Dear Reader,

Today I want to talk about the importance of stopping- or rest days (whatever you want to call it). At the beginning of my health journey, I went hard– like everyday was “perfect” and I exercised everyday, ignoring my limits and the stress that I was putting on my body. I didn’t do it because I didn’t understand that rest days were necessary, that information was something I had learned in one of my three hundred attempts at a health journey. No, I did it, because I was terrified that stopping meant quitting.

It took me a long time to not associate rest with laziness. If I was not moving, if I was not getting my steps, I wasn’t doing enough- I wasn’t trying enough. It was seriously getting out of hand, my feet were so sore from the constant movement and the rest of my body was screaming for me to stop. I’m not saying that some sort of movement every single day is unhealthy, but I think putting high expectations on every-single-day is a setup for failure. And it is.

The same opinion I hold on any diet, I now hold on rest- too much restriction is too much. If your body is tired- rest. Of course, there will be days after a workout, you’ll be sore and maybe the idea of getting those 10’000 steps seems too much- I’m not talking about pushing through or building willpower. I am talking about the days where everything feels too much, where your mind and body is pleading for a moment of rest, and you ignore to do the latest workout shred. No. Stop. Put down the 10lb dumbbells and listen- listen.

The most important thing you need to do is build trust with your own body- to listen to it, because I can promise you that it has been pleading with you for a long time. It has been telling you that it’s too full for another bite, that it can’t hike up that trail in it’s current condition, to “please, God, put down the hamburger. It’s been your fifth this week.” It has been speaking this entire time and you haven’t been listening. You have been putting a ton of blame on your body for the tricks your mind plays on it- you have stopped listening.

So the next time you are done, then you are done. Not another set- not another carrot- you are done. Break time. Allow yourself a day of low effort trying and a lot of staying on the couch, doing gentle yoga, and binging your favorite show. Do not forget your soul in the middle of your journey for your body- it’s just as important. You are just as important.

xx T.