Do you feel ‘too fat to work out’? Uncomfortable in a typical ‘workout environment’? Bigger, like you stand out or take up more space than the other women in the room? Maybe you see workout videos, gym classes and so-called perfect bodies, and feel not only that the workout will be too hard, but that you’re not welcome here.
Well, you ARE welcome here.
If you think of running and working out as something for fit, skinny, bouncy other women who seem to find it easy and who look good in workout gear. Not for you with your curves, or wobbles. I have worked with women who won’t run in daylight in case someone sees them. They told me they ‘feel too fat to work out’. ‘It’s not for me’. They wouldn’t dream of joining a gym because the thought of getting changed or working up a sweat in front of other people is frankly mortifying. They feel ‘too fat to work out’.
It’s hard when your body feels heavy and you want it to feel lighter. It’s hard when you feel ‘less than’ everyone else in the room. It’s hard when you don’t like what you see in the mirror, and everywhere you look there’s a photoshopped 20-year-old pouting at you.
But if you find it hard, you can be sure others do too, and that they find you inspiring and brilliant when you show how fit and strong you really are, or can be.
That phrase ‘too fat to work out’? Is Bulls&%t.
Try this if you ‘feel too fat to work out’ (BTW, you’re not, and we’re not saying that anymore)
Make some changes like walking instead of driving whenever possible, cutting out junk from your diet or committing to moving your body in a way that feels good every day.
Start to move a little more than you do now and start to change the food you eat, one thing at a time. You don’t need anything to start. Walk, dance, follow just the warm-up routine or maybe one round of one of the MUTU Intensive workouts.
Jog for 30 seconds. It doesn’t matter if you have to walk for 5 whole minutes to get your breath back… just do it then jog for another 30 seconds. Do that 3 times. Then when you’ve done that for a couple of days, jog for 10 more seconds each time. Then only take 4.5 minutes to get your breath back. And as you lower the rest time, repeat it 5 times instead of 3. You get the idea. Keeping the overall workout time at around 20 minutes total is fine – just keep increasing the run, and decreasing the rest… gradually.
That’s it! You’ve started running! You’re “A Runner”. You’re “Someone Who Runs”. Keep saying it to yourself … you deserve to be out there filling your lungs with fresh air and moving your body just as much as the skinny bouncy people. Physical as well as mental health results will motivate you to continue, but you just have to start.
At home exercise just for you
Don’t want to go out in public? Hate the idea of running or feel just too fat to work out? You’re not. Try 30 seconds low impact exercise in your front room or garden then rest for 1 minute. Repeat and keep alternating for 10-15 minutes. Put on some music you love to make you smile. You gradually increase your hard work, whilst decreasing your rest time, but you don’t have to increase total workout time… That’s an interval training workout!
‘High-Intensity Interval Training’ – you just did that. You ARE welcomed in the movement and exercise environment. The lifting and sweating and dancing environments. Claim your space. Take UP space.
Sometimes he first hurdle is to believe that you deserve to feel good about your body. And that your body right now, is awesome and beautiful. Own it. Try to start to like yourself a little more, because we only really take care of what we think deserves to be taken care of. Keep telling yourself that you can do it, that you deserve it. Fake it till you make it. Keep saying it even if you don’t believe it yet. And as you work out and start to feel strong and to see results, you’ll start to believe it.
Our bodies are made to move. Take up space Beautiful One, and move yours.
