How You Talk to Yourself Matters.

Belief.

They say, it starts in your heart and your body can only go as far as your mind allows. They say it all starts with believing you CAN.

They also say, your mind will talk you out of everything before your body is ready to stop. 

Do you BELIEVE this?

When we were little our loved ones told us, we could do and be anything and we still are capable of ANYTHING we put our minds to. 

Do you BELIEVE that?

I wish I was able to pull like legit stats for you, but I don't have those today. But like, I am sure you have heard these things before right? Or you can just trust me and keep reading.

I have a personal story to share that goes along with this topic and will really drive this point home for you.

Here we go. 

So, if you follow along - you know that I love fitness and I love working out.

But, you also know I have been prioritizing rest and recovery over EVERYTHING these past few months after years of not doing that.

You also may know that I have 2 friends that every year we have some wine and sign up for a fun challenging race. Which brought me this year, before COVID happened, in January, to Bermuda for something called the Bermuda Triangle challenge. 3 days, 3 races. 20 total miles.

What you may know is… I was NOT conditioned for this race. Like not even the slightest bit.

And to find out once I was there that the race was all hills and it was cold (did you know Bermuda got cold?! BECAUSE I DID NOT!)

WOAHHHH BABYYY was I not ready or conditioned for that. 

So how did I do it?

Besides being consistently hydrated, well fueled and well rested - which I fully credit for the success that I had…for the first time in what feels like my whole like, I believed that I could. 

It sounds nuts maybe, but despite being under-prepared, I really knew I could do this. I am not sure 100% why I did, LOL, but I told myself I could.

I talked to myself the whole race.

At each mile I cheered for myself.

I thanked my legs for being so strong and for moving. I talked to my thighs. I have always hated them. But they were so strong, they were moving non-stop, they SHOWED UP on these hills.

I thanked them.

I thanked my lungs for staying steady with me.

I SMILED. Smiling = gratitude. Gratitude creates change.

I smiled hard.

I waved to people watching and laughed. I smiled - through the pain because trust me this was really hard for me. I smiled and thought about how cool it would feel to say I did this and I didnt stop. How cool it would be to really prove to myself that I had that MENTAL TOUGHNESS that I never thought I had, or was capable of.

How cool, that I could do this because I wanted to and I believed I could.

I pushed out fear, I pushed out doubt and I kept my hope and belief. 

I apologized to my whole body for the years that I took away carbs from it and expected outcomes like this race.

I apologized for the diet pills, the expectations, the triple workout days, the workouts with no sleep, all of the diet culture I put my body through. 

I apologized for looking in the mirror and hating what I saw instead of appreciating what I could do. 

I thought about what would be different if I could keep up with this BELIEF. 

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And the answer is, EVERYTHING.

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There was NO ONE and NOTHING stopping me from stopping that weekend.

NOTHING stopping me from giving up because I "wasn't conditioned," "it was cold," "there were hills," "I was tired," "my body couldn't" - NO ONE.

Just me.

But I kept going, because I wanted that feeling after. I wanted to prove to me that I could. 

And this mindset, perspective and PRACTICE - can be applied to every ounce of your journey. Especially now. When things seem harder. When the path twists and turns. When things are different. Your body still shows up.

It has taken me YEARS to get here. My journey continues to be messy - it continues to surprise me, but this was a big moment for me and one I know can be true for us all.  

It reminds me of my favorite quote from Maya Angelou.

“Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay.”

So let me ask you.

How does this make you feel?

Is there an area of your life, in your journey you can laugh through?

You can believe in more? YOU can cheer yourself on?!

If that is a yes - START DOING IT.

In addition to all of this, I cannot leave out one key piece. I kept my breath steady, because as we know - and as you will learn in an upcoming episode of Drunk Dietitians launching SOON (HINT HINT!) - if your breath is steady, you can think clearly.

And when you think clearly you make choices clearly and intentionally. If you are reading this and not sure how to apply it or make changes in your life - start here, start with bringing a focus to your body - where you hold your tension and what your breathing is like.

Breath and BELIEF. 

START THERE.

Ok, I feel so inspired after writing this so I HOPE this inspires you reading it. 

You are capable of all you believe you are!

Do not sell yourself short. Keep freaking going.

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Written by Jenna Werner

Hey there, I’m Jenna! I'm a Registered Dietitian, online nutrition coach and serious food lover. I'm ready to help you quit dieting forever and fall in love with the way food makes you feel.

Learn more about me and the HSH offerings here.