Case studies for thought

Stereotypical Norms on Exercise

Scenario -  Recently a friend of mine who just had a newborn child shared with me about being judged by a total stranger. 

 

She was running through her  neighborhood, (mind you, her first run in months.) She has not been consistent with her regimen for obvious reasons since having her newborn. 

An elderly gentleman passed her in his truck and said out the window 

“you don’t need to lose weight” to where she responded immediately back to him, “I’m doing it for muscle”. 

 

There’s a lot of reasons why people run. It’s not always for weight loss. In my friend’s case it was not about weight loss at all. She runs for stress management, sweat/detox, heart health, and muscle tone. The endorphins after a run are great for her mood also! 

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It just seems that there are societal stereotypical norms on activities such as running and weight lifting.  Running to lose weight and weight lifting to get “jacked” (or muscular). Exercise is really about celebrating the body you have and not taking for granted on what your athletic ability means to your health.  We need to shift our perspective that working out is not a means to punish yourself because you over indulged with some food.  We eat to live instead of living to eat.  When we properly nourish our bodies , it will enable our bodies to perform best when we work out.  My friend experienced a setback with her workout routine because of her pregnancy.  Setbacks suck, but not allowing it to take her down was crucial. 

 

Pondering Further -  Unexpected Life Events

 

Take into consideration this case study for more elaborate consideration.  Is your body and mind prepared for the sudden unexpected circumstances in life? God forbid, we do not experience familial tragedies or traumatic events from Mother Nature.  But how do you prep for these potential precarious occurrences? How can we keep our well beings in the most healthiest way possible if something so bad was to occur? The last thing we want do to ourselves is get pessimistic or worry about these uncontrollable aspects from occurring- but at the same time , are we equipped with a contingency mental plan for handling these types of incidents.  The bottom line , we can only control what we can control.  Seek prosperity in the ability to take care of your physical mobility and functioning.  Do not take for granted the meaningful people that you cherish and love in your life.  You mean everything to the world and your inner circle of close people are everything to you!