3 important mindsets for a successful fitness journey

Mindset refers to the beliefs and attitudes that shape our thoughts, behaviors, and responses. In all fitness journeys, mindset can significantly influence how individuals approach physical activity, diet, and overall health. There may be so many things going on in your mind during your fitness journey. They are sometimes helpful, but they could sometimes bother you and even interrupt your fitness journey.

I have had struggles on my fitness journey. I lost motivation when I did not see expected results, despite putting in significant effort. I even lost my confidence. There were so many times I wanted to give up. I was even questioning myself about why I was doing what I was doing. 

After I encountered lots of walls, I developed these three important mindsets that provided me with the mental framework for overcoming obstacles and achieving lasting success. These mindsets are just mine, but it would be great if they helped you construct your own mindsets.

Table of Contents

• The person you want to impress the most is yourself
• “Eating” = “Giving your body nutrition”
• You are always updating yourself

The person you want to impress the most is yourself

Especially because of the growth of SNS, the world constantly demands everyone’s attention and validation, so it’s easy to focus on impressing others. However, you have to focus on impressing yourself the most because self-impression is a powerful motivator that can drive personal growth and fulfillment.

Please remember that you are the one who cares about yourself the most. It does not mean that others do not care about you, but others probably do not care how you look as much as you do. Let’s say you lost some weight. Do you know who noticed it first? Of course, it is you! You are the one who has to be happy about your change. You are the one who has to be proud of yourself. In other words, if you expect others to notice your change, you get disappointed when others do not notice, and you may even lose motivation. It is fine as long as you know it and are happy about it.

You are the one who sets your goal, and you are the one who achieves it by working so hard. (To get an idea of how to set your fitness goal, you may want to read HOW TO SET A FITNESS GOAL: HOW TO GET A BIKINI BODY BY SUMMER)

When you impress yourself, you acknowledge your abilities and achievements without relying on external approval. This internal recognition can help you develop a stronger sense of self-worth and a more stable foundation for your confidence.

Remember, the journey to impressing yourself is a lifelong pursuit that yields the most rewarding and lasting results. When you see results, just praise yourself, be proud of yourself, and most importantly, love yourself.

“Eating” = “giving your body nutrition”

You have to understand the true purpose of eating, which is to nourish your body and mind. When we think about eating, the first thing that often comes to mind is calorie intake. However, eating is not just about getting calories; it’s about supplying our bodies and feelings with essential nutrients and energy. Consuming nutrient-rich foods is crucial for maintaining overall health and well-being.

Let me be honest with you. There was a time when I thought that the fewer calories, the better. (Please never think that way!) After exercise, I felt even more guilty eating because I felt like I just consumed calories after burning calories, which made me think my workout was meaningless. I set my calorie intake too low, and I got sick since my body was getting so weak and my immune system was so low. That was definitely a terrible cycle of thinking about “eating.”

After I fully recovered, I took a break because I was not happy. I was not getting enough energy to make both my body and mind happy. Ideally, you want to enjoy your fitness journey with both a healthy body and a healthy mind. But if you are not eating enough or restricting too much, you definitely cannot enjoy it.

Since I have been doing strength training for a while, I have started getting the idea that I am eating because my body cells actually need the energy to live and grow. I am feeding my body. Since I started thinking that way, I never felt guilty about eating after exercising because it is actually meaningful to eat, especially after exercising, for your body to get repair and growth or even to keep a good balance of hormones, which are necessary to burn fat. That idea also leads to mindful eating with nutrient-rich foods. I just appreciate every single bite and truly enjoy eating.

Furthermore, I start creating new recipes for myself to enjoy eating even more. Let’s say you are craving a cheesecake. Cheesecake has a lot more fat and sugar than I want for my body, but I can, of course, have it once in a while to please my taste buds. But I probably do not eat it every day because it is not an ideal nutrient-rich food for my body, but I can always find alternatives to cheesecakes or whatever you are craving. (If you are actually craving cheesecake, you might want to read HOW TO MAKE THE CREAMIEST GREEK YOGURT BOWL)

Let’s try to please your body and mind with nutrient-rich foods that lead to mindful eating. If you start appreciating each bite and feeling happy, that means you know the true purpose of eating and truly enjoy eating.

you are always updating yourself

Your body is constantly changing at every moment. In other words, there is no “ending” to the fitness journey (or any journey). That is because not only your body but also your mind are constantly changing. There are different versions of “yourself,” depending on how and what you are aiming for.

Let me share my experience. I started my fitness journey because I gained weight after pregnancy with the two boys and being stuck at home with my boys during the pandemic. I worked on losing weight for 4 months by exercising as much as possible with an extremely low calorie intake. I did lose weight; I looked “thin,” and I was happy about it. After a while, I started strength training, and I started looking different. I was more toned, with defined lines of muscles, which made me proud and happy. I was happy both times.

You can see that there were two different versions of myself. In the first version, my goal was “to lose weight and look thin,” and I achieved it. In the next version, my goal was “to get stronger,” and I achieved it. Your goal may change over time, and your workout plan and diet plan might change. You may not have a goal at one point, and you may become undesirable yourself, but it is always you, and you are just updating yourself. During pregnancy, I did gain weight, and I was not happy with how I looked after a while. But my body just changed during and after pregnancy, and that was another version of myself. From there, you can think, “Okay, this is today’s me, and what is next?” Then you can make it a goal to be the happiest version of yourself and update yourself.

Since I started strength training, it has always been about learning new things. At one point, I noticed that I had bigger legs, missed myself with skinnier legs, and even regretted doing strength training. However, I also realized I got so much stronger, and I was so proud of myself. Then I questioned myself, “Ok, my legs are bigger now; what is next? What do I want to do to be the next version of  myself?” I then set a goal “to get toned legs” and changed my workout plan. (You might want to read HOW TO GET TONED LEGS.)

Again, your body keeps changing all the time based on your condition, age, habits, environment, feelings and so on. They are all different versions of yourself, so just know what version of yourself right now and what kind of version you want to be next.

In your fitness journey, you sometimes hit walls, encounter obstacles, find difficulties, and so on. That is because you are challenging yourself. Most likely, challenges are hard to achieve, but there is always such a great feeling of achievement afterwards. You gain confidence every time you achieve your goal, and that leads to your next goal and journey. Your fitness journey is never-ending, and that is why it is important to have strong mindsets that let you overcome all the obstacles you encounter.