Welcome to my BlogI write a new blog almost daily! Feel free to comment, share, and connect with me! I love hearing from my readers!
|
 Walking the fine line between enjoying every pleasure of life and preparing for future pleasure can be difficult.
I find competitors can really gain a lot from practicing delayed gratification in other areas of life to help get comfortable with the patience the sport will demand of you. If you find yourself giving into things like cravings immediately and you fall into the habit of this, implementing some of the things on this list might help you to rebuild that trust in yourself. There’s nothing wrong with you if you struggle with this. This type of ability to delay gratification starts at a young age and is often reinforced overtime. It can be indicative of unmet needs, attachment style, environment, and how you were supported or are currently. If you can build this ability on your own, you’ll likely set yourself up for greater performance in every other area of your life. Is there an area you find you seek instant gratification most? I think for many of us it could be through social media, watching reel after reel or reading meme after meme always having entertainment right at our fingertips. It could even be the tendency to immediately hit snooze and gratify your desire for more rest right away or the tendency to play that game you’re really good at whenever you get the chance. Putting off these pleasures might feel like you’re delaying enjoyment in your life for an unpromised tomorrow but if we do not prepare at all for what’s to come we will likely continue to live in gluttony and too much of anything is never good for us. What do you find supports you in exercising that patience muscle? How do you practice delaying gratification and focusing on the big picture? #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY
0 Comments
 Have you ever heard of irrational ideas?
I find that competing and pursuing many of the goals I have has allowed me to combat many of them. Albert Ellis was the founder of rational emotive behavior therapy which helps you transform behaviors or emotions that do not serve you and which are driven by negative thought patterns. One of his proposed 15 irrational ideas is that it in order to be worthwhile someone must be entirely competent and achieving in every possible way which, as an athlete in a judged sport, can be experienced often. Just because you don’t look like Ms bikini Olympia doesn’t mean you shouldn’t step on stage this year if you’re healthy and excited and supported. Waiting until you’re “there” could put you at Risk of never “arriving” because most competitors will agree that this sport is ever evolving much like our bodies. So go get your feet wet or take that next step in your journey and celebrate your commitment to the process and the efforts you put in. Another irrational idea is that one can be happy without any action. This is irrational because we are driven by “doing” and striving which allows for many opportunities for fulfillment. Sitting around doing nothing is not what our bodies and minds are made for even on a biological level! Sure we can save up energy but it’s so we can perform at a high level! Competing requires us to take action daily. Even intentional rest is action. But this sport is not just about attaining a goal or a title. Happiness and satisfaction is really achieved through the execution and proving to yourself you can overcome challenges and pursue something so passionately. #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY  I know what it’s like to want to check your body every time you walk by a mirror, especially as you get closer to show or you’re coming out of one and seeing how much is “holding on”.
But body checking can have very negative implications on how we perceive ourselves for the long term. If you are always checking your body & meeting yourself with kind or negative words that’s going to influence how you see your body when it’s in a different shape & we know our body is ever evolving! With that said, most of the times competitors tell me they look in the mirror & their eyes instantly go to their waist, glutes, & shoulders (hello criteria we are literally driven to work towards every day) The exercise I’m sharing involves a mirror & either cardboard, poster board, or just paper & tape If you find that every time you look in the mirror your eyes go to your waist & this leads to judgmental thoughts that make you question yourself or doubt yourself or even change your behavior then you’d place your cardboard over the mirror in the spot that your eyes tend to go to first. Researchers have found that people with body dysmorphic disorder have different eye tracking than healthy control groups which leads them to fixate more on negative attributes rather than a balanced scanning of all traits & I think this can be applied to body checking. This is not to say that by completing this exercise you’ll transform immediately and entirely (as things take consistent implementation & reinforcement anyway). BUT in personal experience & through those I’ve shared it with I’ve seen this exercise change where you look first. By putting the cardboard over the waist which is the first thing you look at, you will notice that the cardboard serves as an interruption to this pattern & forces your eyes elsewhere thus taking fixation off of one area which you’re hyper critical of. I hope you feel inspired to try this out for a few weeks & see how it impacts your tendency to look at one area of your body. Be patient & compassionate with yourself❤️ LMK how it goes! If you want more specific help with body image check out www.celestial.fit/ondemand 🤗 #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY  “Go deep, ask yourself questions. Know what it is that makes you TRULY love this badass version of you.
