Strong is the new skinny….

At least when it comes to my life it is!  I don’t know exactly what it is these days but I am absolutely loving feeling and seeing my body getting stronger.  I have been thinking about this for a little while now and I am not sure if it because of my age, where I am in life career and otherwise, or just this new health journey I am on, but man I am seriously feeling like I could move mountains.

These days I would much rather look like I could kick some ass than be the skinniest person in the room.  I am loving seeing muscles develop I didn’t ever think I would have and being able to slowly add more weight to my workouts as my fitness journey progresses.  I never thought I would be one of those girls who was into weights either which is the funny part.  You could always find me doing cardio,running, swimming, biking, but never in the weight room.  Using the word obsessed may be a little bit too strong, but I wake up everyday excited about getting gym time in so I can pick up and put down heavy things! I look forward to pushing myself to keep improving and finding new exercises and routines to that are mentally and physically challenging.

I originally started this journey because I had gained some weight and really just wanted to lose it and get back to feeling good but pretty quickly after I got back in the gym my focus changed.  I had done a bunch of research months ago to make sure I was optimizing my time in the gym because like most other people I really didn’t have all that much free time to spare.  After years of thinking that long cardio sessions were the way to go, I was very surprised to learn that in fact focusing on getting stronger was how I was going to lose the weight the quickest.  From there, my entire focused changed.

Since I shifted my routine to include a lot more weight training and much less cardio my body has changed in ways I never could have imagined.  I recently found an absolutely amazing routine that combines HIIT cardio with weight training and since incorporating that I am more in love with the results my body is showing.   I love the way the bit of muscle I have gained looks on me and I really love how I feel when I am in the gym lifting those weights.   It’s an incredibly empowering feeling, the feeling of getting stronger, that has since spilled out into other areas of my life.  I feel this strength not only in the gym, but at work, in my personal life and even just when looking in the mirror and feeling proud at the person looking back.

I feel proud of myself in ways I honestly never really have been before, even when I was at my thinnest!  I still have some areas that I need to work on but now instead of wanting to lose weight, I want to gain muscle.  Getting and staying healthy will always be a process, a journey with no real end, but I couldn’t be more excited to see where it ultimately takes me.  I feel empowered, in control and most importantly really happy with myself for the first time in maybe forever.

Moral of this story, for the ladies especially, do not be intimidated, afraid or unsure of weight training!  Feeling strong is an amazing gift you can give yourself with just a pair of dumbbells in your living room to start!  It is one of the best things I have ever done for myself and my only regret is I didn’t start sooner!

xoxoxo,

Beth