Fear schmear! How many of you struggle with comparing your current self to who you used to be? Maybe you used to be a gym rat and a health nut when you were younger, but now you can’t remember the last time you set foot in a gym or really committed yourself to an exercise regimen. This was me after I had my first baby. Before I had kids, I was an amateur muay thai fighter, and I spent most of my time either in the gym or thinking about the gym. But during my pregnancy and even after having my first baby, all my focus and drive went out the window…along with my healthy eating habits. (Why is it so easy to convince yourself when you’re pregnant that donuts and french fries are a necessity??)

I could have sworn that I had gone past the point of no return. Oftentimes I found myself thinking about how in shape and focused I had been and all it did was depress me. I truly believed that I would never ever get back to my normal weight or be remotely fit ever again. This mindset led to me weighing myself incessantly as well as going through spurts where I would deprive my body of necessary calories only to binge on anything and everything just a week later. I was stuck. I knew what I should be doing, but fear was holding me back. I believed that I was doomed to always carry the extra weight I gained when I was pregnant, and that I should just let go of all the goals I set for myself. I was just going to fail anyways.

How many of you have had some of these same thoughts?

 

  • I’ve gained too much weight
  • It’s been too long since I’ve worked out
  • Even if I try, I won’t get to where I want to be
  • What’s the point?
  • I’m just going to fail

 

Let me tell you something, NOTHING good comes from entertaining those kind of thoughts. Absolutely nothing. Don’t let fear control your life or keep you from achieving something great. I let my fear control me for a bit before I realized that there was no reason to believe that I couldn’t accomplish something if I gave it my all. And you know what? I ended up losing all the baby weight not once, but twice. Plus I even got back in the ring for a fight after having two kids, something I never thought would be possible. Something my fear told me I would never, could never do.

So ask yourself, what is holding you back from accomplishing your own goals? What is your fear telling you that you can’t do? And then ask yourself why are you letting it decide everything for you? Fear schmear…..just go for it!