You are Allowed to Change your Mind!

This might be a ramble, so consider yourself warned. The last 2 weeks I’ve found myself pushing some of the limits of my comfort zone, checking out some new things and tossing my cozy routine up a bit, which has brought about all kinds of feelings and emotions I thought I’d dig through on the blog this week in case it resonates with any of you.

As most of you guys probably know, I recently traded my Madeline Moves subscription in for the Danielle Pascente Strong in Fall Challenge, not because I’m sick of Madeline’s killer circuit workouts, but simply because Danielle’s challenge sounded fun and something new to check out for 6 weeks. I was also drawn in by Danielle’s emphasis on hiit training, which if I’m being totally honest, is probably still my favorite type of workout even though it’s not sustainable as a long-term training style for my body.

Anyway, in addition to indulging in Danielle’s AMRAPS, hiit based upper and lower body days and super fun, high energy live workouts, I also decided to finally check out the Pelaton app for a spin class. Spin used to be one of my favorite splurge group classes (hello 6-12 Classpass credits per session), so I was pumped to bring my iPad to the apartment gym, corner a spin bike and get to work. My neighbor and I did a Backstreet Boys themed class together and while we were both suffocating in our masks (I couldn’t hang with that for too long and decided as long as no one else was in the gym with us I could take it off) and trying to sing while pedaling our hearts out, we had an absolute blast and were humbled by 30 minutes on the bike.

In addition to spin and Danielle’s workouts, I’ve also had my eyes on this long outdoor staircase in our neighborhood, dreaming of doing some sort of hiit workout that included stair runs, so this too was included in this week’s workout activities. Basically I did alllll the fitness this week and truly lived up to my insta handle ;-)

Why am I telling you all this,you wonder? Well let me get to it…this whole week I’ve been battling with the desire to go back to Madeline’s weight training workouts and the drive to finish what I started with Danielle, while also feeling slightly bad about adding spin and outdoor hiit to my routine when I know it’s not the best for me in the long run (ahem, adrenal issues). I was noodling on all of this as I was running the stairs during this week’s outdoor workout, which by the way you should absolutely try out (check out my Instagram for details), and the longer I thought about my conundrum the more I came to realize that I am, in fact, allowed to change my mind and explore as many workouts as my little heart desires.

I think with social media these days, I always feel like I have to announce what I’m doing or not doing as those decisions are made and with that comes a certain feeling of commitment to those statements, when in reality I can’t even decide what to have for dinner without changing my mind 5 times! I came to realize that whether it’s macro counting, weight training or resting, what I may decide to do today may not be what sounds good tomorrow and I have no obligation to anyone but myself to stick with or change an approach I may have deemed the right one previously.

Just because I signed up for Danielle’s 6 week workout challenge, does not mean I have to only do her workouts for the foreseeable future and I can easily also sign back up with Madeline Moves and crush her weight training session without feeling an ounce of guilt or obligation to justify my decisions to anyone. I can decide not to track macros for a week and then change my mind on day 3 or take a rest day where a workout was planned. My point with all this is, we are allowed to change our minds, try different approaches and mix and match until we find what works best for us, even if it is just perfect for a moment. Just because you post about it on social media does not mean you are obligated to stick with that plan forever and changing your mind does not show weakness, but rather reveals that you are simply human with changing goals, motivations and desires.

I know that was a bit long winded, but my point is that next time you feel boxed in to a fitness program, nutrition approach, lifestyle, etc. just remember that you are fully allowed to change your mind, try a new approach or revise your goals and doing so does not speak badly of your character, it simply shows that you are evolving and each day brings about a new set of wants and needs that you deserve to go after! Change really is the only constant in life!

Now I’m not telling you to ditch your long term goals and live each day as you please (I mean more power to ya if that’s your approach), but just in case you ever need it, I want to give you permission to change your mind, recalculate and reroute your approach to those goals as you evolve over time, because no long race was ever won without making adjustments along the way.