Are you ready to take the 90 day body and mind transformation challenge with me?

We all have our own fitness journeys going on. Some are focused on gaining muscle, while others are trying to achieve a healthy body weight.

Some of us are feeling proud about our shallow body fitness goals, while others are staying private about what they want to accomplish.

Bottom line is that everyone is constantly trying to improve. At least I hope they are! Even once you reach peak performance you reevaluate your goals, and figure out a way to achieve something else.

Today I challenge you to take the 90 day body and mind transformation with me. In three months I want us to look back and think, I DID THAT!

You’ll notice the title doesn’t just say our bodies will look different. I want us to FEEL different. You may already have the body you want, but do you have the positive mindset? If the answer is yes for both, then I envy you because I’m not there yet. But I’m trying!

Why Exercise Is Good For Overall Health

I say overall health, because that includes mental health. To fully understand this body and mind transformation challenge, I want to explain how they go hand in hand.

Everyone knows exercise is great for our mental states, but it’s easier said than done. How easy would it be to just get up early every morning and go workout? If it was that simple we’d all have banging bodies, and feeling fantastic.

The point of this 90 day journey is to try to flip our mental states, develop healthy habits, and achieve a healthy lifestyle day in and day out.

How great would it be to wake up, and instead of turning on Netflix you went for a run, or did an at home workout? By developing healthy habits, your body, mind and soul will crave this. You’ll wake up, and make yourself a healthy breakfast instead of sugary cereal. Or you decide the pizza rolls in your freezer wont be the best lunch option.

I’ve recently started running. I used to be a sprinter, but there’s no way I’m sprinting around my neighborhood, so I’m settling for jogging. I honestly HATE running. But I’m in the process of training my body and mind to enjoy it.

I’m trying to look at my runs as 30 minutes of ME time, to listen to my rap music, enjoy the dogs I’m passing along the way, and feeling accomplished when I’m done.

As soon as I get home, my mindset is so much better than if I had stayed on the couch. I’m more active, I’m happier and I always take my dog out for a long walk when I get home. There are some days that if I don’t workout, I stay home and my poor dog doesn’t get his daily walk in because I just “don’t feel like it”.

And then I feel guilty! Which can actually drive your mental state into a downward spiral.

Why does exercise make us happy?

When you workout and get your blood flowing, your body releases “feel good” endorphins.

I’m sure everyone has heard this before, but what does it mean?

Endorphins are hormones produced by the central nervous system and pituitary gland. Their function is to block the communication of pain signals, and to help deal with stress. They produce a feeling of euphoria, which is why you instantly feel happy.

Luckily, these effects last for quite some time which is why after a workout you feel more active, or ready to tackle your next obstacle of the day rather than be lazy.

The “feel good” chemicals released through exercise called endorphins are one of a kind. While exercising, your body produces serotonin, norepinephrine, BDNF and dopamine that have positive benefits on the mind and mental state you’re in.

Serotonin

Serotonin helps regulate your mood, appetite and digestion, sleep, social behavior, memory and sexual desire.

Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine helps mobilize the body and brain for action. In other words, it plays a role in your ability to concentrate which helps your body respond to stress and exercise.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor

BDNF or brain-derived neurotrophic factor is a protein that in humans, is encoded by the BDNF gene. It acts on specific neurons of the CNS and the PNS to help support survival of existing neurons while encouraging growth, maturation and maintenance of these cells. In simpler terms, researchers agree that exercise sharpens cognitive skills and helps with depression and anxiety.

• Side note: next time you think Physical Education and recess aren’t important for your kids or students think again. It actually helps them on a much deeper level than you think.

Dopamine

Dopamine is a chemical naturally found in our bodies. It sends signals from the body to the brain and plays an important role in how happy we feel. Dopamine controls our mental and emotional responses, as well as our motor reactions, memory and focus. In simpler terms, when dopamine is released you feel a sense of reward, enjoyment and pleasure which is why it’s thought of as the pleasure system of the brain. .

Reduction of adrenaline and cortisol

In addition to the above chemicals being released, exercises also helps reduce levels of adrenaline and cortisol in your body. These chemicals can cause stress in high doses. You can see how lowering these through exercise would be beneficial for us.

This combination of reducing the negative chemicals while increasing the positive, can result in an overall sense of happier feelings. Who isn’t trying to RELIEVE anxiety and depression while improving your mood? Notice I said relieve, not eliminate. Exercise should be a constant in your life, but it won’t solve all your problems.

Now On To The Fun Part

Okay so now you know why exercise is important for the brain, and it’s time to start setting some goals.

Since this is a body and mind transformation challenge, maybe your goals are just to feel happier each day. That’s 100% fine, but exercise is a huge way to achieve those feelings.

If your goal is more fitness driven like mine is, I want you to sit down and really think about what you want to accomplish. Be honest with yourself. No one needs to see your goals but you.

Now I want you to write down any current stats you want to keep tract of. This will give you a something to look back at once you start seeing progress.

Over the next 90 days I want you to be accountable for your own results. To give you a better understanding of how this is going to work, I’m going to share my current stats and my future goals.

Remember this is only a 90 day challenge. If your future goal is to lose 100 pounds, you absolutely will not achieve that in three months.

My 90 Day Journey:

I’ll give you my current stats that I’m looking to work on throughout the next 90 days.

Fitness related:

• Starting weight: 142.2
• BW: 28 (not my proudest moment!)
• Hip measurement: 37.5 in
• Waist measurements: 31.5 in
• Bust measurement: 37.5 in

Mind related:

• Decently motivated to be active.
• Run 2-4 times per week depending on mood or if it’s sunny.
• Genuinely pretty happy, but get anxious for what seems like no reason once in a while.

So there’s mine! My goals are to decrease everything in the fitness area, and increase motivation while getting rid of some lingering anxiety I experience sometimes in the mind category.

PLAN OF ACTION:

• Continue daily yoga
• Increase runs/workouts to 5x a week (no less)
• Lift more weights to build muscle
• Limit my calorie intake
• Take my dog Nico for a walk EVERY day

I plan on checking in, to show you where I’m at, and to see how far you’ve come!

Now What?

START!

You’re the only one getting in your way. If you’ve read this whole post you’ll understand that body and mind are so intertwined. Your only option is to just get up and start.

The tricky part is to keep going. Let’s motivate each other to transform our body and minds and keep up the positive attitudes!

Comment below and tell me what you’re planning on transforming in the next 90 days!

Happy 90 day body and mind transformation challenge day 1!

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