Recently we were interviewed on a podcast and the question of why we workout came up. Why DO we workout? If you had asked us this question back in college several years back our answer would have been completely different from what it is today. In college, we were partying and drinking on a much more regular basis and our diet often consisted of whatever was the easiest and cheapest. So, our answer probably would have gone along the lines of “we work out so we don’t gain weight” or “to balance out all the partying and 2am tacos.” Comical, accurate, but ultimately terrible for our mental and physical health.

Our perspective was very narrow-minded rather than holistic on the reasons why we should be working out in the first place. Granted, wanting to not gain weight is a very valid reason to work out but it was the lack of mental and emotional reasons that makes our jaws drop looking back!

For me personally (Jacqs here), I have always played sports and loved working out as a team activity and then individually as a stress relief, but I think my mindset towards fitness changed drastically my first year out of college.

I was training for my first Olympic triathlon while working in the corporate world and was just diagnosed with depression. I used my training and exercise as a way to motivate myself to stay tough mentally. After months and months of training, I crossed that finish line and I felt a wave of clarity. It gave me an immense feeling of appreciation towards my body, being alive, and proof that if I really work hard at something, it can be accomplished.

With this, my mindset towards exercise, in general, became less focused on getting the perfect bikini body and more focused on doing something that makes me feel good and powerful. It is for self-love! Not to morph into someone else’s physical form of perfection.

I (Jo) had a similar introduction to exercise; it was easy and mindless since I played a variety of sports growing up, and I never worried about fitting in the gym after high school classes. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I decided to frequent my hometown gym a few times a week, which probably stemmed from me starting birth control and gaining some weight. My workouts consisted of 45 minutes on the elliptical and maybe 5 minutes of crunches. Once I got to college, my workout was pretty similar (except now repping all of my sorority gear… AOE) and would watch the calorie count to make myself feel good about my routine.

It wasn’t until after college that I genuinely understood the mental and emotional strength I gained from workout out and pushing myself both in-studio classes and at the gym. It quickly became an outlet for me to both de-stress and gain strength, not just physically.

Once we got hooked on health and fitness as a form of wellness rather than something to make your physical appearance “better,” the way we approached it changed as well. As cheesy as it sounds, it really all started to come from a place of love. Our awareness of our impact was broadened and we started to care more about what we put into our bodies and where it came from; Along with its impact on the environment. We started to research more, watch documentaries, talk to our doctors, and learn as much as possible. There is so much knowledge out there and incredible people that are trying to spread positive awareness. Now, it's become more than a passion of ours but an everyday lifestyle. Even though, yes we still are trying to prevent ourselves from gaining an unhealthy amount of weight, our main focus is on how we FEEL rather than how we look.

There are days that we obviously don’t want to workout and that’s normal. Rest days are essential to success and your body deserves them. The key is to differentiate (aka be honest with yourself) during those “should I go, should I not go” moments if you truly need the rest or if you are just being lazy. Also, if there are days that we really don’t want to go to the gym... we trust a good workout outfit, like these ones from JCPenney, to get us up and at em!