Okay, wow, I haven’t written about fitness since May. And for awhile I thought about just getting rid of the section all together, but I feel ready to tackle it again. I’ve come to a place where exercise has become a part of my daily life. So much so, that I rarely think about “having to workout” or “having to eat clean.” Most of the time, I just do what I want.

If I DO catch myself thinking “but I have to” it usually means that I am too tired to workout and I need a break or that I probably haven’t been listening to my body and been nourishing it incorrectly. How did I get to a place where I can honestly say I am in tune with my body? BY BEING CONSISTENT.

Consistency with my exercise and eating has transformed the way I live and has helped me to become more balanced and happy. Let me break down how:

I Can Miss a Workout
By staying consistent with daily workouts, I never feel guilty if I miss one because I am tired, or stayed out too late, or am having too much fun with a friend. The old me always felt frustrated and angry with myself when I missed a scheduled workout. I was obsessive about making sure I hit every workout at the expense of my own physical and mental health. If I missed a workout I’d torture myself about it until I made up for it somehow. I was also trying to do too many workouts at weird times that didn’t match my schedule because I thought it was what I ‘should’ be doing.

Now, I schedule in 30-45 minute workouts 6 times a week. I follow Kayla Itsines BBG most of the time and it has taught me that a lot can be done in a short amount of time. And it can be done at home. By making my workouts more accessible to myself and planning them in when I have no other commitments, I am more apt to do them more often and with great consistency. Their length hardly matters, it’s how often I do them and what I am doing.

I Can Eat What I Want
This is where people want to talk about genes and that I’m lucky and so forth. But that’s really not the case. If I didn’t move my body and just filled it with chemicals everyday, I’d probably look and feel a whole lot different. Actually I know I’d feel TERRIBLE.

I don’t follow a meal plan or a diet or anything restrictive or crazy. I tried that, I tried many different ways ,and all it did was make me feel depressed when I cheated on it, depressed when I followed it, and generally just sad. Finally, all I wanted to do was eat and not calculate how far I’d have to run to burn it off. So I follow some loose guidelines I made up for myself:

-I try to eat mostly “real” foods (I try to stay away from chemicals and over processed junk)

-I try and get my recommended daily intake of EVERYTHING. (This includes meat, dairy, grains, fruits and vegetables.) The best thing that comes from this is that I am eating a little bit of everything and keeping my vitamins diverse.

-I only dine out a couple times a week. (Last night I had an entire pizza and didn’t even feel guilty.) And most of the time try to make smart-ish decisions while I am out (veggies etc.).

-When I’m hungry and it’s just a regular, old day with nothing fun happening I’ll eat veggies, fruit, whole grains. Doing this on boring days makes it so easy to splurge on fun days.

I Am Doing Something Good For Myself Everyday
I have never loved myself more than this moment. Right now. I am eating right. I am moving my body. I am resting when I need it. It’s like I finally feel an amazing synergy through everything and from that I’ve learned to love my body just the way it is, just the way it looks and feels. I am respecting the one home I was given.

No One Else is Dictating How I Care for Myself
Everything I do is because it makes me feel good, makes me feel happier, and makes me healthier. Yes, I truly believe that housing an entire pizza last night makes me healthier. Because my mind is right.

The most amazing thing about this is that each part fuels another part. Because I trust myself to move my body, I can indulge, because I love the way my body looks no matter what, I want to move it more, because I move my body more, I can enjoy lazy days in my bed with my dog.

I have to say that this was not an easy process for me. I started my healthy living YEARS ago when I decided I wanted to start working out again. I was 21. 7 years later and I feel like I finally hit my stride. It was long, and I had to learn a lot, but the payoff has been amazing. I finally love my body! (Hurrah!)

My advice to anyone looking to get in touch with themselves and their healthier sides is to just be consistent. If you can’t put an hour in at the gym everyday, than play outside with your kids for 15 minutes before dinner, if you can’t live without chocolate, have a little everyday instead of trying to cut it cold turkey and then bingeing. Do a little everyday… and it will add up. I promise.