You wouldn’t want to become this version if it wasn’t better, if it didn’t make you feel better, if you weren’t proud of feeling awesome about it. When we refer to ourselves in love we can generate even more love. Something I have learned is that there is nothing wrong with loving yourself but there is everything wrong with hating yourself. So step up to the plate and give yourself what you deserve…. …Be aware of the way you treat yourself, think, and act as everything you do should be in alignment with your big vision and as that big picture grows, so do you do everything must uplevel with that. Set this in motion, free yourself, let the massive force consume everything in its way. You are powerful.” - Excerpt from my book “Believe your way to Badass” as part of guiding through the “unleashing” processing🤩 you can find the book on Amazon by searching my name or the title! I remember writing this book straight from my 19 year old self’s soul pouring out the tools and shifts I made that transformed my mind and how I perceived myself and my life. It’s quite interesting, as I type this, how some of the best projects I ever did were the ones that felt right to me even if others didn’t think they were the best “move” business wise. Every step I have taken has led me in the direction of my dreams because I quite literally believed my way to badass which empowered me to show up and put the work in every day👏🏻 Merch like this sweatshirt is also available! #BELIEVEYOURWAYTOBADASS #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY  On the surface, you might believe you have a problem with how your body looks or is responding.
but if you peel back the layers a bit more. you’ll probably find that it’s not your body image that’s causing issues… it’s the ideals, beliefs, identity, and standards you have chosen to hold yourself to that are acting as harsh critics of where you are rather than fervent advocates of the process you’re committing to every day. I often remind myself of this when I take my check ins every week. I ask myself if I’d rather feed into critical voices or transform them and remember that they are there because I have CHOSEN an ideal to hold myself to. By spending more time embracing the process and enjoying each step I have started to see my body differently. She’s no longer a representation of what is not yet but rather a symbol of commitment, dedication, resilience… Same body, same reflection but my shift in perception is what allows me to see positives. Do you struggle with body image? As a competitor it’s fairly normal to expect given we literally compete in a sport where our body is judged. But that doesn’t mean we have to be judgmental. Would love to hear your experiences or have the opportunity to support you if you’re struggling. Feel free to DM me @celestial_fit 💜💜 #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY  When things are good, bad, scary, transformative…be there for yourself.
We have so much we go through day to day that after a year passes we look back and can minimize what we have overcame or accomplished. So be present for the emotions that you’re experiencing because they’re creating the vision and memories of your life. When shit is hard, commit to your mission. I remember taking this photo in a hotel gym after our house had a massive fire during my peak week and I had to move into a hotel for weeks. I was so upset about the fire but I was so grateful for the hotel as the gym was actually open whereas my Gym wasn’t at the time. It felt like a weird way for the universe to remind me to find the silver linings. Like, “hey there’s just been a major disaster that is going to mark the beginning of the worst year ever but look at all that your goals and commitment bring your life”. Maybe that sounds terrible but for the sake of not minimizing what i faced that year, It was a strange time but it was soooo empowering. I look back on that time with so much gratitude because that whole prep through 2020 was one blow after the next but I remained present with myself and was there for myself and my goals that now I can look back with pride and empowerment. I didn’t succumb to negativity or pressure or doubts. I really don’t believe it’s possible to feel empowered by things we don’t experience or learn from or reflect on or are present to. We have to be able to recognize our strengths to celebrate them and feel fulfilled and proud. Today, I encourage you to identify ways you have been there for yourself and how that positively impacted you. Celebrate your commitment and willingness to support yourself through it all. Take that strength with you into the rest of the day💜🤗  You CAN have a healthy relationship with food and your body while pursuing your fitness goals.
You do NOT have to give up your dreams as a competitor. I have heard so many terrible stories of people going to get help with this and being told that they have to give up bodybuilding and perpetuate the belief that bodybuilding is to blame. As a mental health professional my goal is to bridge the gap between other pros and bodybuilding as well as bodybuilders and mental health. I was just talking about my own past, on a recent podcast i was interviewed on, when I was a jaded competitor after my first show that brought a lot of demons to the surface. When we don’t take personal responsibility we seek something else to play the blame game on and I think bodybuilding itself gets a bad rap as a whole because of some very bad experiences or lack of awareness and addressing red flags. There are definitely underlying aspects to bodybuilding which can make someone more prone to things like negative body image, food fixation, perfectionism… but it’s not all because of competing. You can see it in other physique based sports too. It just comes with the territory. The good news is you can prime your mind to support you on this journey so you can have the most fulfilling, empowering, and rewarding experiences as a competitor. I have so many resources for competitors linked HERE that can support you in your mental health as an athlete including freebies, programs, group, and 1:1 support in my food relationship program which has helped 100s of competitors restore their relationship with food to support their goals in the sport Let’s #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY  1) Let go of the timeline & focus on how you feel, function, and are executing. This’ll detach you from racing to “get somewhere” & will support you in having gratitude for your body & patience in your process while limiting comparison to others who may be on a similar timeline.
