Fierce Fitness Health and fitness

Fierce Fitness

by Jo Lastro

SELF DOUBT AND EXERCISE

This month’s column may trigger a few not-good moments in your life…I know it did for me! But it is something that affects us all sometime in our life – self-doubt! Self-doubt can be one of the hardest things to overcome. It can derail any fitness program, or can prevent you moving forward in your life if you don’t take control of it.

If you added up the amount of negative vs. positive thoughts that occur inside your mind in a day, you would be amazed at the difference between the two.

One of the negative thoughts that affects us all, even from different walks of life, is self-doubt. When negative influences and thoughts are widespread, generated from either within us or through others, it adversely affects not only the way we feel about ourselves but also impacts on our life experiences.

Everyone struggles with self-doubt, even the most successful people. And yes, it affects me too. It’s normal! But you do not want self-doubt to take control and be the pilot of your life choices.

Big Decision Whether it is hiking, rock climbing, canyoning, white water rafting, skiing, stand up paddle-boarding or Nordic walking, you can find the perfect outdoor adventure anywhere that you live. All these adventures will make you feel stronger, more vital and energized. They will work wonders for your coordination skills and concentration.

What Does Self-Doubt do to Our Bodies It has been proven that self-doubt forms in our childhood. That’s when we develop an initial view of how we fit into this world. It can also affect us later in life too.

Over time, self-doubt can lead to problems with anxiety and depression. This, in turn can lead to serious physical ailments like weight gain, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue and even increased mortality rates among those with heart disease. effect on our how we look and feel about our bodies, especially when we start comparing ourselves to all those posts on social media. This is the biggest one I find many people struggle with, so let us chat about this further.

Self-Doubt and Exercise When it comes to fitness and exercise, self-doubt would rank first. It’s then followed by a lack of self-discipline for most of my clients.

If you have self-doubt it can be very difficult to get started and persevere with exercise. This is especially true now restrictions have eased. A lot of people have not done any form of exercise online, or even gone outside.

Exercise Improves SelfDoubt As a fitness coach, I can guarantee that exercise gives you more than just the health benefits. Exercise is a huge confidence booster. When I started Muay Thai Kickboxing, I thought the ceiling in the studio would collapse on me. There were only three women there, and the rest of the room was flooded with men. They were wearing shin pads, mouth guards, and boxing gloves. They all looked like they had been in the boxing ring with Rocky!

You may be asking what’s this got to do with self-doubt. The thing is, I chose this sport to get more fit, more empowered, stronger (for personal reasons), and to do something for myself. You see,

for years I carried a lot of selfdoubt within me. I was told that I was inadequate, unacceptable, unworthy, and unlovable.

To truly have a positive body image of yourself and be happy with the person you are, the following steps will guide you to throw self-doubt out the window. Trust me, they have assisted my clients and friends, and I love using them for myself too. 1. Exercise is good for your body and mind. It can help you break bad habits like overeating, bad food choices and being sedentary. Once you start to feel better physically, you will feel better mentally. 2. Exercise makes your body stronger, lowers your risk of high blood pressure and chronic diseases. It helps you to control your weight, reduces stress and anxiety. Your mental strength gets better and negative thoughts start to fade away. 3. Exercise builds confidence as your body image improves. You are likely to strengthen and tone your body, and once you see these results, self-doubt will fade. Overcoming self-doubt will not happen overnight; it may not even happen in a month or a year. It all depends on you. It depends on your consistency and your support system. Don’t be afraid to reach out. It depends on how badly you want change and to better yourself, not only for your family, children, and friends but also for YOU. It depends on how tired you are of being tired, and not accomplishing what you want (no matter how big or small).

Make today the day you begin to overcome the mental immobility of self-doubt. Make today the day that you begin your journey by taking small steps and increasing them as you grow. Make today the day that you begin to believe and have faith that you can do it and that you are worth it because you can, and you are! Make today the day to look after your health!

Conclusion If you find triggers that make you feel insecure or constantly selfdoubt yourself, think about who you follow on social media, who you surround yourself with and what you read. You can control what you see, and who you hang out with.

Each time self-doubt creeps in, you block yourself from opportunities that can change your life. Trust that it will work out and take chances. You just never know how far it will take you. PS: I trusted myself and here I am writing for Fierce Fitness.

‘Never let self-doubt keep you captive’