better health, energy, vitality, strength and improved body shape. You don’t “have to” take the job but if you decide to - you’re doing it for the payoff, not because you must. You’ll look at this like a brilliant opportunity not something to be dreaded. Don’t miss out on this awesome investment into your future! Somebody else will take it if you don’t. I’ve signed up for life.
Love Serene