October 2019 | Tales of Jenn

Happy October everyone! I can’t believe we are in the last quarter of the year. When did this happen?! I was fairly quiet through September, for many different reasons, but I believe it is time to get my butt back into gear! I decided to kick-start the month (half way through the month) with a post about fitness, hopefully you all enjoy it!

Most weeks, I go to the gym for 2 classes. A Pilates class and a stretching class. Whilst Pilates may kill me during the session, they aren’t what you would call intense classes. I’ve killed myself in CrossFit and HIIT classes before. I’ve gone into the gym for hours and finished with a core burning session. I’ve tried the diets, the strict healthy eating and the completely cutting out food groups thing.

There is one outstanding issue with everything I just said: I never mentioned enjoying any of it.

‘Fad diets’ never tend to last very long. They are the next big money racket that is being endorsed by celebrities or it’s a leaked workout & diet plan that the A-list Hollywood stars are following religiously. Most of us get paid considerably less, don’t have a private trainer, don’t have someone making our meals for us and work full-time jobs that don’t allow us to spend 5 or 6 hours in the gym. Perspective.

For the month of October, I made 2 decisions about fitness. Firstly, I signed up to the 2,000 squat challenge for the month to raise money for Women’s Aid Ireland. I enjoy doing volunteer work and/ or raising money for a worthy cause, so I thought this would be perfect: a way to increase my fitness AND (hopefully) raise money for this charity. Secondly, I decided to push myself in the gym for a solid month. To try cardio classes (3-4 classes a week) that I wouldn’t normally and keep them up for the entire month and then the entire month of November too.

If, at the end of it, I don’t like the classes or am not enjoying going to the gym, I will be quitting. I have made a silent (and now a rather more public) vow to just enjoy my life. I spend entirely too much time stressing about how I look or what I weigh. About time I put the same effort into loving my body and who I am!

Keep dreaming!