Don’t Let Your Fitness Regime Take Over Your Life, According to Ilija Jahura

Taking fitness seriously is how many people get the results they’re looking for. But if you aren’t careful, spending too much time detailing and combing over your health journey can become an unhealthy obsession. In this blog, Ilija Jahura showcases the facets of your life that you need to keep balanced. Through this balance, you’ll feel in control and comfortable while you reach for your goals.

Pay Attention to Your Energy Levels

Your workout routine will eventually give you more energy when done with proper balance. So if you’re noticing that you often feel exhausted and run down from your fitness routine, take a hard look at how much stress you’re putting on your body.

Going too hard in the short term could leave you feeling worn out. But in the long term, you could end up sick or injured. This amount of exhaustion can also wreak havoc on your mental health, leaving you feeling depressed or irritable. For the sake of your health, do an audit on how you’re feeling and pull back if you need to.

Negative vs. Positive Thought Patterns

How do you feel about your workouts? It’s normal to have apprehension or other mental barriers to working out, particularly when you’re just starting. But if feelings of anxiety, guilt, shame, and fear start to seep in when thinking about or doing your fitness routine, your body is trying to tell you something.

Notice how you feel, particularly after your workout. Is your mood reliant on how well you performed? Are you stressed about how much you’ve done, thinking you should have done more?

Exercise should feel productive, but in a way that feels good in the body rather than shaming. Remember that showing up is an enormous part of why you’re successful, and try not to hinge your feelings of adequacy on your exercise — you are much more than reps or calories.

Commitment vs. Fixation

When you’re working toward fitness goals, you’ll likely alter your day or your plans occasionally to stay on track. That’s an example of being committed; you’re choosing your health over the extra 30 minutes of TV time you’re used to.

Fixation, however, involves pre-planning your day around exercises, canceling plans consistently to fit in extra workouts, and stressing about moments where you aren’t exercising.

Your body and your mind need rest. If the scales are tipping toward you spending too much time thinking about exercise, you likely need a break. Intervene with yourself when you can, even in small ways. Otherwise, your body will eventually stop you in one way or the other with illness, injury, or pure mental exhaustion.

It’s good to have goals to pursue, but it’s even better to recognize that today might not be the day to pursue them.

About Ilija Jahura

Fitness and health expert Ilija Jahura works closely with his Kelowna clients to build them a better fitness future. He focuses on diet planning, muscle building, and cardiovascular development to help clients unlock their true potential.

But more than anything, Ilija is passionate about giving people the confidence they need to feel comfortable with their bodies and accomplish their grandest goals.