by Rachel Seay

The Truth Behind “Rest Days” 💕

Rest Vs. Active Rest

No, taking a rest day doesn’t mean you should be sitting on the couch eating chips, chocolate or cookies all day long. This, as you might imagine, won’t do you much good and could destroy all your progress from the week prior.

Instead, an active rest day is meant to be a light or easy day where you’re still moving, but not at the intensity level you normally move.

According to Athlete’s Edge, active rest:

“Involves performing light exercises (often swimming or cycling) that stimulate the recovery process without imposing undue stress on the injured body part.”

Taking an active rest day will quicken your recovery, making you feel stronger and faster when you’re back in workout-mode—as long as you don’t overdo it.

Plus, it’ll help you feel less sore and stiff after an extra tough workout day.

The perfect active rest day is indoor cycling at Inner Fit or a Yoga class. Choosing to not doing anything active is counterproductive to your training.

We live in a time where people rarely go for a walk longer than 30 minutes and the rest of our time is spent on the phones or watching Netflix or sitting around with friends. We simply need to move a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, period, or engage in one hour of exercise daily to simply be healthy as a baseline.

And I hate to be the one to break it to you folks, but we are not hard core athlete training 4-6 hours a day to deserve a “do nothing” rest day. Activity is very important for our daily health both emotionally and physically.

Wake up, kick off your “active rest day” with a cycle class on a Sunday morning versus “taking a rest day” and make it an awesome day. Cycling wakes up your mind by activating your brain, creates fluidity in you fascia and prevents injuries.

If you can’t make a morning class the odd time, make sure you get outside for a power walk as your active rest activity.

Let’s rethink the way we use the words “rest day” as they have a powerful affect on how our day unfolds.

by Rachel Seay

When Are We Enough? 3 Tools to Help You Love 💗 Your Body Right Now!

Imagine if you stood in front of the bathroom mirror naked and loved every inch of your perfectly imperfect body? It’s hard to imagine isn’t it? It’s hard to believe that right now in this moment, we could be enough. Why is it so hard for us?

As a plus size fitness professional, I get it. You walk out of class feeling sweaty and awesome. Your drive home with the music cranked and feel proud for working out. Then comes shower time. You take off your clothes, stand in front of the mirror and the berating begins…

“You are so fat”

“Look at those rolls”

“That sagging skin is so gross!”

“Who would ever want to see me naked?”

“Is that another layer of flab on my back – what the fuck!”

“You disgust me!”

“I am never going to be skinny”

“Omg, my thighs!”

“Where did my belly button go?”

And just like that, those feelings of pride, happiness, and good endorphins disappear and the self loathing begins.

What if, for just a moment, you changed the way you saw yourself when you looked in the mirror? What if you chose to empower yourself and find gratitude for your amazing body? What if you viewed life as a journey, not an instant result?

In order to learn how to “be enough” I am going to ask you to come on a little journey with me. I would like you to go back to your 5 year old self. Imagine that sweet little human being who loved their body. Remember, those days when you felt free from all those gut-wrenching negative thoughts and you were your authentic self.

Let’s find that little human again so we can stand proud in the mirror and love our perfectly imperfect bodies. We become enough when we practice the following tools daily.

1. Practice Gratitude for Your Own Body …

Think about how much your body has gone through in your life. Take a moment and write down or reflect on any trauma your body has endured (childbirth, weight gain, injuries, weight loss, sickness, stress, divorce, life, heartache, etc.). It’s been through a lot hasn’t it? I imagine your answer is yes because all of our bodies have experienced changes.

The irony is, you have asked so much from your body and when you berate yourself, you are dishonouring every ounce of all of what makes you – you. Think about it …

Your heart on averages beats 108,000 times a day for you.  

Your muscles make it through every workout with you and they don’t give up on you.

Your lungs have continued to give you the gift of oxygen in order for you to breathe even after all the stuff you have inhaled.

Your liver has been filtering through all the processed junk you have put in body and it is still going strong (let’s hope).

