Over-Exercising, Healing, & My (Updated) Approach To Exercise

Look– // Flattering Yoga Pants // Top // Shoes //

Hi Loves!

This post is one I’ve wanted to do since I started my blog. Actually, it’s been on my heart since way way before I actually had the blog, back when the blog was just an idea & I would keep a (long) list of “blog post ideas” in my iPhone. It’s also one that keeps popping back into my head every-time I head to a workout. I’ve posted about the idea on IG stories, talked about it with Dylan, and mulled it over enough that I think it’s finally time to pull the trigger.

SOO, today’s post is about my “updated” approach to working out. Let me start by giving you a little bit of a background history about my relationship with exercise over the last few years. It has NOT always been great or balanced. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I used to be a slave to the treadmill, obsessed with counting calories and eating “diet” foods, restricting my calorie intake, and forcing myself to exercise every single day for multiple hours. Even typing this, I feel so sad for that girl (me about 4 years ago) that used to feel like she was trapped in a cycle of negativity surrounding exercise and food without knowing that there was a MUCH healthier and happier way to live.

My sophomore year of college, I fell into this negative cycle of with exercise and food surrounded thoughts, and before the blink of an eye, quickly spiraled into over-exercising. I remember that the main focus of my thoughts throughout the day were all around how I was going to “burn the most amount of calories possible” and be as restrictive or “HEALTHY” as possible with my food intake.

MAN, was my perception of what’s “healthy” OFF BASE!

I would prioritize the gym over all else, and in turn my relationships suffered. I made choices that were so unlike me that I look back now and wonder how that could even have been me!? I was living in a cycle of fear and created an “illusion of control” through how rigid I was with exercise and food.

Finally, I reached a tipping point with exercising. I just didn’t have the energy anymore!!! After about a year and a half of this crappy over-exercising, my adrenals were shot, my thyroid was out of balance, and my hormones were WHACK! I basically felt like complete shit, my skin was breaking out, I was an emotional roller coaster, etc. I decided it was time for a CHANGE.

And so begun my journey to achieve REAL health and balance, to learning as much as I could about my body and how to nourish it properly, and to reach a happy medium with exercise where I exercise because I TRULY enjoy it.

You might be wondering how exactly I achieved this place of balance???? I’m going to try and break it down in a few steps–

I took about 6 months off any RIGOROUS exercise. In the beginning of recovering from over-exercising, I was so exhausted due to my thyroid and adrenals being all whack that I really needed a break from any form of exercise. I basically decided to give myself and my body a break, to give it time to heal and get back to balance. My body was clearly signaling to me that it wanted a break, so I listened to it. At first this was really hard for me. I was coming off the year and a half of over-exercising! During this process of “taking a break” I would still occasionally practice yoga or go for a walk/run (a walk run in my book is about 80 percent walking 20 percent running). However, there wasn’t much of this & most of my time was spent resting rather than exercising.
I tuned into my body to see the kind of exercise I ACTUALLY enjoy! Once I started to feel better and my body started to get back in balance, I began to crave a good sweat. This hadn’t been something that sounded good in a while, so I took it seriously and figured it might be time to start exercising again. The difference this time??? I only practiced exercises that I ENJOYED! When I would overexercise, I used to go on really long runs. Today, my authentic self much prefers walk/ runs/ shorter runs/ or spin classes as forms of a good sweat.
I DON’T set limits or schedules for myself on how much I “need” to exercise. This one was a big one for me in healing. Instead of saying “ok taylor you HAVE to go to the gym 6 times per week,” I play it by ear. I stop and tune into my body long enough to listen to what it’s telling me. Some days my body tells me it wants a long walk with my dogs followed my a gentle at home yoga practice. Other days it wants a HIIT workout (which I’ve been genuinely loving lately). The main point here is that every day is a little different and every body is different, so there isn’t any “one size fits all” diet or exercise routine! Find what YOU like verses what the media/ instagram/ internet tells you to like!!!
I DON’T force myself to exercise if I’m too exhausted. After my cycle of overexerting, I learned that sometimes your body can actually hang on to weight MORE of you are over-exercising when your body is out of whack. The reason for this is that exercising too much can spike your Cortisol, which is the stress hormone, and cause the body to cling on to weight!
I choose exercises because I genuinely love them & they make my mind AND body feel good. Yoga has been a big one for me here! Through the practice of yoga, I learned to stop, tune in, reflect, and listen. Another point is that you might go through a cycle of loving practicing yoga everyday and then decide you want to start something totally different, like boxing, and take a break from yoga. THAT’S okay!! In fact, I think that’s great because it means you are truly listening to what your body is telling you. As long as you are coming at the exercise from a place of love and privlage rather than a “punishment.”
It isn’t about the CALORIES! This was another big one, and really is a whole blog post (or novel) in itself, but I’ll just say that in my opinion calorie counting is WHACK!!! It’s horrible!!! At least it was for me. Rather, I now believe in nourishing my body (often) with lots of real foods. This includes a high fat diet filled with tons of eggs, veggies, protein, almond butter, avocados, collagen, and tons of healthy treats. I eat a LOT and I eat often. Dylan always jokes that I eat way way way more than he does, haha. I eat foods that make me feel good and energized. It’s definitely been a process of figuring out what works for my body, food wise, but try not to get discouraged! You will find what works for you, as long as you tune into what your body is telling you.

I sincerely hope this post was valuable in providing ways to heal a negative relationship with exercise!! If you read this whole thing, or even a few sentences of it– thank you SO much for taking the time. You are amazing and I love you dearly for giving this post the time of day.

Please send me an email if you have any questions at all!