Livin' Lean Topic Tuesday: Fitness Frustrations

At some point or another, I think we have all been there. I am talking about the place where you are running down a list of all the things you have been doing to get your rear in gear and STILL, the results just flat out stink! With all the miles you have logged on the treadmill or all the desserts you have passed up, it just seems fair that you should get some compensation in the form of a rock-hard body in return. I mean, not having bread for a month can drive anyone crazy alone. Add no physical results ontop of that and now we are talking pure insanity! In this quest for a better body, our perceptions of reality can tend to become a little fuzzy. The reality is that even the bodies which we idolize and aspire to have are not even as perfect as we think. Unfortunately, we are thrown these images of people with "perfect" bodies; creating this unrealistic ideal. How can we expect ourselves to look like that when they don't even really look like that?!!? We can't. So let's stop beating ourselves up about it.



Image from "I May Not be Perfect..."; dailyspark.com.

It's natural to feel discouraged when our fitness related goals are not being met. Perhaps it isn't us failing at our goal; instead, it is the goal failing us. Doing two things have saved me from surrendering to fitness frustrations; setting realistic goals and being more thankful for what my body allows me to do rather than for what it looks like while doing it. I have accepted that my backside will never resemble that of Hiedi Klum, yet I don't rule out the goal of my rear-end running a half-marathon in the near future. There are things we can control and there are things that we can't. We can spend time annoyed with our bodies inability to become what we want them to be or we can embrace what they allow us to do. I have wasted too much time in my younger years worried about the small stuff.
Really, what matters is that all of this working out is making us stronger, healthier and happier. Keep it up! Even though our bodies may not show it in places we were hoping, I promise, your body thanks you for all the hard work.