Incorporating Gratitude into Your Fitness Regimen

In a month where thankfulness is celebrated, you may be spending time searching for things to be grateful for in many aspects of your life. However, as the hectic nature of the holidays approaches, it may seem difficult to get your workouts in and stay on track with your fitness goals, but by incorporating gratitude into your fitness regimen, you can inspire yourself in new ways to maintain your fitness momentum.

Your health and well-being are more than just working out for a flat stomach or looking good in your favorite clothes, and by channeling gratitude into your fitness each day, you can discover new reasons to keep on track with your health goals. Whether you want to stay consistent with your Pilates reformer workouts or want to practice better self-care, this post guides you through how gratitude can impact your goals.

How Does Gratitude Affect Your Fitness?

When you appreciate something, you take good care of it. Whether it’s a favorite plant you enjoy seeing bloom, a car you love to drive, or a special person in your life, you show your appreciation by the care you give that person or item. The same goes for you and your body. The more you appreciate and have gratitude for your body, the more you’ll take care of it and the better care you’ll give.

Often in an effort to show how much we appreciate others, we leave ourselves as the last priority in our busy lives. We might give extra hours at work, offer late nights to help our friends, or give up our early mornings to get our families going for the day. Although giving ourselves to others shows love and appreciation, we need to offer ourselves the same attentiveness.

From working in challenging flows on a Pilates reformer each day to making good choices when we fuel our bodies, how we frame our view of ourselves affects our fitness goals. Being grateful for your unique body and abilities offers a fresh perspective on your fitness. If you simply see your body as a thing that needs to be fixed—more cut, less weight, better curves—the choices you make for your health and fitness become chores.

On the other hand, when you appreciate how your body moves and when you’re grateful for the abilities you do have, you understand that the choices you make impact your health and you have the motivation to make positive choices. Instead of focusing on fixing your body, you’re focused on fueling and empowering your body. Then fitness and healthy food choices become a part of who you are not a method to achieve the look you think you need.

Of course, to express meaningful gratitude, you need to remind yourself of the ways working out with your Pilates equipment at home can offer you positive health benefits:

• Reduced stress and anxiety: During the holidays especially, working out can help you cope better with the hectic weeks and stress compounded by the demands of this time of the year.
• Reduced risk of illness: From chronic disease to everyday health, maintaining a level of physical activity each day can help boost your immune system so you’re not getting sick as often. You don’t want to miss any parties this season! Plus, regular exercise can reduce your risk of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.
• Better mood: Although everyone seems jolly during the holidays, this time of year can also be filled with mixed emotions. Exercise helps you regulate your mood so even when you’re faced with that one person you see each year at the holiday party that causes your blood to boil, you’re better equipped to control your emotions.
• Increased chances of hitting goals: Not only can you hit your health goals when you include physical activity in your everyday life, but you may also hit goals at work and at home. Exercise boosts confidence and improves cognitive function, both of which serve you well when you need to perform.
• Better sleep: Exercise helps you sleep better. Not only can you rest longer, but you also receive better quality sleep. If you find yourself tossing and turning at night, turn up the challenge in your Pilates workouts. A good round of exercise on a consistent daily basis can help you get the rest you need this holiday season to recharge your mind and repair your body.

The benefits of exercise are numerous, and you may already understand the positive impacts that physical activity can have on your body. So then you just need to make the connection. If you appreciate your body and your health and well-being, going the next step in showing gratitude for your fitness on a daily basis can help seal in a positive outlook for a lifetime.

How to Express Gratitude for Your Fitness Each Day

Although understanding what is great about exercise can help you appreciate physical exercise, you may be wondering how you tie that appreciation into gratitude for your fitness. With these tips, you can work on daily expressions of gratitude that will enhance your fitness journey and keep you in the right frame of mind.

Incorporate gratitude by

• Enjoying the process: Look for ways to be grateful during your workout, such as when you try something new, push through a challenge, or increase your resistance. Sometimes the challenge may seem tough, but being grateful for the process means tuning in to what the challenge will do for your body, whether it be increasing your mobility or enhancing your strength.
• Acknowledging your health: Every day you can wake up. Every day you can get up. Every day you can work out. Not everyone can say those things. Being grateful for what your health status enables you to do can help you appreciate the opportunity you have to do them. So if you get up and acknowledge that you’re fit and able to get a workout in, you’re more likely to not only complete the workout but also push yourself, not because you need to burn calories but out of appreciation for your health and how you can maintain through exercise.
• Celebrating your achievements: Although it may take some practice, you can find things to celebrate in your fitness on a daily basis. Whether it’s working out consistently for a specific period of time or just showing up to your workout, celebrating your achievements—both big and small—reinforces how each step you take impacts the care you provide for your body.
• Practicing gratitude: Practicing gratitude is quite simple. You can use a pen and notebook or jot down notes on your phone, but whatever method you choose, give yourself a specific time each day to note things about your fitness for which you are grateful. Focusing on your fitness helps highlight things you may overlook but that are important to keeping you healthy.
• Reframing your perspective before you work out: Whether you’re tired and cranky or feel too busy and stressed to get your Pilates reformer workout done, make it a habit to reframe your perspective each day. Perhaps look at your notes that recorded things you were thankful for in terms of fitness or just reassure yourself that working out is a way to appreciate and care for your body in a healthy manner. Whatever you choose to do, reframe your perspective from “I have to” to “I get to” when it comes to working out. Not everyone can have Pilates equipment at home or access quality workout equipment. Be thankful for what you have and what it can do to maintain your health.
• Recognizing negative feelings: Having gratitude may make you think you can only think of positive outcomes, but negative feelings are a part of life. Being grateful doesn’t mean you ignore negative feelings. Instead, being grateful means actively thinking through those feelings instead of allowing those feeling to control your actions. So be mindful of those feelings, acknowledge them, understand where they came from, and empower yourself to choose not to allow those feelings to control how you perform, whether you work out, or any choices that you make.

Be grateful that you can work out and that working out consistently improves your health and well-being. If you regularly practice gratefulness with your fitness, the attitude of gratitude will become a well-established habit that can help you maintain a healthy mindset for a lifetime.