Why We Love Exercising (Especially Together!)
This day and age we are polluted with edited images all over our social media that often make feelings of insecurity or discouragement arise in young women. This inevitable pressure that society inflicts on us, can easily cause women to perceive exercise as a punishment. How many times have you heard one of your girlfriends say something along the lines of “Wow, I am really going to need to work this off tomorrow at the gym” or “Ugh, I need to not eat for the rest of the day because I ate too much”? This happens far too frequently, and normalizes working out to be something reactive to behaviors we deem as unacceptable from a health standpoint. Fitness comes hand and hand with self-respect, and we believe working out should be an act of self-love and effort to live a consistently balanced and healthy lifestyle.
All jokes aside, exercise and physical health is so much more important than just looking good in a bikini.
We think Elle Woods summed it up best when she said, "exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t." All jokes aside, exercise and physical health is so much more important than just looking good in a bikini. Good physical health gives you mental clarity and overall self-confidence, because it conditions you to realize that you have total control over any situation, thus the ability to make positive changes. Being healthy doesn’t mean spending hours at the gym everyday, which is another common misconception in the fitness world. Not until after college, did we realize that you can be just as effective in a 30-45 minute session than an hour and a half on the elliptical. No matter how busy your lifestyle, you should find time to take care of yourself because you deserve it!
We stick to a fairly strict regimen of working out, however, someday’s we just don’t feel like sweating at the gym. In this instance, we listen to our bodies and opt to take care of ourselves in other ways of self-love. Some of which include putting on face masks, trying a new recipe, meal prepping, taking a bath, or reading a book with a candle by our bedside table. Although our number one act of self-love is getting our booties to the gym, we never want to associate fitness as being a chore, which is why we don’t stress if we must take a day off! We’ve learned that it’s imperative to be in tune with what your body is desiring in order to feel your best, and avoid any feelings of discouragement or frustration.
Having each other as workout partners has also taught us how important encouragement is, especially from those whom you’re surrounded by in a fitness setting. Support systems are one of the greatest gifts of all, increasing your level of well-being. Getting a gym partner who uplifts you and shares similar goals is one of the best ways to incorporate positivity within your workout. We make a constant effort to utilize each of our fitness journeys to give ourselves mental clarity and confidence in every facet of our lives!
Keep it Sweaty,
Jo and Jacqs