2) Avoid over celebrating weight drops & measurement changes. This will support you beyond your prep too. If you spend too much energy positively reinforcing getting smaller, it’ll be a mental shock when you start to gain & grow again as you’re not used to positively reinforcing this. Similarly, if you don’t see a change you’re expecting, it’s still data. Falling into the trap of over celebrating or promoting the results without also recognizing the work, effort, & entire process (including what you did in your improvement season) is going to reinforce these things as more important than the influence of the actual work. I’ve seen competitors go to unhealthy measures like purging or doing extra cardio to “make up” for something just to get a result & still celebrate the result which is NOT productive. 3) Practice Compassion. It’s been found that compassion supports a positive body image. I find during hard workouts or after a long day I have much more compassion which encourages me to push more! 4) Encourage healthy conversations about your body. When we prep, it’s common for people to question how our body has changed & continuously say how amazing we look (at least up until that last phase of prep lol!) This can create an expectation that it’s okay for people to make comments about our body. Naturally as a competitor, this is going to happen. But you can have boundaries. If not, people will feel it is okay to also do this as you grow out of it & into an improvement season which can often be uncomfortable for competitors as mentally we haven’t always caught up with the way our body has changed & are used to seeing it shrink too. I like to reinforce efforts I’m making & how I’m feeling so people ask me more about that than my shape alone. The more comfortable you are with yourself, the less these comments can impact you. #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY  I don’t believe you have to go through hell to know that you can live with peace or light.
I don’t think you have to fight things alone to be considered strong or courageous or wise. I’ve had to ask for help with so many things in my life. The best helpers guide you to the answer that you already knew, educate, validate, support, listen, and help you in resolving problems that you haven’t yet productively coped with, while the okay helpers just give you the answer and rob you of the exploration. Getting help is nothing to be ashamed of. I think it is very courageous to ask for help. The more people I work with, whether through my business or in counseling, the more in awe I am of those who are willing to say they’re at one of, if not the, lowest points in their life and have the insight to recognize the benefit of support and then to have the vulnerability to explore how to get through this. The word that comes up for me when I see people, no matter the situation, is RESILIENCE. I say all of this because I know there are people silently struggling, thinking they have to hold it together or figure it all out on their own, if that’s you, please know that you don’t have to. You deserve to get through this and if going at it alone isn’t helping you, it’s okay to utilize resources & ask for help. My results have been accelerated when I ask for help or get educated or hire a mentor or coach. It doesn’t make me weak or incapable! I know when I can use help and when It may not be of benefit to me. Even asking a friend for support can go a very long way. There’s something so valuable about being held in unconditional positive regard while going through something so challenging. There is non-judgmental, willing to help, empathetic, and insightful support out there. Your mental health matters! #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY with me using tons of my free resources or explore options for mentorship.  What are you doing now that the old, potentially soon to be gone, version of you would not be proud of or may even wish they didn’t spend so much time on?
1 thing for me is criticism of my body (not to be confused with pursuit of improvement with positive & focused intention) I used to wish my legs were smaller, stomach was flatter, arms weren’t as big, butt had more definition into legs & on & on… I feel bad for the younger version of myself who started dieting at such a young age, who judged her amazing legs, hid her stomach if it wasn’t starved for x hours, and didn’t participate in events due to self-consciousness with body & concern about food. If I could go back in time, would I change it? Probably not given what it taught me. But if I can use this to help others, I will! Something that helps me on not so great body image days is to recognize that my body unconditionally loves me and was built to keep me alive and sustain me no matter what the circumstance or variables. I find that it is easier to go from judgment to recognition than it is to go from judgment straight to love. Once I get to the state of gratitude for my body I can usually recognize the actions I take to support her and then I can start to see how amazing and beautiful my body is because of all we have been through together. I have learned to appreciate, accentuate, & embrace curves rather than hide them. I choose to see myself as powerful, strong, and persistent regardless of my body’s shape or size (which is ever evolving and changing, especially in bodybuilding) and I provide proof that this is true! Loving my body comes not just from how I see myself but how I treat & perceive myself I think of all the amazing things my body allows me to do and experience Sometimes throwing on an outfit (like this dress for instance) or listening to empowering music that makes you feel sexy can help boost your confidence too! What do you see when you look in the mirror? What do you want to believe about your body? How do you want to feel in your body? Now what is 1 thing you could change to support you in achieving this reality? Would love to hear all your answers 😍 . #BUILDMORETHANJUSTABODY |
Celeste Rains-Turk
|
RSS Feed