Hi, I’m Kelly and welcome to the Raising Love podcast. Raising love within yourself as only you can.

Brought to you by LOVE body and the Positively You program.

So, how deeply do you believe that exercise is for burning calories and losing weight? Only. That that is all there is to working out and moving your body?

What if I told you that what we have been taught about exercise is complete shit.

That the belief we have about calories in and calories out is so wrong it’s causing us to exercise in a way that is harmful to our health, to our minds and to our bodies?

Back in high school as I began to really put on weight, this idea was so prevalent that every girl took it to heart. They kept an eye on what they ate so they could then burn it off doing aerobics classes or running. You had to bust your butt for at least an hour to ensure you burnt off as many calories as possible.

I tried to move my body as much as they told me I was supposed to but again the hate I had for myself took over and I just couldn’t do it.

And this was how my life went for the next 30 years. I listened to what all the experts told me about exercising. I did classes at the gym, I used the cardio equipment, I exercised for an hour everyday. Well, not every day. It took me a while to find the motivation to do something with my body instead of sitting my butt on the couch but then that motivation would go away as the self-loathing took over again. And this cycle kept repeating.

Now, at the age of 45, I see exercise differently. I look at it with different eyes.

More loving eyes. And love for myself. Love for my body. A new appreciation for my body and what it has done for me everyday for the last 45 years.

This isn’t an episode about what kind of exercise you must do and for how long, No; this episode is about rethinking what exercise is for you, and moving your body with a love that enhances how you feel.

Because exercise had to be invented when we started living a more sedentary life.

Gyms date back to ancient roman times when romans would train to fight for the Roman army. And gyms have been around in various uses since then. But it has really only been on the last 40 years or so that gyms have been used as a way of getting us to exercise once a day for a an hour each time so that we feel like we have moved our body in some way.

This isn’t to dis gyms in any way. If you love going to the gym, go. I’m not here to tell you what you should do to move your body.
I simply want to show you how to love yourself and your body more when you do exercise, that punishing it with crazy workouts in order to lose weight and burn calories is not love.

That there IS more to exercising and moving your body than slogging it out in a gym.

See, our bodies LOVE to move. They are designed to move.

Back in the early days of humanity, homosapiens would move their bodies every day without thinking about it. They would get up in the morning, look for food, go and explore and there were were more than likely obstacles they had to climb over and pull themselves up on and walk over many different terrains. Their bodies were always on the move. Always doing something physical.

They didn’t think about how long they were exercising for. Or what muscles they were working or how good they looked.

No they just got up and moved throughout the day.

They lived wild and they had to be fit to survive the harsh environment and constant threats to their life.

Humans moved from being hunter/gatherers to farmers when agriculture was introduced, there were wars to prepare for, families to raise; sports then became popular. But it was during the industrial revolution that people’s lives became quite sedentary. Physical labour was not required as much anymore because there were machines to do most of the work.

During the later years of the 1700’s gymnastics became very popular as did the need for physical education. These concepts spread around the world over the next couple of hundred years, undergoing many a transition and transformation.

Which brings us into the last 40 years where there has been literally thousands of different ways to exercise. There are new classes and exercises and equipment being brought to life every day.

A new craze will sweep the world every year. Which is wonderful. We need people to keep dreaming up fun ways for us to move our bodies. If it gets us to move in this sedentary world we now live in then that is definitely a good thing.

But, unfortunately, there is one myth that keeps being perpetuated along with all those wonderful ideas; and that is that exercise is ONLY for burning off calories and for losing weight.

Moving our bodies is SOOOOO much more than that. And, in an upcoming episode of the Raising Love podcast I talk more about calories and why counting them is a dangerous practice. So keep tuned for that one.
Ok. I want to ask you this right now.

When you exercise, what are you thinking about?

Are you thinking about how much weight you need to lose? Are you thinking about how you need to burn off that crappy lunch you had? Oh, and the couple fo glasses of wine you had last night plus the crackers and cheese you ate with it because you were feeling a bit peckish?

Are you telling yourself how fat you are and that you’ll never get that dream body, no matter how hard you work out.

Are you being hard on yourself the whole time. Beating yourself up about what you’ve eaten, how you don’t work out enough, how hopeless you are, how you will fail again at this new diet your on, how grossed out you are at the sight of your wobbly tummy and thighs, how you wished you had a completely different body that was thinner and more tined?

And the shitty, self-deprecating thoughts just spin around in your mind the entire time you are working out.

What do you think this does to you overall? What this does to your body?

Because every thought you have enters your body and becomes a feeling. And this feeling brings either a negative energy to each and every one of your cells or a positive energy.

So, if all of the billions of cells in your body are feeling shitty about what you look like and how fat you are and how much weight you need to lose and you’ll never be what you want to be; then this information is imprinted in your cells and stays there as a belief. You believe all of these things so you become then, you behave them. So every little thing you do is driven by these beliefs.

