Don’t underestimate your little progress
When quarantine began in my country, I didn’t think much of it at first. Since I literally had so much time in my hands, I thought “you know what, how about let’s try to take care of ourselves?”
I decided to begin working out. Remember during the early parts of quarantine when Chloe Ting was basically everywhere? I mean, she still is now. She’s still literally everywhere.
I am basically a noob at working out. I’ve seen about a dozen workout videos on YouTube, heard about Jillian Michaels, PiYo, the insanity workout but I’ve actually never did any of them.
I hopped on the rave of doing her workouts and let me telling you something, I DIED doing her workouts. If you’ve noticed on her page that there’s a total estimated time of how long the day’s workout will take and believe me, I always never finish on time. Her 30 minute workout’s will take me at least 45 minutes to finish because I always have to pause her video to take a breath or two or three.
I would rejoice when the word “active rest day” would come up because I get to rest my body for the rest of the day. Honey, there was no active part in my “active rest day.” I was just in my bed resting my sore ass body.
And here’s the catch: I wasn’t consistent.
In a week, I could probably workout like 3-4 times then my body would ask for at least 2 days for her to rest. At times, I would push myself to workout and it ended up injuring my body. Sometimes, I could barely walk or even raise my arms. I decided to take a month off for my body to fully recover then my mental health began to tank so I stopped altogether.
But then a close friend of mine sent me a picture of one of our friends who was clearly loosing so much weight. She already had a flat stomach and everything which pressured me for some reason and it ignited a very unhealthy mindset in me.
By the next day, I worked out again even if my body was still aching and so sore. I couldn’t do the moves as good as I wanted to but in my mind I was like “at least I’m exercising.” Every time I couldn’t work out, I would get so guilty and I would beat myself up for it.
I would so focused on the “I have to loose weight” mentality that I forgot to see the little things. I could lift a water gallon with a little ease. I could perform house tasks faster. I could go up and down the stairs like it’s nothing. I felt strong. I felt accomplished. I could button up and fit my jeans. Most importantly, the fact that I am able to workout which was something I thought I could never do.
I know that these might not be enough for some but for me, it’s good progress. I had to pause and think about these things because I wasn’t appreciating them enough. Little progress is still progress. No matter how tiny, small, or big it is. Progress, no matter what size it is, is still progress.
I know that it’s going take me a while to fully realize and appreciate what I’ve done but for now, I’m content with acknowledging what I am able to do.