Get Your Mind-Body Connection Straight
The good news is that there’s actually more than one way in which how your mood affects your fitness, and as you continue reading you’ll gain effective ways to really capitalize on this knowledge when working out and trying to get rid of that extra flab you’ve been trying to fight for the longest time.
The truth is that the mind-body connection is way stronger than most of us realize. Thoughts and emotions depend a lot on how our body feels and how active we are. And yet thoughts and emotions also affect our body.
You may be surprised by some of these but once you have a better understanding of your own mind-body connection, I guarantee your workouts will only get better…
5 Ways Your Mood Affects Your Fitness
Energy – This is probably the most obvious answer on the list, but your mood can easily bring your body up or down in terms of energy – and often quickly.
If you’re having a bad day or going through something, your energy level is a big part of your mood. You’re just not going to feel like being active. Pay attention to your feelings before and after your workout. You can naturally increase your energy with an antioxidant rich green matcha like Green Foods Matcha Green Tea.
Stamina – This one’s closely related to the first, but your mood doesn’t only affect your motivation to be active – it also affects how good your workout is. The tip with this is that your stamina will only get better the more regular you workout. You’ll notice each week it’ll get easier and easier to push through a challenging workout like my 20 Minute Fat Loss Treadmill Workout.
Appetite – The hormones released by negative emotions and stress mess up a lot of other systems, including digestion and appetite.
We all know this one. If we feel bad, we usually reach for candy, chocolate, snacks, or some other comfort food. Not only is your mood screwing with your hormones, it’s also making you feel physically bad, so you’re going to want to make up it. The best thing to do is to have healthy snacks on hand at all times – whether it’s cut up fruit or veggies it’s amazing how that can cut right into that moment of weakness and leaving you feeling elated because you were able to overcome a massive struggle. For more help check out 7 Tricks to Ditch Sugar Cravings.
Metabolism – This one is sort of related to the last point, but your mood can also affect your metabolism by affecting how much exercise you do in your day.
If you’re feeling down, you’re only going to keep your metabolism down by sitting on the couch all day. But if you’re feeling good you’re likely also feeling energetic, and your metabolism is going to get an extra boost. So how do you boost your metabolism ask you? – 8 Steps to Boost Your Metabolism & Torch Fat.
Recovery – Think your mood doesn’t affect your workout even if you do make it to the gym? Think again.
Your body’s ability to recover and recoup after a workout is essential, but for recovery to work best, your entire body needs to be pretty balanced. And that includes mental balance, because we know that things like stress and negative thoughts affect all kinds of physical processes, from hormones to immune functioning and even healing (like the kind your muscles do). To really help you with recovery make sure to pay attention to your post workout nutrition – here are some great Post Workout Recovery Tips.
Want to keep yourself in a good mood?
There are a lot of ways you can keep yourself in a positive mood while also keeping your fitness in check. But one way I find especially effective (and also surprising) is through diet. Exercise is an obvious go-to, but the food you eat can also have a big effect.
So I recommend investing in the following 3 supplements, all of which are supported by science to keep your mood stable:
- Optimum Fish Oil Softgels with brain-boosting omega-3s
- Twinlab Stress B-Complex to help you avoid stress
- NOW Vitamin D in case you’re not getting outside
Try adding these 3 to your diet today. I’ve noticed some pretty big results myself when it comes to handling stress.
Have any questions or feedback about this Surprising Way Your Mood Affects Your Fitness? Please leave a comment below…