it takes time…

Hey Reader,

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I’d like to share with you the uncommon insights I’ve learned from being back at the gym after 3 years.

Trust me, you wouldn’t want to miss these nuggets! ✨

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1. Peer pressure 👯‍♀️ is a good catalyst if you add self-awareness into the mix.

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you may know I am back to the gym after 3 years.

What I didn’t tell most people is what motivated me to come back.

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Earlier in the year, my officemates (hello officemate if you’re here lol) held a biggest loser weight loss challenge.

Obviously, the foodie in me didn’t like all these all-day long talk about what they ate and didn’t eat. I didn’t join the challenge, but I tried to be as supportive to them.

However, as they continue talking about how much somebody lost and how much somebody gained, it triggered my insecurity of my now imperfect weight and body shape. 💔

Since college, I’ve always hit the gym, heck, I even got awarded as Best in Yoga hahahahaha😅. And it was only in 2020 to 2022 when I totally stopped hitting the gym.

Now, day in and day out I hear the talk about weight loss and their diet restrictions. At one point, I even tried dieting and I stopped because I hate it.

Sooo, knowing me, I slowed down, journaled ✍🏻 and came to the realisation that…

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Wait a second – I don’t need to do what they are doing to achieve the same goal 🎯 we are all achieving.

That is when it hit me.

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👉🏻 Just because everybody is doing it, doesn’t mean it is bad, but just because everybody is doing it a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s also the way I should do it.

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Trying to lose weight isn’t bad or toxic – if anything, it is healthy.

What’s not healthy is trying to fit in. 💯

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When I accepted that what my officemates were doing isn’t toxic, but it’s my silent triggers🙏🏻that is disempowering, I met it with so much love by literally breathing and writing down a plan.

This is when I realised, okayyyy, they do what they want to do, but I am going to do it using my ✨superpower✨ – hitting the gym.

Since Apr 10, 2023, I’ve hit the gym at least 4 to 5x a week – wuhoo! 🥳

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Practically, restricting my food doesn’t work for me, but I LOVE hitting the gym.

I only needed that kick, masked in ✨‘trigger’✨, to remember what I used to love and actually do it again.

In the end, as I hit the gym consistently, my food intake and cravings naturally slowed down too – it’s just science. 💯

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2. 1% improvement every day 📈 is better than 100% improvement in one day.

During my first week at the gym, I cannot believe how weak I have become.

The only good thing is, having gone through deep internal work + coaching mastery, I know now how to be with myself compassionately, so I keep giving myself some love and reassurance that it’s ok if I’ve made some backward progress.

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After I hit my monthsary at the gym, what’s more shocking is the progress I’ve made in just a month’s time!

I can now do push-ups on my toes again and added 2 more kgs in my squat – wuhoo! 🥳

Couple of days later, I was able to do 50 burpees and 50 jumping jacks, non-stop, without catching my breath😏. (GOAT!)

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What I realised is that: everything that we do has a compounded effect 📈 on our result IFFFF we do it CONSISTENTLY.

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Yes, you can stop doing something for a long time and lose all the progress you’ve already made.

But you wouldn’t believe the amount of GOOD and new progress you make when you come back and do it consistently.

The point is: focus on doing 1% improvement everyday for the rest of your life is so much better than waiting for that one day where you give it all 100% which oftentimes, doesn’t really happen. 💯

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3. Slow down 🧘‍♀️to speed up🏃‍♀️.

I want you to really listen on this part of this email because we’re going deep.

Sooo, yesterday at weightlifting class, I was really tempted to go back to my normal heavy weight before pandemic (squatting 20kg).

I felt like the current load I lift is too light for me even if I already added 2 kg when I hit my first month.

BUT…

I held myself back and reminded myself that I made a pact to slowly increase my weights by 2kg each month for 6 months becaaaaause I just came back after 3 years.

The other part of me was like: “But this is so light for me already I can lift heavier – I know I can.”

Then the other part of me said, “I know you can, how about this, we stick to the plan anddd instead on focusing about the weight of your load that you think is easy… how about we focus on HOW we lift it? Like going a little deeper, holding it longer, focusing on your internal and external posture, and focusing on the muscle as you work out on it, so you feel how it’s different from before.”

So, I did.

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And when I did it, I realised that what I thought was easy was actually just me doing the exercise inaccurately midway the class. 🙈

I didn’t even realise I was lifting it incorrectly and quickly that does not really hit the muscle I needed to build.

BUUUUT when I slowed down, focused my attention on the muscle as I lift it, focused on my ‘internal’ and ‘external posture’ – even when I am still lifting the same weight, I felt the difference physically after the class.

The next day I also felt an improvement physically – muscle growth.

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I believe that in life we also do the same. ✨

There are times when we get impatient in the progress we make in our life, our career, our relationships and more.

We think that we’ve already outgrown this and is ready for our next level, so we rush through things mindlessly and wonder why we’re not levelling up.

We feel stuck in life and think this is it.

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But actually…. Sometimes, we don’t just notice HOW we’re doing it… with an incorrect posture internally and externally.

Internal posture can be our attitude and external posture can be our outlook in life, how we view life.

👉🏻How’s our attitude (internal posture) towards life? Have we become positive or bitter? Hopeful or complaining?

👉🏻How’s our outlook (external posture) in life? What do you speak about life to other people?

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Most of the time, when we do things with incorrect posture, we suffer, and we lose hope.

Internal and external posture of our hearts, mind and soul are important if we want to go to our next level.

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When we rush to ‘add more weight’ (responsibility, achievements) whilst doing it with incorrect posture, we risk the possibility of getting injury – literally or philosophically.

However, when you do it slowly and mindfully, you actually speed up the growth 🌱just like it would to your muscle 💪when you do each exercise with control and slow movement.

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I hope this email helped and reminded you today of how awesome life is and how capable you are! ✨

If it did, feel free to take a screenshot of your favorite part and tag me on Instagram @trainwithdanenow 🤳

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Ps. I am not changing to fitness niche lol. I was once it but nope. LOL

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Ad astra,

Dane ✨

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