The Importance of Listening to Your Body

By Jillian Boston, Personal Trainer & Fitness Nutrition Specialist

Hi everyone! Wow, this is such a big month for Fitness Unlimited. We are celebrating 45 years – 45 years because of YOU our amazing members! We are so beyond grateful for all of you and could not be more honored that we get to do what we love every day. While there are so many aspects of these 45 years to celebrate there is one thing that has prevailed throughout the years and that is the importance of women taking care of their bodies. As women we notoriously neglect what our bodies are telling us and in the long run that can cause a lot of harm. Our main goal at Fitness Unlimited is to help you find your inner power by listening to your body and giving it what it needs. Whether that be a yoga class when you are feeling sore or stressed, a Zumba class when you are feeling creative and high energy, a heavy weight session when you are feeling powerful, an LBD group nutrition program when you need a nutrition reset or a sauna session when your body is telling you it needs to relax or sweat out toxins. Our bodies are amazing and can actually tell us a lot about ourselves if we listen. One of the best ways to listen to your body is to see what your hormones are telling you. All day long we have different hormones coursing through our bodies that can help us pinpoint if things are going right or if something is off. Below are some examples of how you can interpret what your body is telling you and what you can do to help give your body what it needs.

1. Your energy levels are all over the place: One minute you have tons of the energy and the next you are absolutely exhausted and reaching for coffee. This could be a sign that the hormones that balance your blood sugar (energy levels) are off and could use some help realigning. Try to focus on things like getting adequate sleep, drinking water and balancing your meals with healthy fats, proteins and carbohydrates. 
2. You are working out really hard but you feel like you aren’t seeing results: The body cannot tell the difference between mental and physical stress. If you are someone who does a lot of high intensity workouts but you feel like you aren’t seeing the results you’d like it could be because your body thinks it’s under stress thus releasing the stress hormone cortisol. Try switching up your workouts by replacing some of your HIIT workouts with yoga, pilates, low impact cardio like walking as well as making sure to take rest days. 
3. You are constantly stressed: Your body is working over time releasing stress hormones like adrenaline to keep you going even though it is secretly begging for a break. If you are feeling this way, take a moment to assess what might be causing you stress. Sometimes as women we honestly just try to tackle too much and do not give ourselves a minute to recover. Try sitting in the sauna, taking a gentle yoga class, doing a Reiki session, doing a low impact weight lifting workout or giving yourself a morning to sleep a little more. 
4. You are absolutely exhausted: This could be a sign that your body wants you to rest and repair so it is releasing hormones to help you do so. Take this as your body’s sign to give yourself a break. Take the day off from your normal routine whether that’s taking a day to rest and recharge, napping when your kids nap, going for a walk in the sunshine instead of staring at the computer screen, taking a restorative yoga class, or eating nutrient dense foods to help restore your body’s energy.

At Fitness Unlimited we are so grateful to be able to offer a space to exercise as well as focus on your nutrition, both of which are imperative in balancing your hormones. Later this month we will be launching meal plans and recipe books for cycle support and post menopausal support. These meals will pair wonderfully with the workouts you are doing at the club and help you thrive day in and day out. Stay tuned for more details!

We hope that no matter how you are feeling Fitness Unlimited is a space that you can come and be yourself and give your body what it is asking for. Thank you for a wonderful 45 years, we are so grateful for you and we are looking forward to many more!