I spent the last ten days up in New Hampshire with my family mountain biking, kayaking and swimming in rivers and lakes. While I was up there, my father and I made it a point to do at-home workouts whenever we could with the dumbbells and kettlebells we keep in my parents’ garage. We would wake up early and start our AMRAPs in the dirt driveway overlooking the mountains before leaving for our daily adventure.
For those of you who don’t know, I actually come from a “fitness family”. My parents met each other while working at a gym in the 80’s (My dad was a personal trainer and my mom was a leotard-and-leg warmer-wearing aerobics instructor. I just like to add that detail whenever I can:) ). There’s never been pressure to stay in shape or always workout, but the idea of exercise has always been readily available in my family, whether it be long walks with the dog, hiking, biking, or the driveway workouts mentioned before.
However, sometimes even if the external pressure isn’t there, the internal monologue we have for ourselves can create some pretty toxic ideas…like the idea that you have to workout every single day on vacation, or that skipping workouts at the actual gym will ruin the progress you’ve made this past year.
I have fallen victim to these thoughts time and time again, and, honestly, I still do. Before I left for vacation, I turned to Gabby at the gym and asked, “Do you think I’ll still be able to do a strict pull up when I get back?” as if ten days would ruin all the work I’ve put into that. Or, as if one strict pull up was more important than ten uninterrupted days with my family. How ridiculous is that?
We are always our harshest critics, especially when it comes to our bodies or fitness. We live in a world of unrealistic expectations and ideas about the ways we should look, how much we should exercise, and the things we can and cannot eat. These ideas change the fabric of our brains to put unnecessary pressure on ourselves whenever possible. Health and wellness should be a priority, but only to the healthiest extent. Believing that you can never take days off to enjoy your family or free time, or that your fitness should come BEFORE your family time, is not taking health and wellness seriously, it’s taking it too far.
The fact of the matter is I didn’t need to workout as much as I did on my vacation, but I didn’t do it to keep my strict pull up or counteract the beers I drank at the river. I did it because I had the time, I enjoy doing it, and it gave me a chance to spend time with my dad. If it was going to interfere with our plan that day, we skipped it without reservation. It wasn’t my top priority last week, and it didn’t have to be.
You are allowed to take time off for yourself to reset and enjoy your life. In fact, you SHOULD. It’s good for the body and good for the soul. Balance is the key.
Once you come back from your adventures, Tradewinds will be waiting for you, ready for all of those strict pull ups that you will DEFINITELY still be able to do.
Enjoy your life and just remember, we are here to help you with the balancing act.
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