Reclaiming Your Health
Although I’m an Executive Life Coach, today we are talking all about reclaiming your health.
Why?
Along with being a Life Coach, I’m also a Certified Health Coach. A healthy lifestyle contributes to success in so many other areas of life. With most of the women I work with, health is usually one aspect of our coaching. I want to talk about health more.
Currently, I’m on a personal journey to reclaim my health. In the past 3 months, I’ve suffered from injuries in both feet that have kept me relatively sedentary, plus a positive Covid diagnosis (despite being fully vaccinated!) that kept me at home for weeks.
Has your health been an issue lately? Have you put exercise on the back burner because your priorities have been elsewhere? Have you had an illness or injury that depleted you of energy or held you back from moving your body? Have you gained weight recently and you’re now ready to lose it?
Whatever your current health situation is, I feel you, sister. After 2 months of struggling with on-and-off pain in both feet, I visited a podiatrist and discovered that I had Metatarsalgia and Bursitis (no need to Google these-- in short, it means I was in a lot of foot pain). Shortly after this, I got Covid, which completely drained me of energy and kept me in bed (although I maintained my appetite). I didn’t exercise for 3+ months. I gained 10 pounds. My energy has been awful. I lost motivation to exercise. However, now, as my feet are healing and my energy is improving, I’m ready to reclaim my health.
Are you with me?
Here’s my plan:
Be Kind to Myself
Beating myself up over my present health situation won’t do any good. It will just lead to feelings of guilt, shame, and further lack of motivation. Instead, I'm giving myself permission to be kind to myself. To be gentle with myself. To show my body compassion and love. It’s not my fault I got injured. It’s not my fault I got sick. I needed to rest, without putting an ounce of blame on myself. If you’ve been off the exercise wagon for a while, I encourage you to be kind to yourself as well. Every day is a new opportunity to start fresh. Don’t focus on the coulda, shoulda woulda of the past-- instead, focus on where you’re going TODAY.
Focus on What I CAN Do
I’m no longer able to do what I could 6 months ago. I can’t run 5 miles without stopping. I can barely run 2. My lungs and legs won’t let me. Instead, I’m going to focus on what I CAN do and build up from there. If my feet are hurting, running isn’t an option. But you know what I CAN do? Swim, bike, or stretch. I will shift my thoughts from, “I can’t do what I used to do!” and instead focus on, “Okay, here’s what I CAN do, and I’ll continue progressing from here.”
Get Support & Accountability
Getting motivated, staying accountable, and following through is tough. Having a form of accountability can make it much easier, while providing extra motivation. I’m grateful that my Business Coach has a Health & Fitness Coach on her staff, whose services I’ll be using in the coming months to support me as I reclaim my health. I encourage anyone else on a health journey to do the same-- get help! Whether it’s a personal trainer, Health Coach, weight loss support group, or gym buddy. Find a way to build in support and accountability to keep you motivated.
