Are you going to the gym again? This was a question my husband would ask as I went off to the gym for the second time in one day. The question would make me defensive and ready to reply with a number of excuses as to why I needed to return to the gym. I was teaching fitness classes and often going for a second workout at Crossfit. In my mind, the classes that I was teaching did not “count’ and I needed to do another workout. What the *@&%? I now see how distorted this type of thinking was, however at the time I had myself convinced.

I was in a place with my body where movement was my punishment for eating too much or not looking a certain way. Don’t get me wrong, I love movement. I love teaching fitness classes. I love Crossfit as it challenged me in ways I would have never challenged myself. The issue was that I was using the movement out of dislike for my body not appreciation or respect.

In the book Intuitive Eating, movement is described as getting active and shifting your focus away from the calories burned to how it feels to move your body. If you shift your focus away from calories burned, weight loss or manipulating your body size then movement is likely going to be sustainable and more enjoyable. If your only goal from exercise is to lose weight, it may not be motivating enough to maintain a routine. Moving your body intuitively takes into account preferences, ability, time, health and intuition. Intuitive movement is tuning into what feels good for YOUR body, not moving your body in ways that diet culture tells you to that you have to in order to look a certain way.

We need to be more open to what is considered movement. Diet culture often tells us that movement doesn’t “count” unless it’s strenuous and you’re dripping in sweat afterwards. However, movement doesn’t have to be that complicated! Movement could be dancing around your house, stretching, chasing your kids, walking with a friend, cleaning the house etc. It can also be going for a run, strength training, or barre. We have to redefine what movement actually is. This can give you freedom from the black-and-white thinking and help you move towards a healthy relationship with movement.

I have worked hard over the past ten years to change my relationship with food and movement. I am a Fitness Coach, so clearly I love movement and know all the benefits that come from moving our bodies on a regular basis. Our bodies were made to move.

What I am more concerned with is your why?

Do you move your body in ways that you truly enjoy?
Do you move your body only to lose weight, burn calories or to change your body shape/size? (Spoiler alert - this will never motivate you to maintain a routine as you will become frustrated if the results are not there).
Do you move your body to satisfy your mind, body and soul?
Do you choose movement because it feels good or because you are paying for eating so called "bad" food?
Do you move to thank your body for all that is does for you or to punish it for not looking a certain way?
Do you listen to your body when it’s begging for rest and take a day off?

As I have mentioned, I was the person who punished my body. Even though I love to move, my why was distorted. I love to move my body and feel so good after I do it. I know all of the reasons it is good for us - physically, mentally and emotionally. Somewhere along the way, I lost my focus and became obsessed with exercising for the wrong reasons.

I want you to move your body because you want to be able to keep up with your children, hike for hours with a friend or simply get out of bed. If you continue to move your body only to burn calories or lose weight, you may not be able to sustain this goal if you do not get the results you want or you burn out.

As I started to heal my relationship with food and my body, I started to move more intuitively. I started listening to the internal cues and whispers in my body. I was getting injured more often and realized this was no way to continue. I dug deep to really seek the answers within my body. I asked my body what it was craving each day in terms of movement and became very aware of what activities I really enjoyed versus ones I was doing because I thought I had to. One of the first steps towards intuitive movement is asking yourself what you enjoy doing - if it is spinning then that is great. If you hate spinning but you do it because everyone else is doing it, then you will likely not be successful in sticking with a routine.

When you start to move more intuitively, you are taking back control. And living your life on your terms! Similar to intuitive eating, you are moving in ways where you are listening to you body and not external diet culture messages about what movement you should be doing. Move for you, not for someone else.

We only have one body. Please treat if with kindness, appreciation and trust for what it can do for you. Remember my message to you - we all deserve to live a life free from restriction and guilt.

Do you listen to your body and try to use intuition when deciding on your movement?