At the beginning of my workout journey I had one goal in mind: get skinnier. When I began working out more regularly, it was only for aesthetic reasons. Now don't get me wrong, it's okay to want to look better. I think it's fine if you want to be able to fit into a different dress size, I really do, but I don't think that should be the reasoning behind your workouts.
One thing I noticed when I had this mentality is that I never really liked my workouts. I ran a few times a week and it was mainly because I knew that running was a good way to lose weight. I did some simple at home workouts with the goal to get abs and smaller thighs. I didn't realize that working out could be fun, for me it was like a job.
The sad thing is I did reach my goal weight at one point, but I still wasn't happy with myself. I did exactly what I thought I should be doing, with only a few mistakes here and there, but I still looked in the mirror and saw ways my body could improve.
After a while of being stuck in the rut of only working out to look a certain way, I started to dread my workouts. What was the point of working out if I still didn't like the way I looked? Then my eureka moment happened. I started weight lifting.
When I began weight lifting, working out became less about aesthetic and more about strength. I had goals I could achieve and they were never-ending. Maybe this week I'll be able to squat 180 pounds! Maybe I'll be able to use a 20-pound dumbbell for bicep curls! The more I lifted, the better and stronger I wanted to be. Working out became something I looked forward to doing.
Weightlifting was important because it helped me see that working out should be something I enjoy. However, I ended up reaching a point where I became bored with weightlifting as well because I was only doing the same things over and over again to become even stronger than I was. Once you plateau at a certain point, it can become disheartening. While weightlifting can be positive for so many people, I needed to rethink my approach.
I currently work out not because I have to to be able to look good, not because I want to be stronger (which is still a really good motivator), but because it makes me happy. It doesn't matter what I do, whether I decide to run a few miles, lift weights for an hour, walk around for a bit, or go to a cardio dance class, I just like the feeling that I am doing something good for myself. I switch up my workouts to keep from getting bored and I try new workouts that I think are fun, regardless of whether or not I'm burning a lot of calories or lifting a lot of weight.
Now that I workout for myself I have become so much happier. There is no pressure to reach a new goal or to get to a certain size, I'm just doing something that makes me feel good. It has also changed the way I see myself. I don't feel like I have to look a certain way because I know I'm giving my body exactly what it needs. I work out intuitively and I never push myself as I did before.
Finding your 'why' is so important and yours may be different from mine, but it should still be rooted in something positive, rather than something negative or else you'll never be happy with your workouts or yourself.