Your pancreas is still functioning after all the sugar you put into your body day in and day out and is preventing your body from literally dying because sugar poisons your body.

This amazing body of yours has never quit on you, yet you selfishly put it down every time you have a bad day on the scale or don’t feel good in your clothes. When you have a rough day, try this “Thank you heart for beating 108,000 times in a day just for me.”

When you put down what’s on the outside, you are also putting down what’s working for you on the inside. 

If you want to learn how to practice gratitude, check out this awesome article. Gratitude literally changes the brain!

2. Let Go of the Pursuit of the Perfect Body

In order to be “enough” we must let go of the pursuit of perfection. You will never have the perfect body because it doesn’t exist. No matter how much weight you lose, you will never be happy with your body if you are in the pursuit of the “perfect body.”

The pursuit of anything in life is the dream killer. Happiness comes from being in the moment, not in the pursuit of something unattainable so no wonder shower time becomes so stressful – you cannot compete with a perfection that is impossible to achieve, you just can’t, so why try? This is why people who have surgeries continue to get more and more done because there is no such thing as the “perfect body”.

This does not mean giving up on setting and achieving goals when it comes to losing weight. Striving for goals is an important part of weight loss and your own health, but what I am saying is if you think reaching that goal will make you “happy”, you will shorty learn that the happiness that comes from weight loss is temporary. True happiness comes from being grateful for everything you have accomplished this far and honouring your struggles and wins in the process.

When you look in the mirror, know that you already have the perfect body (one that is working for you) and as you strive to continue to improve your body’s overall health, remember to love the body you have right now. As you lose weight, you will feel better (that’s a given) but if you don’t appreciate the journey, the weight will come right back on.

3. Practice “I Am” Empowering Statements on the Regular

“I AM Worthy”

“I AM Beautiful”

“I AM Grateful”

“I AM Fit”

“I AM Enough”

This is my favourite mantra. Why? Because it is filled with ooey-gooey good vibes. Remember, you become what you think about the most. If you think you’re worthy, you become worthy. If you think you’re fit, you become fit. If you think you’re enough, you become enough for yourself.

Final Thoughts

You are enough.

I have struggled all my life with weight. My body has been thin and it has been fat. At my heaviest, I was 350lbs. At my thinnest, it was 151 lbs. Right now I sit between 265-275 lbs and still working towards my goals every day. The best part, I am more confident now than I ever was at my thinnest. Why? Because I love my body and I am appreciate all the growth this process has taught me. My body has literally climbed mountains, ran countless marathons, survived knee surgeries, got me through 40,000+ hours of teaching fitness, and still it keeps going strong!

I look in the mirror naked every day and remind myself “I AM Enough” or when I like to make myself laugh, it usually sounds like this “Damn girl, look at that body you are creating” lol!

I could let the world tell me that I “should be” a skinny fitness professional so I “look the part”, or convince myself I need to be skinny to be loved or I need to be skinny to win someone’s approval but the best lesson I have ever learned is a person’s opinion of me is none of my business. When you allow people’s opinions of you to become more important than your own opinion, you wake up one day and don’t think you are enough but I am here right now to tell you that you are.

And the greatest gift struggling with my weight has given me is empathy for my clients. I know what it feels like and it makes me a better coach – so no, I don’t need to be an instagram bikini model to be an amazing and loving fitness coach. I am enough.

Let’s stop the berating in front of the mirror or any other time. Let’s pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and be enough when we stand in front of the mirror naked because our body is a constant evolving work of art.

Remember, your body is an amazing machine! Treat it kindly, fuel it with goodness, give it lots of exercise (daily) and stay grateful for all it has given you this far.

