Why do our house rules exist?
Our House Rules exist for two reasons:
- To foster a community that focuses on fitness as a feeling, and engaging in healthy habits to live our best lives, which includes how we speak about ourselves.
- To acknowledge our inner dialogue impacts both our pursuit to live healthier lives and those around us. Negative body talk affects other people in the room, and doesn’t move the needle to living our best lives.
Let’s understand rule number one:
Speak to yourself the way you would speak about someone you love.
I’ve been a personal trainer for close to eight years now. In the beginning of my career, I was frequently hearing self-deprecating comments from clients about their own bodies. I was happy to be their safe space, and I knew I had the tools to help people achieve the bodies they dreamed of. However, I noticed a pattern. The clients that always had something bad to say about their body, kept running into the same problems. They kept “starting over” again: their relationship with food was always in a cycle of restricting then overeating. They would be consistent with workouts for a few weeks then not at all. They’d feel like they were “ruining their progress” because any healthy habits were short-lived, then self sabotaged.
Your mind believes it can bully you into better decisions, that you can hate your body into better health. That’s absolutely a lie. Action is what leads to change, and self deprecation doesn’t help you take action. It’s the number one thing I see holding people back.
Recognize negative body talk. Would you speak this way to a loved one? Is it helping you move forward? Does it make you feel empowered? Is it productive? How can you reframe the thought?
Stay tuned for rule #2!
