Fitness Real Talk — love yourself

This is going to get juicy.

[An opinion piece]

When I first began spreading the #irockthesportsbra movement, I identified myself as being a part of the body positive community until one day…. I was not. Because I didn’t look like “her” - curvy or round.

#irockthesportsbra is about celebrating the body as is, letting go of judgments and fear around wearing a sportsbra in public, and feeling & performing as a “badass”, strong, confident, powerful female  athlete.

For years I felt shame and never fit in within the fitness industry....

I’m 38! 2 years shy of … dun dun dun… 40! I’ve basically reached the midway point of life expectancy, they say. But I’ve never felt younger. 

What do we do if you say things like: “I am too old to workout like that”. “I can’t workout like that, my body can’t move like that”??

I say….STOP….hold the phone…. You are dead wrong!

How is it that I workout like I’m 20 and am in better shape than I ever was in my 20s?

First, it all starts...

Well, the 22nd of this month your girl is about to take the 38th year around the world. 98% of time time I feel like I’m 18 but every now and again I’m reminded of my age when I still struggle with TikTok dances and can’t recognize one song other than that are on my 80’s/90’s Spotify playlist.

Either way, I wanted to share my birthday fitness wishes for you! (in random order)

1. That you know how physically strong you already are. You just haven’t committed to that belief just yet...

I'd love to go back to my 20 year old self and tell her a thing or 2 or... 4 before beginning her fitness journey. 

I’m just going to get right to it! Here they are:

4. Toning muscles is not a real thing! Strengthening muscles is a real thing. But, there is no such thing as toning. There is fat loss. There is weight loss. There is fat gain. There is weight gain. There is muscle mass increase and muscle mass decrease. There is fit and there is not fit....

Let’s talk about LOVE. Self LOVE! 

“If you don’t love yourself, how can you love anyone else?” - cue “mmhmmm heard that one before” face.

I’m all for loving yourself but what place does that advice have in the fitness space?

Phases like  Body Positivity, Self Love, Self Care have taken MSM (main social media) by storm… and I’m glad! Because it's been a long time coming. 

I am from the generation of  “you are not skinny, therefore, you are not worthy”. Trust me when I say,...