When I talk about fitness, I am talking about mental fitness and also fitness for joy. As someone who has had all of the obstacles you could think of thrown my way when it comes to aligning with a fit life, I came to the realisation that it’s not about being skinny and obsessively fit, it is about the quality of your life based on your thoughts about yourself. That is why Battle Babes is about mental fitness. So many people use pain to leverage themselves and to take action focusing on the pain and not being fat to the point where eventually, the focus comes to a point where you may have become exactly what you didn’t want. I know from someone who has had mental health challenges and weight issues including an eating disorder that it’s not an overnight process to heal and it can take a long time to restore your body’s equilibrium, so it is important to focus on mental fitness first, loving your body now, your thoughts about yourself and take actions from a place of peace and adoration for who you truly are. These insights will assist you to understand what mental fitness is and what it means to be mentally fit:

Your mental fitness is about your stamina and capability to deal with life’s challenges.

Physical fitness often comes from mental fitness and understanding that being super fit isn’t always the answer to being mentally fit but it can be if you choose it to be a by-product of your decisions and actions. Physical stamina can impact your mental stamina most certainly while mental stamina isn’t dependent of physical fitness. I say this because injuries and other things may occur causing you to not be able to exercise or as much and if you are dependent of exercise for your worth, stamina and mental fitness, you may find you struggle and can’t seem to cope. Mental fitness is derived from you. It is a human construct that gives you the capability to deal with life’s challenges in a way that is powerful and has you able to overcome all obstacles that may come your way. It is your inner resilience and ability to withstand any challenge and get right back up no matter how long it takes to be focused on mental fitness over physical fitness while doing what brings you joy.

Your mental fitness is about thinking kind things about yourself.

So many women berate themselves and use negativity to leverage themselves by hating their bodies into submission and being skinny. I understand that if you have been doing this, you may not know another way or you may fear losing your footing and gaining weight because you have spent so much time hating your body into looking a way you think will get you what you want in life. The key to mental fitness is to think kind things about yourself and tell yourself you are worthy and deserving while leveraging yourself from a positive space while understanding that results come from your decisions, commitments and actions you take. Kindness relieves the pressure you put on your nervous system and reduces stress over your weight while assisting in the weight loss process. It makes way for a new approach that may take some time to shift your thoughts and behaviours from and you might just find that you become happy no matter what shape or size you are.

Your mental fitness is about loving who you are internally.

If you place your levels of love on the external, you may find as you go through different seasons and phases in your life where weight fluctuates you will struggle with self-love. When you place love on external factors that most certainly can enhance your life but are not the crucial ingredient to love – your internal dialogue, mental fitness and ability to love who you are in essence is. Loving yourself internally means loving your thoughts, feelings and emotions. I’m not going to tell you that you will be positive all of the time because that’s not realistic. It’s what you do with your thoughts, feelings and emotions that counts and this is what mental fitness is all about. It is about making sugar free lemonade out of lemons, and it is about making your setbacks, challenges and negative thoughts mean something powerful. As you love your internal self, you begin to love your external self more and more because you know your worth is not based on your looks, weight, image and fitness levels, it is based on so much more than that and is something that can’t be taken away – your deep soul and true love for yourself. Your mental fitness is derived from your deep inner power and knowing that you can overcome anything and when you trust in this power, you can physically achieve what you want in time.