YOU ARE ENOUGH

Said with love,

Rachel Seay

www.innerfitstudios.com (Best Fitness Community Ever!)

www.indoorcyclingteachingideas.com (Love to share my cycling ideas with instructors)

Photo Credit Jeremy Saunders (The Amazing)

@jeremyjsaunders instagram http://jjsphoto.ca/ 

 

 

 

by Rachel Seay

When Was the Last Time You Were Submerged in Nature? The Amazing Mental Benefits of Hiking Outdoors

When was the last time you submerged yourself in nature? If it has been a while, have you noticed a shift in your mental and physical energy? Have you been feeling tired, sleepy, unmotivated? Have you noticed a change in your energy? The good news is nature is the fastest way to restore our bodies and simply feel better and here is why …

As humans become less connected with nature, we lose an essential health buffer. “There is mounting evidence that contact with nature has significant positive impacts on mental health,” said Mardie Townsend, PhD, an honorary professor at the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University in Australia. Continue reading →

by Rachel Seay

If Weight Loss Is Your Goal, There Are 2 Numbers You MUST Know…

If your goal is weight loss, do you know your numbers?

So many people have an unhealthy relationship with the scale and it’s simply the society that most of us were raised in.

Over the years, people have slowly attached their self worth to the number on the bathroom scale and it is simply not true. Your worth comes from who you are as a human being.

The first number you should always know is your current weight. This should never be a guessing game of where you stand. Continue reading →

by Rachel Seay

What if food was less about weight loss and more about helping us feel better?

Who is sick of eating for weight loss? Who is fed up with giving up your favourite foods, only to crash and burn on the latest “fad” diet?

What if food was less about weight loss and more about healing our bodies and helping us feel better?

It’s time to change the way we view food for good. It’s time to stop obsessing over what we eat and make changes that in the long run will heal our bodies, give us energy, help us lose weight, and prevent illness in the future. Continue reading →

by Rachel Seay

Screw the Monday Blues and Kick Ass this Week with 10 Simple Steps

Monday is your fresh start day. Let’s forget about the weekend “damage” and kick ass on our fitness goals this week.

Imagine how awesome you would feel by next Monday if you created a shift today? Or better yet, imagine how awesome you would feel at the end of an kick ass workout today?!

Here is 10 simple ways to kick the Monday blues in the butt and have a stellar week… Continue reading →

by Rachel Seay

Stupid Goals! What’s the Point?

Why bother setting a goal? It is one more thing I can add to my failure list!

Sound familiar?

Goal setting seems to be something the “successful” people in life do. And if you do not think your worthy of experiencing joy for yourself, then what is the point?

Let’s start with asking yourself a question: Are you worthy of a little extra time to discover what you are capable of? Or is your time allotted to making everyone else happy and leaving yourself at the bottom of the pile?

People don’t one day wake up and say “I am not worthy”; it’s something that happens over time when life gets busy “adulting.” Continue reading →

by Rachel Seay

You Could Be Sabotaging Your Goals and Not Even Know It

Our feelings serve a purpose for many areas of our life, however fitness is not one of them.

When it comes to getting in workouts each week, so many people “see how they are feeling” when making their decision to workout or not.

When we give our feelings that kind of power it’s like giving a two year old a bowl of ice cream and saying “don’t eat it.” Of course the two year old is going to want to eat the ice cream, same goes for you when you don’t “feel” like working out. We know who wins – the feelings. Continue reading →

by Rachel Seay

Today I Cheated on my Juicer – Juicing Made Easy

We all know juicing is good for us. It’s a power pack punch full of high density green nutrients but let’s face it – juicing is a pain in the ass, and that’s why I cheated on my juicer.

I love my Breville juicer (when I make the time to juice). She is smooth, she makes delicious juice and she fills my body with the good stuff, however, cleaning her seems to be what stops me from juicing more frequently.

So while I was making my coffee, I looked over at my nutri bullet and thought “hmmmm how you doing?”

I know this isn’t rocket science and I know the whole point of a nutribullet is to juice with the extra fibre, but I had never thought to cheat on my juicer until today. Continue reading →

by Rachel Seay

Creating a Body You Love

“Exercise, through strength training and conditioning, will help you create a body you love. Nutrition, through clean eating, will help you burn off the fat to show off the body you love, created through exercise.” Coach Seay

It seems like we always have half of the equation figured out. Some of us have mastered exercising but still don’t feel happy with our weight, while some of us have mastered nutrition, yet feel frustrated by their body. Continue reading →