FEELING LOST IN FEBRUARY — MARA GROOTENBOER

So, you did it. You made a resolution the first of January, but now it is nearly the middle of February, and you’ve already lost that motivation + discipline, that once was so strong in January. Don’t let this discourage you, keep pushing and you can still make a change. It doesn’t need to be the beginning of a New Year to make a commitment to your health, staying organized or wherever you need some discipline in your life.

This isn’t a post to make you feel bad that you’ve dropped the ball on your New Year resolution already 6 weeks in, but it is more of an encouragement that it does happen. Don’t feel like a failure or that you are lazy because you’re already lost in the chaos of life. It happens, we all fall, but we can stand back up and try it again, try using a different route to get to that point. You will have to push through excuses and road blocks. Life is full of road blocks, so expect them, expect that something will be in your way to keep you from committing to a gym routine, there will always be a social gathering or birthday party with friends that will allow us to go all or nothing when it comes to healthy eating. So the best thing to do is to find a way to be able to manage those situations. How can we still enjoy ourselves while navigating through this life that will always be filled with detours and speed bumps. So expect things to come up, expect it to be hard. If you don’t go in with this mentality, well, you are sure to fail to put it bluntly. So don’t be naive and think that it won’t happen to you, because it most certainly will!

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1. I encourage you, refocus, restart, and keep pushing. The worst thing to do is to give up and throw in the towel altogether. Find a new way to reach your goals if the approach you tried first was not enjoyable and just didn’t work for you. You have to find something that will work with you and your schedule, plus find it somewhat enjoyable in order for you to follow through to reach your goals. Baby steps, I can’t stress this enough. Take baby steps when starting a healthy lifestyle journey. I still get overwhelmed at times when I look at the whole picture. Take one thing at a time and focus on making that part of your life healthier, and once that is accomplished, then focus on a new step to take. It’s a much smarter + successful approach when wanting to reach goals.

2. I personally have mixed emotions towards goals/resolutions. I am all about having goals, but make them achievable. It is easy to go crazy with goals and to make a lot of unrealistic goals. However, if you do not have goals, well that is sad and setting yourself up for no success too. You need goals in order to push past your comfort zone, but it is a fine line to make sure you are setting achievable goals. Push your goals out of your comfort zone, but not unrealistic so you aren’t disappointed if you are unable to reach those goals. So in short, set goals that are out of your comfort zone, but not unrealistic!

3. Stop waiting for the right time, after a vacation, after the Holidays, etc. Like I said earlier, life happens and their will always be excuses. So you’ve tried to get into healthy eating habits or a fitness routine on your own, and it just isn’t sticking. Now what? Help. Ask for it, it definitely is something that is my weakest point. Asking for help makes me feel like I’ve failed, and that it makes me weak. This feeling of not being enough overwhelms me when I have to ask for help. I am learning that it is actually the opposite, asking for help is strong + smart. I don’t and can’t be in control of everything. Asking for help allows us to learn from a different perspective, take unnecessary stress off of us, and allows us to be more efficient with our time. Ask for help, feeling lost with a fitness routine and navigating healthy recipes, my inbox is always open! My mission with Mara Jo Fitness is to create affordable workouts that everyone can afford, because trust me, I know it’s not cheap to hire a personal trainer, so my mission with my Online Training Business is that it allows people to get the professional training from me, and being able to afford it! So if this is you, feeling overwhelmed with your fitness routine and not sure where to begin, don’t hesitate to reach out and we can discuss different options and routes for you to succeed! Don’t let the fear of asking for help stop you from pushing past fitness and weight plateaus, getting started with a fitness plan, or accomplishing creating a daily fitness habit.

4. You’re frustrated, you have been pushing yourself at the gym for weeks now, and still not seeing any differences, so why keep the workout routine? Do you know all of the different reasons for this? There could be 5 different solutions to this problem, not that oh working out isn’t for me, I need to just stop altogether. I have been studying Exercise Science for nearly ten years now. It is a science, and there are many different reasons as to why you aren’t seeing a difference. By adding one different exercise into your routine, or following a different Instagram fitness account isn’t necessarily going to give you success. Ask a professional, as someone who has studied the science behind it, the person who is continually educating themselves professionally on these topics. Don’t just take follow a random account that likes to workout, but has a different profession and hope that you will achieve her body by doing the workouts she is doing. Our bodies are all different, what works for me, won’t necessarily work for the next person. There is a science behind workouts and designing them. Most people do squats and hope that their bum will turn nice and round, well guess what, a squat is not a bum dominant exercise, but not a lot of people advertise it that way because they don’t know the science behind a squat. So just ask for professional help if you are serious about change and wanting to actually be helped, properly.

5. Get started and take the journey day by day. The days I don’t feel like working out, are the days that it is the most important that I make it to the gym. I ALWAYS, and I can confidently say always, am glad I went and got my workout in. Nothing feels better then a sweat, the endorphin rush after a good workout is always amazing. Pushing yourself to go, even when you don’t feel like it is so vital for creating discipline and habit. So if you are just beginning and just not feeling motivated, keep pushing + keep going. It does get easier, but you have to be uncomfortable at first. If you are serious about wanting change, prove it to me, show me that you really want it. You CAN do it! I know YOU can + I believe in YOU! I love getting messages from random people telling me that they didn’t want to workout and they did anyways! Client or not a client, I love hearing those messages, it makes my day, truly! It shows + proves to me your serious. Everyone deserves to be happy + successful in their health journeys, we all can. We are in control of our health and what we do with our bodies and what we put into our bodies! That is the beautiful, yet terrifying thing when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. We are in control of activity + food.

So what is stopping you? What is controlling you that you can’t seem to let go of, and it seems to be standing in your way of reaching your goals! I am here for YOU! I am here if you need accountability, if you need advice, if you need training, anything health related - you name it, I will do my best to help YOU become successful and in control of your healthy lifestyle! What are you waiting for?!

Also, how cute are these Calia by Carrie Underwood pieces and outfits?! Her line is affordable and GREAT quality, win win in my books! A lot of these hoodies + sweaters on great sale right now too, and the cutest journal to keep track of all of your fitness goals!