Being “Off Plan” Has Been my Best Fitness Decision in Months

I posted before about loving the Anna Victoria work out plan and about how much the virtual community around that plan made a difference in my fitness journey.  There’s still love in my heart for the virtual fitness community, especially on instagram. I still adore Anna Victoria as a fitness guru but I’ve moved away from following her plan.

I posted about this, too, when I talked about longing for more creativity in my fitness.

So here’s a little update stemming from those thoughts:

For a Beginner, it Has to be About Beginning

That seems overly simple and ridiculously obvious, but hear me out.  Even the beginner plans I’ve tried have a number of expectations.  They tend to look super do-able on paper but in the middle of a work out maybe not so much. Besides that, even when they are genuinely within my abilities there are other problems around success and failure when this journey is just at the begining and so, so fragile.

Being “off plan” might be one of my best fitness decisions yet.  When I followed a fitness plan created by someone else, even if I loved all the components of that plan, it created equal opportunities for failure and success.

If I followed the plan with dedication and discipline I would see results and experience all the joys of success. As someone who loves lists and plans I took great satisfaction in checking off work out after workout, day after day.  I really enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that came with completing first one workout, then one week, then another.  I liked knowing I wasn’t alone but actually participating alongside so many other people subscribed to the same plan.

All that said… each day that I missed a workout or each move I couldn’t physically do in a given workout became a hovering failure.  A bit of a cloud above my head and they added up until they felt bigger than my successes.  As soon as the list of perceived failures grew longer than the list of successes and check marks the cause seemed lost.

Now, like much that is related to fitness, the failure I felt so discouraged by was as much in my head as anything else.  With a little work, I’m sure it could be overcome.

It would have been a worthy cause to overcome those hang ups.  However, I chose instead to rethink my approach to get around the hangups.

What “Off Plan” Looks like For Me

Now I commit to one hour of working out per day. I have very few rules for what that hour has to look like.  It can look the same every day or different every day.  So far it’s the same every day and I’ve been focused on cardio using the treadmill in the garage.

This allows me to be a little gentler with my expectations of myself at the beginning of my journey.  I don’t have the strength, endurance or agility that I have in the past.  As frustrating as that can be, having minimal expectations has given me the opportunity to rebuild while also forgiving myself for what I’ve lost, and what I’ve gained.

So far, moving “off plan” has opened more possibilies and given me a healthier mental approach to fitness.

What has changed your fitness routine?

Carmen

 

My first month as a Body love Babe on Anna Victoria’s Body Love App

I’ve tried lots of diet and work out programs through the ages. They all have something going for them, and all have one thing in common: participation is truly the key to success.

If you’re not following the food plan and doing the work outs you can’t really judge if the program was a success because you didn’t participate.

So this is the first time I can really start talking about the success of a program. I can speak to about the first four weeks of Anna Victoria’s FBG (Fit Body Guide) as I followed them and saw wonderful initial results. However I got busy with life and did not fully participate in the program after that.

Now I’m on Anna Victoria’s most recent release – the Body love app – and I am in love!

The format of an app versus a downloaded document is so simple but for me, it’s a total game changer. It kind of sucks to admit that I need a) that constant accessibility and idiot-proof format that the app allows, and b) the pressure of an ongoing subscription payment to remind me of my ongoing commitment.

On the note of an ongoing subscription payment – part of how I financially justify this is that I don’t pay for a gym so that helps. The program doesn’t require a gym, just some free weights and the odd time you’ll have to repurpose a dining room chair or the edge of our couch for dips, etc.

So I’m in my fourth week with this app and as I said, I am in love. I haven’t been following the meal plan very strictly but I have been making improvements by adding more vegetables, cutting back on soda and starches, and downsizing my portions. I have also been dedicated to the work outs because I love how easy they are to follow and the sense of accomplishment from seeing those little checks beside each workout on the calendar.

I’ll post when I do my four week progress pictures at the end of this week, as well as sharing my daily adventures through the instagram account @fitish.kitten.

What are your favourite fitness programs?

Carmen

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