Fitness Goals Over 30: How Being Single Helps Me Stay Focused
looking like you're in the 2%
Have you ever tried to meet a health or fitness goal in a relationship? It’s often the case that dates at restaurants or slow mornings lure you into skipping a workout. You get started, and everything goes off the rails in week two due to an impromptu staycation or getaway.
Even having kids without being partnered is less of an issue.
Setting your routines and schedules without having to consider nurturing a relationship often makes achieving health goals more manageable. Even when your partner is on board with your fitness goals, the comparison trap can have you spiraling or practicing self-sabotage.
The worst part is that we usually can’t see the issue while in the relationship!
I’m not advocating for breakups here.
Instead, I’m sharing the significant perks of being single in a world invested in telling single people that our entire focus should be gaining partnerships.
What does age have to do with this?
Anyone firmly in their thirties or older will tell you how simple it is to lose weight in your twenties. The whole calorie in/calories out thing works more flexibly during those years. Exercise alone is typically all needed to tighten up, and eating decently on top of that will make you look like the 2%.
As long as you maintain a consistent routine, you can still incorporate alcohol and sugary treats into your diet and lose weight! (there are always exceptions).
But when you pass thirty…. all of that changes.
The way your body metabolizes food starts to change. Hormones and genetics play a more significant role in determining how you appear, and much more intention is required to see results through diet and exercise.
However, I have found that single status is fantastic for my health goals.
It’s all about being selfish
When single, it’s easier to stick to a routine and willpower. You may have a great social life, but the ability to focus on your motivations for health and fitness helps you stick with your routine.
I’m a morning person and have to exercise in the morning before I can talk myself out of it. Even waiting three hours after waking to get started is a recipe for failure. I also don’t need to eat before my workouts and prefer simple breakfasts that don’t require much fuss afterward.
My partner, on the other hand, is not a morning person and always eats a full breakfast.
Is he supportive of my health goals? Absolutely, but my willpower gets a bit looser when around him. I tell myself I’ll exercise “later,” and then it spirals.
Fitness gains happen with consistency
Consistent repetition is necessary to build muscle or endurance. Skipping a morning run when training for a race or to get faster is self-sabotage. Skipping a few weight-lifting sessions directly affects your ability to lift heavier over time.
Attending Pilates one week and skipping the next will keep you at the same fitness level week after week. Wasting your hard-earned money one missed class at a time.
Be in the 2%
You are single and have the space to be in the 2%. I recently watched a video in which a person defined what being in the 2% and 1% of fit people looks like, and I chose the 2%.
It seems like a lot of work, but it can all be achieved within the five days of my workweek. Starting my day with a workout sets the tone for a focused workday, and ending my day with a walk helps me disconnect for a relaxed evening.
During the work week, my brain wakes up and shuts down in a ritual that is beneficial for my overall health. Then, come the weekend, I’m able to decompress knowing that my week was productive and healthy.
This isn’t really about partnership
Of course, people in relationships make their health goals a priority, and that’s the lesson here. If you value health and fitness, make time for it daily.
You can find the motivation and willpower to say no and the time in your schedule to stick to your plan. The mothers I know exercise before or after dropping their kids at school in the morning or evening. They take their kids to the gym and prepare separate meals for themselves.
Choose you.
Are you a matching set or whatever works kind of person when putting together your gym wear?
Until next time