Yesterday was my first day back at the gym after our amazing holidays. Actually getting up and going wasn’t the hard part – I was super pumped. I’d lost a lot of muscle while on holiday and put on some fat – as you do – so I was eager to get back in to my routine. Once I arrived though – that was the hard part. I always start with a 5 -10 minute cardio warm up just to get my blood flowing. 2 minutes in on the recline bike felt like I’d run a marathon. I thought to myself – right small goals, small goals – just get to the next minute and then the next. By the time I realised what I was thinking 5 minutes was up.
Small goals are really important. If we set ourselves huge goals the journey seems so far away and a lot of people end up giving up when they’re not seeing constant improvement or change. Having big, scary goals are important though – they epitomise where we want to be. When you’re sitting at the bottom of the mountain however and you look up at the top – sometimes it seems just too hard and too far away. Now – I’m a hugely ambitious person – I always want to be the best and do the best – but the way I make sure I get there (well most of the time) is by setting myself smaller goals. By setting smaller goals not only can you see the progress you’re making, but it makes you feel good when you can tick that off your list and then look at the next. In no time you’ll realise you’re so close to that initial big, scary goal and it didn’t seem that hard after all. When I signed up for my first half marathon I was petrified. The furthest I’d run at that point was 15km- once – a year prior. 21km seemed almost impossible. At that point I was running between 5-8kms on my runs so I set a goal – to get to 10km and feel good at the end. Once I got there – I tried 12km, then 15km, then 17km. Not only was I so proud of myself each time for getting further but when it finally came time to run the half – I was more than ready and knew I could nail it. My full marathon training was a little different – but I’ll save that story for another day.
One of my goals at the moment – the big hairy one – is to be able to do 10 unassisted wide grip pull ups. I can do 10 close grip bicep pull ups and that took a long time to achieve, so I’m going to use the same plan I did to get to that goal. I’m going to start with 1. Yup – I can’t do 1 unassisted at the moment. Now I know as I get further a long with the pregnancy I’ll be lifting more weight – hence why I’m just going for 1 at the moment – but once I nail this smaller goal – I will move on to 2, then 3, and so on. I’ll let you know how I go 😉
A few girls I’m helping out at the moment also have their goals – McKenna for example, shocked me when she showed me that she couldn’t’ even touch her toes. So her goal is to have her hands flat on the floor touching her toes by the end of the year – and she is killing it – a little more each time – she’ll have her head on her knees by then. With a goal you need to have a time line attached – so my time line is that I’m going to try and get to 2 unassisted wide grip pull ups by the time the baby is due. The great thing about small goals as well – is that when you hit them and then exceed them it’s so motivating and encourages you to keep going. Like your own little “tadaa”.
Your goals don’t always have to be physical either. A friend of my Vic has always struggled with her weight. When we had a chat about how she was feeling she said that her weakness isn’t pizza, or chocolate or crisps per se but her relationship with food. She uses food as a way to de stress, or when she’s upset, or feeling emotional. It’s the first thing she wants to do – eat – and not good food either. So for Vic – her first goal isn’t to run 5km or lost 10kg – it’s to change her relationship with food – and this is the most important part for her health and fitness journey. It’s about finding things she can do when she feels stressed or upset rather than reach for the fridge or the cupboard which are usually sugary foods. This routine is actually a downward spiral – you’re upset so you eat something sweet. What you probably don’t realise though is eating sugary foods sets your blood sugar levels on a roller coaster which actually makes our moods worse. Sugar is also very addictive – which is the reason a lot of people cant’ just have one square of chocolate and put it away.
If you’re like Vic and you have this relationship with food – find something that you can do when you’re feeling stressed or upset that takes you away from food. Go for a walk, take your resistance bands to the park, ride a bike, or mediate. 10 minutes of meditation is a great way to focus entirely on you – let your thoughts go and relax. I use an app to meditate called Headspace – there a loads out there. It helps me actually do it – and not get distracted. So next time you’re about to reach for a snickers because you had a bad day at work – find a quiet space and try some mediation. Once you have a good relationship with food you will find your won’t ever go back, you won’t slip back in to a bad habit and you will enjoy eating good food more.
Love and life
The Figure – Danni x
1 thought on “little by little”
Nice, Duckie!