So every single time you work out, guess what? Those thoughts will come back. They will fill your body up with negative energy creating an internal environment that, over time, will have a harmful effect on your body.

Yes, you may lose weight but the lasting effects can be quite detrimental to our health in the long term because all thoughts have an affect on us physically.

Especially the beliefs we have about ourselves. And those same thoughts that are on repeat when you are working out are your beliefs. They are what you believe you are. Deep down.

They are literally ingrained into every single cell inside your body.

Energy and matter are one. That are so connected to one another that they can affect each other dramatically.
So, what does this have to do with exercise?

A lot, actually.

Because I want you to start thinking differently when your exercising. I want you to know that what goes on in your mind while you’re exercising, has an affect on your whole being.

There are a few very important components to exercising that we don’t think about, that we don’t tap into when we’re doing it because we don’t know that there is more to exercising than just busting your butt for an hour each day to burn off calories.

The first one is your beliefs about yourself and those thoughts on repeat. And these thoughts are not only there when you exercise, they are there in your mind every moment of the day reminding you how fat you are, hopeless you are, that you’ll never be what you want to be because you aren’t thin, beautiful and have the perfect body.

I reckon most of the female population has their own version of that belief. And that belief infiltrates all parts of your day.

So when you exercise you’re exercising with the self-loathing, the self-deprecation, the hate, and the resentment you have for yourself.

It’s a focus on getting the perfect body, the right weight, getting rid of all those nasty calories you ate today.

What if you shifted your focus to something more powerful?

What if you BELIEVED in what you are doing and how much more benefit you could gain from LOVING yourself as you moved your body?

Think about how strong you are, how fit you are, how beautiful you are, how loving you are, how loved you are…

What do you think that would do to your body? Do you think it would make you BELIEVE more in what your body is capable of and what it actually is? Not just how you see it?

As you do your pushups say to yourself “I am so strong”

As you do your fitness class say to yourself “This is so much fun. Im having a great time”

As opposed to “gosh, I’m so weak” or “I hope I burn off at LEAST 500 calories during this class”

Notice how different you feel once you have finished? The energy inside you will be more uplifted and loving.

Setting an intention before you begin to exercise is really helpful as well.

What is your intention now when you exercise? Is it to only burn off calories and lose weight or is to feel fit, healthy and invigorated?

Which one do you think will leave you feeling so much better in every part of your being?

As I’ve said, there is so much more to exercise.

Exercise helps with your mental health (which is really all of the things I’ve just talked about…beliefs, thoughts, feelings), your mood, your sleep improves, it can calm your anxiety and decrease your feelings of depression, it has a positive impact on many physical health conditions and of course your energy lifts and increases which helps you to have a more productive day, a fun day, a happy and joyful day, a day where you love yourself and you love your life.

So, exercising with love brings you so much.

Why wouldn’t you want to feel so much love for yourself as you move your body to feel even better. It’s a win win situation.

It’s the circle of life. Your life. Incorporate love into your workouts and see the results. See how much more amazing you feel.

Be intentional with it. And this is your power move for this week.

Before you exercise next, think about your intention for how you want to FEEL during your workout and after your workout. Not only immediately after but hours and hours after.

And, then whilst your working out notice your thoughts. If they are shitty and hurtful, change them. Reverse them and replace them. Turn them into something more loving and kind.

You deserve your own kindness. You deserve your own love. Moving your body is one way to love yourself. So love yourself even more with beautiful thoughts.

Thank you so much for listening, beautiful. This really is a dream come true for me.

I spent so much of my life being quiet, not speaking up, staying small that I forgot I have a voice worth listening to.

You may not always agree with what I say and that’s ok.

This is a conversation between us. Yes, I have lots to say but I also want to hear what you have to say.

So, leave me a comment, email me your thoughts, get in touch and let me know what conversations you’d like to have, what your thoughts are about this podcast.

But before you go, I have a gift for you. The Love Body Day Planner.

In this free 7 day planner you will find some beautiful ways to connect to yourself and your day. You get to create the day YOU want. And the workouts YOU want.

There are some loving questions which will allow you moments of reflection, moments of clarity, moments of direction and purpose.

No more wondering what your day will bring. You bring it to you and in doing so eliminating the guesswork out of what foods to nourish yourself with, how you will move your body, how you feel about yourself, what things you are grateful for and more.

Write it all down and CHOOSE a more empowered and loving day.

To receive this gift, please pop on over to the home page of my website lovebody.com.au, leave your details and this awesome planner will arrive in your inbox ASAP.

If you loved this episode, please share it with your friends and family.

Please remember, it’s time to start cultivating, nurturing and raising love within yourself.

Because, you are a smart, amazing, beautiful woman with so much to offer this world.

Continue raising love. Speak soon.