Inspiration from Your Equals

Tonight I got inspired to write a little bit about fitness progress. I realize I LOVE seeing people reach their goals. Something about it not only inspires me but makes me super happy.

I know a lot of women who see or compare themselves other women and instantly feel terrible (I think we all indulge in that pity part every now and then.) The thing is when I want a little boost I always find myself looking at pics of everyday women who have taken charge of their bodies and transformed themselves.

Before and after pics are a little bit of an addiction to me. I can get sucked into reading every story of every person's journey so easily! The thing is it never makes me hate my body or gets me down. I always feel a surge of confidence when I see how far others have come, especially people who've transformed even more then I have.

Seeing others and their progress always puts things into perspective for me. I find myself doing a little mental check list of my goals and asking myself if I'm on track. Also it helps me to stop myself from emotional eating and can even pump me up for my own workouts. I don't look to athletes as much as I look to my own peers!

I think it's a really fantastic way to look at fitness too. An athlete or anyone in a fitness magazine is paid to look amazing. Their whole life revolves on strict diet and exercise, they should look incredible! But the single mom, the overworked college student, the married couple that decides to motivate each other, these are the people I look to for most of my inspiration. These people have a life filled with all the complications and headaches we all face and they aren't paid to look awesome. I always find myself saying "If they can reach their goals so can I!"

My life will always be stressful. I'll probably always be operating on just not enough sleep. I'm almost always sore and yes I will always love chocolate, but these things don't have to be the reasons I can't take care of myself.

Fitness is a part of life, it shouldn't be viewed as a luxury. You don't need a fancy gym to workout and you don't need a nutritionist to eat clean whole foods. Sure you might need a motivation boost every now and then and for that I say look to all the other people out there who at one point said, "I'm done looking and feel terrible I'm changing." It's that simple and seriously always get's me going with a smile.