The term “rock bottom” has a negative connotation. Usually described to mean you’ve reached your lowest point and can’t go any further, hitting rock bottom of your fitness and health negatively impacts your life. Whether you’re at your heaviest weight or lowest fitness level, you don’t have to stay at rock bottom. Instead, decide this is it and use your personal rock bottom as a springboard to a better, healthier life.
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Acknowledge how you feel and then forgive yourself. No one gets past rock bottom until two things happen simultaneously. First, you have to acknowledge that you don’t want to feel worse than you do now and then you have to immediately forgive yourself. Beating yourself up or believing the negative thoughts you have about yourself will only dig you further into your hole. Acceptance and self compassion are the first steps in moving forward.
Decide how you want to feel. Instead of jumping right into making a life changing plan, first decide how you want to feel. Do you want to feel healthy, energetic, happy, fit? Great! Once you know how you want to feel, it becomes far easier to want to stick to a plan.
Start slowly. You don’t have to dive into a radical diet or register for a marathon when you’re starting to take the first steps towards rebuilding your health and fitness. Commit to eating mindfully and prioritizing your workouts. Begin where you are and try to move forward with a small, incremental step every day.
Celebrate all progress. Don’t wait until you’ve lost a tremendous amount of weight or completed a killer workout to celebrate your accomplishments. Celebrate every day that you ate healthy, nutrient-rich foods, slept eight hours, and made it to FitClub for a workout. Every single day there’s some sign of progress to celebrate. Seeking out and celebrating your smallest accomplishments will make it easier to commit to a lifelong journey.
Once you start to fall into a healthy routine and reap the rewards of better sleep, more energy, and a healthier outlook on life, take the time to reflect on how you got here and maybe even more importantly, why you let yourself hit rock bottom. Learn to meditate, journal, or just notice your normal habits and routines. Were you going through a difficult or stressful time and your inclination was to choose food over fitness to cope with the stress? Did you procrastinate too long with every day simply becoming one more reason not to opt for healthy foods and a FitClub class? Don’t dwell on your mistakes, but do reflect long enough to see if you can spot a pattern or reason that you’ll recognize in the future. Don’t forget to reflect on how you feel now, too. Take note of how much stronger, fitter, and happier you feel. Gratitude for feeling better and the work you've accomplished can motivate you to stay healthy and fit for the long haul.
What do you do when you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom on your fitness journey? Do you use it as a springboard or as an excuse?
