Love Your Body

It is Valentine’s Day tomorrow, and so let’s talk about love; love for your body.

When writing the script for the introductory video on the Power of One Fitness website and YouTube channel a couple of years ago I finished with the words, “Help your body. Love it, and it will love you back.”

If you are interested in watching the video you can find it here: https://youtu.be/1g5ZUUMB-4g?si=vBZSFM4ytT6C99cK 

It is something that I have talked about a lot in the past: showing your body some love. 

So what does that mean?

Rest assured, these are not just fancy marketing words that are meaningless in the real world. (Don’t get me started on that topic: one of the best is the Walkers crisps, “Made with real ingredients”. Anyway, back on topic now…). 

As I talk about in the video, I want to impart a love of health, and try to educate my clients on the huge benefits of consistent action, be that in the gym, kitchen or daily life choices and habits.

To quote Mother Teresa, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”

It is often not in the grandiose schemes, but in consistent, small actions that change happens. It is far easier to make small changes that we can stick with, than try to change everything all at once. Suddenly going to the gym five times a week, while completely cutting out all processed carbohydrates and doing ‘Dry January’ when you have enjoyed the delights of the festive season is a very hard ask, and one that not many people can achieve. So what happens?

We give up and go back to our old ways in a short space of time.

There is an easier way to do things. One that does not require such great upheaval in lifestyle. 

Make small changes. If you haven’t been to the gym before, or not in a long while, then maybe start with short, bodyweight workouts that are achievable and you know you can do them. Celebrate doing one, two or even three workouts a week. Don’t try to go complete Beast Mode. Allow your body to adapt.

Similarly with food. Make small changes. Instead of trying to cut out all processed carbs, maybe celebrate cooking a couple of meals a week from scratch with whole food ingredients. Celebrate these small wins, and you are more likely to then go on to bigger things.

Trying to be ultra disciplined can lead to a sense of failure if you don’t quite achieve exactly what you were trying to do. Whereas, cutting yourself some slack, starting small and building on those achievements is a far better way to success in my book. Slow and steady wins the race.

So showing yourself and your body some love is the way forward. To quote the late strength coach, Charles Poliquin, “There is no such thing as discipline. There is only love. You are the result of what you love most.”

There are many other sage minds that have spoken on this topic:

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” Jim Rohn

“It’s the only one you’ve got, it’s your home, and it deserves your respect.” Iskra Lawrence.

“Those who have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” Edward Stanley

And there are many other quotes about showing your body some love and respect floating around out there on the world wide web.

The point they are all trying to make is that your body is always trying to look after you, and it does a fantastic job each and every day of keeping you alive, so why not show it some love and help it be the best it can be? 

That can include exercising, eating as healthily as you can or know how to, taking part in some strength training, trying to get more sleep and a host of other things. 

So help your body. Love it. And it will love you back.

And if you’d like some advice on how to do that, click the link below for a chat.