Be Our Guest Fridays {16} – Accepting Your Body’s Limitations by Fit Triangle Mom
Welcome to Be Our Guest Fridays!
Be Our Guest Fridays is a weekly feature where I showcase guest posts from my favorite bloggers and authors. We started this feature as a fun way to give back to the blogging community. We are excited to share with you these creative, inspiring and knowledgeable bloggers.
Today’s Guest Post
Today, I am happy to have my blogging friend Rachel from Fit Triangle Mom as my guest blogger. Rachel has been a great supporter and co-host of our Small Victories Sunday linkup and I was so glad to meet her a couple months ago at a NC Blogger Network function. I can always count on Rachel for a kind and encouraging word. She blogs about faith, family and fitness and I’m delighted she’s sharing with us her thoughts on Accepting Your Body’s Limitations as it pertains to your health & fitness routine. Welcome Rachel!
Accepting Your Body’s Limitations
And 7 Simple Tips to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle on Days You Cant Exercise
by Rachel from Fit Triangle Mom
Exercise is a major component of staying healthy, but sometimes our bodies set limitations on how much exercise we can accomplish. Understanding that we have limitations and accepting them are two different things. I have asthma. It’s a medical condition that I’ve had since I was a teen, but I haven’t always been accepting of it. Allergic reactions to dust, cats and colds trigger the wheezing, but also physical exertions make it difficult to breathe sometimes.
I have learned (the hard way) that it’s important for me to take my medications daily, and when I get a cold; I need to rest. A common cold can wreak havoc on my lungs, and I usually need to use my nebulizer. If I don’t listen to my body, and rest then recovery time can become twice as long. I love running and lifting weights, but there have been days even weeks where my body needed to rest and recover.
Exercising is an excellent component to staying healthy, but remember it’s not the only one. So when I need to take a break from my regular fitness routine, I focus on the other components of a healthy lifestyle.
1. Rest– Your body recovers and repairs itself during sleep.
2. Drink Water– Water maintains the balance of fluids in our bodies plus water it keeps you full so you’re not always snacking.
3. Eat healthy– I like the saying “abs are made in the kitchen,” and it’s absolutely true. Choose fruits, veggies, and keep your meal portions small. Limit sweets and sugary drinks and snacks.
4. Low Impact exercise– I find that leisurely walks outside keep my morale up when I can’t do myregular exercises plus it gets your heart pumping and your blood flowing. I also enjoy yoga and tai-chi.
5. Don’t compare yourself to others– Everyone’s body and circumstances are different. Wishing that you were like others, only brings discouragement.
6. Set Goals– Making goals of walking for 30 minutes a day or drinking water instead of soda will help you stay on track.
7. Accountability– Recruit a friend to help keep you accountable to your goals. It’s a good method to stay encouraged, and maybe you can help your friend too.
When you accept your limitations, you are choosing to keep your body healthy.
About Rachel from Fit Triangle Mom

From Rachel’s About Me page:
Hey, I’m Rachel, the mom behind FitTriangleMom. When I’m not writing, I enjoy playing with my 2 boys, running, trying new workouts, date nights with my hubby and reading. My blog chronicles my journey of balancing a life with boys, living in the Triangle area of NC all while thriving for a fit and healthy lifestyle.
I’m so glad Rachel shared this perspective with us. It seems in the news lately we’ve seen fitness enthusiasts who resort to “fat-shaming” or asking “what’s your excuse?” as a motivator to get people to exercise. In reality, many of us have emotional or physical battles to face. While exercising and being healthy should be a priority, it isn’t worth pushing my body beyond it’s limits. With Rheumatoid Arthritis, I have been forced to tune into my body to learn what triggers my flares, exercise when I’m feeling up to it and implementing many of Rachel’s great tips to be as healthy as I can. Thanks Rachel for being an Encourager and sharing your healthy living tips with my readers!
Follow Rachel on Fit Triangle Mom / Facebook / Google + / Pinterest
This post linked up with SITS Sharefest. , Pintastic Pinteresting Party, Friendship Friday and Mommy Monday Blog Hop.
How many of these tips are part of your lifestyle? Do you accept your limitations or push through them? Tell us how you strive for a healthy lifestyle in the comments!
These are all great tips thanks for sharing I have COPD and I push myself too hard sometimes as well so I will have to keep these in mind. =)
Take it easy, Christine. Breathing problems are serious. Just listen to your body and take breaks when you need to.
Such a great post,Rachel. Great tips.
Thanks, Leigh. I am glad you found the tips helpful.
I am so thrilled by this for so many, many reasons. I love seeing our members collaborate so successfully and amazingly! YAY!
It’s always nice working with Tanya. She’s such a hospitable host blogger.
These are fabulous and encouraging tips.
I struggle with comparing to others… it’s the worst and most discouraging behaviour.
Accountability is critical too.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Pinning on my Deliberate Exercise board.
xoxo
Thanks for pinning Jennifer. I struggled with trying to keep up with others but finally realized I can’t. My condition has taught me to slow down, take it one moment at a time and celebrate the small victories.
Tanya, I love your initiative to celebrate the small victories.
Thank you so much for pinning. I sometimes wonder why I compare myself to others; it only makes me feel bad. Especially, when God me wonderful just the way I am.
Great tips for when you can’t do a complete workout. My favorite is taking walks. Any exercise, no matter how big or small, can be stress-relieving too!
Walks are wonderful, Kim. I love being outdoors in the fresh air. You’re right, it’s a real stress reliever.
These are all great tips, but my favorite is do not compare yourself to others! Great post!
Thanks, Robin. I struggle with this one sometimes, so I’m always reminding myself that it’s not a competition against others. It’s about doing my best.