True, that

Really thought about this advert from Whole Foods during my workout today. I see this poster every time I walk into the Tube at the moment, and you know what? It’s so right.

I did another HIIT workout this morning, even though yesterday’s workout meant my thighs and calves were killing me (even after a bit of stretching), and it wasn’t easy. I felt tired and weary, and try as I might my legs felt heavy pretty much all the way through.

I kept going, of course, but damn if a tiny negative voice started piping up, going “No point doing it if you’re not going to do it properly”, “jump higher, how lazy are you?”, “ENGAGE the muscles, stop cheating when you bend down, commit to it, for god’s sake”. Etc etc. All the good stuff (not).

And then I just thought, HOLD ON HERE. If I was one of my friends, watching them doing the workout at 7am, trying their best, on already-quite-sore muscles, I’d be like, “HIGH FUCKING FIVE, well done you for even getting out of bed and bothering in the first place. Keep going, everyone has not-great workout days, just carry on, do your best, don’t freak out, even a little bit is better than none, nearly done, keep going, whoop whoop!”

So why am I so mean to myself when I don’t do my best ever workout? NO REASON. One of things I’ve learned in the past week – I’ve just come back from a yoga retreat, of which more later – is to STOP BELIEVING the negative self-talk, and genuinely commit to BELIEVING the positive stuff. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you stronger.

So there we go. Treat your body like it belongs to someone you love – i.e. congratulate it for trying, eat well with a few treats (and hey, if you’re feeling fancy, go to Whole Foods, it’s my spiritual foodie home :P), and stop being so damn mean to yourself. OK?!