Trust Your Body

Happy Stormy Wednesday to close-by readers! And to everyone else, Happy ‘insert weather forecast’ Wednesday to you too. A storm is well on it’s way- I can tell thanks to the very dark and dangerous clouds looming around outside, the over the top hot stickiness we are experiencing oh and the fact that everyone likes to inform me ‘a storm is coming’.

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My Wednesday has been much the same as my usual Wednesdays. A Boxercise class this morning, followed by Body Balance. Then it was off to work and that’s where I now find myself. Oh I did manage to contribute a move to the boxercise class this morning too. I’ve known about this exercise move for a while now but haven’t thought or done it in ages. That was until Tara from Sweat Like a Pig highlighted it in this post.

The move is called a Glute Ham Raise, but if not for the fantastic Tara I would have just called it ‘that thing where you lean forward like a plank and your core, butt & hamstrings feel like they are on fire’.

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It’s not uncommon that this move will be underestimated, because really it doesn’t look all that hard. That is, till you try it. This move really focuses on those hamstrings and all the way up into the butt. As well as locking on that core- but you won’t really be focussing on the core because all you’ll be thinking is ‘oh my lordie there are my hamstrings’. I’m so glad Tara refreshed my brain with the move and I’m hoping it will be a keeper in future boxercise classes. It’s one of the few moves where I feel my hamstrings really engaging- you know they’re working. Plus from the evil eye looks I was getting from everyone, I’d say they were feeling it too.

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Trusting Ourselves

Today I wanted to zone on an issue which I’m seeing more and more as we get closer to the holiday season- Diets, Fads and Rules to get you through the Christmas season. But yeh…so like what happens after that? Hmm. But anyways, I want to focus on why we feel the need to research, find, follow and employ these types of things into our eating habits. I think it all comes to down trusting ourselves and our bodies. I have to credit this post to a fantastic new blog I’ve recently started reading called Lindsay’s List. Lindsay recently wrote an absolutely fantastic (it doesn’t seem to be out of the ordinary for this girl) post on Her Holiday Eating Plan. Yup, it was one of those posts that were so good that I had to actually pin it on my Pinterest– for future reference ya know. So check it out if you haven’t already!

Anyways, thanks to Lindsay’s inspiration I got to thinking about trusting our bodies, and then after reading 2383841 different posts, articles, facebook status’ and magazines about the new latest diet, not eating carbs after 6pm or how we have to focus all our energy not on the fantastic family time and experiences around Christmas, but on not eating that second cookie or always being 2 metres from the snack table (well that was long winded).So I put the two together and came up with this. We resort to these outrageous plans and methods because we don’t trust our bodies. And if we don’t trust them how are we going to accept and work with them? You’re right, we aren’t and we won’t.

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Diets and plans that ‘this famous trainer’ or dietician recommended are often taken up by people who don’t trust in themselves or their bodies. Because you know what? It’s easier to have something concrete there to guide you, something black and white to say yes eat this now and no don’t eat that after this time, or someone to smack your hand when you reach for that Christmas cookie instead of a carrot stick (Unfortunately life isn’t that black & white though!).

Now not all people follow diets for this reason (I use the term diet not in the fad diet sense but in terms of a particular way of eating- no meat, no grains etc). Some people actually trust their bodies and know what is best for them, for example paleo or vegetarian diets might be perfect for you. So hopefully you don’t think I’m generalising here. What I am trying to say is that for the most part people often fall into these diets, fads and rules because they don’t give their bodies enough credit. Your body is perfect and capable of amazing things. Next time you go to throw your faith and all into the next latest food plan, rule, diet (that you barely know) why not give your body a chance first? Throw that faith and trust into something you own and know very well- your body.

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Your Thoughts

• What exercise move have you recently remembered/tried/incorporated back into your workouts?
• Do you trust your body? Why/Why not?