The Nauti Truth: Rest and Reset

❀  H A P P Y   W E L L N E S S   W E D N E S D A Y  ❀

As I sat in my 4 pm class after working 8 hours at a preschool, eating a Hershey's chocolate bar, going on day three of not working out, and sneezing, sniffling, and coughing my way through this allergy season, I thought to myself...

"I am such a fraud"

How can I honestly write a blog post on looking, feeling, and living a healthy lifestyle when I am not constantly doing it myself. Distraught and about ready to give up this Nauti lifestyle altogether, I texted my sister and complained to her about my fakeness. She reminded me that a tough day does not signify a tough life and encouraged me to focus on my recovery because living healthy is not a quick and instant fix. But it is a long and committing process.

So welcome to a new aspect of Nauti Body, one that highlights the real and personal celebrations and struggles we go through while trying to live nauti. Time to get real, time to be honest, and time to get down to The Nauti Truth.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take my love of running up a notch and strive for longer distance, potentially even marathon, running. Knowing absolutely nothing about marathon training I decided to download an application on my phone that creates a personalized running plan. I inputted my information, calculated my minutes per mile, added my goal distance, and got my individualized coach who gave me guided runs. I was pumped. I could see myself being a total warrior and killing this workout plan and easily running more miles in less time. The first two weeks were pretty mild and I remember feeling disappointed in the fact that I did not feel like I was pushing myself. Then by the third week, I got sick and skipped four guided runs, had to miss my weekly yoga sculpt class, and was feeling like everything opposite to a warrior.

During this week, I called my mom crying because I felt that my virtual coach was disappointed in me because I could not go running and had skipped my other workouts when I was only three weeks into the program. I had strayed so far from my original love of running that it did not even feel like I was running for myself anymore. I used to run as a way to get away from the world and as a type of stress relief. I never set distances to break or had any specific mile to minute time goal in mind. I would just go and stop when my body felt like it. Some days that was running 6 miles, some days it was more like 2 miles. Some days I was running hard the whole time, and other days I needed walk occasionally. And that was ok because that is what my body needed and it worked because I listened to it.

The moment I started critiquing the way and the reason I ran was the moment I lost that true connection with my body.

Becoming sick forced me to take some time off of working out and let my body reset. It allowed me to remember that running should be for me. And if it is specifically for me it's going to change every day, just as my body is. It is so important to remember the reason you work out. It does not matter how many miles you run or how many calories you burn-- but what matters is the way you feel.

Living healthy is not about pressuring yourself into maximizing your physical potential, but it's about allowing all aspects of your life to thrive within you. That could honestly mean training for a marathon or simply rewarding yourself with a Hershey's bar because you made it to class.

Whatever it is you're doing, make sure it is the right thing for you and your body, and always...

L I V E    N A U T I

☆

Madison