Today was a perfect example of my own personal evolution with fitness. I'm sharing this to keep things real and to illustrate what the process of evolving looks like, even after years of training.
First, some. background - In our **EVOLVE** classes, we spend a lot of time talking about how to make exercise and supportive nutrition an integral part of our lives. We focus on evolving from the occasional, scattered workout to smart, customized routines that fit our current age and stage of life. We also discuss the importance of listening to our body's cues—not just when we eat but throughout our workouts too. Over the course of 8 months, we work hard to build lifelong, healthy habits. And as we practice and train, we continue to evolve. This progression doesn’t stop when the class ends—we carry it with us for the rest of our lives.
My story starts with something simple: scheduling my workout time. I put it on my calendar in advance, so I could plan around it. This has been a big focus of mine for a long time. In the early days of my fitness journey, I’d always find reasons to skip my workouts entirely. “I’m not in the mood today” or “I have something to do later, and I don’t want to get sweaty,” and so on.
But eventually, I evolved. I started enjoying my workouts more, so I stopped looking for excuses. But, I would still let almost anything—a new client, family needs, or a work meeting—bump my workout off the schedule. Then, I evolved again.
Now, when I set a time for my workout, it’s non-negotiable. Just like I wouldn’t cancel a massage or dentist appointment, I don’t let anything interfere with it. The hardest part of this process has been not feeling selfish about it. But I’ve realized that prioritizing exercise isn’t selfish—it’s part of taking care of myself. That shift in mindset has been a huge part of my evolution.
But today... I was met with another challenge:
Even though I had my workout scheduled, it took me longer than planned to get set up, and I was distracted. I found myself short on time before my next meeting. Old me would have said, “I’ll just skip today” or “I’ll do it later,” but I’ve learned that ‘later’ almost never happens. So I started anyway, despite feeling unfocused, and told myself I’d see how it went. And .... I got it done! But…
Then came another key moment of growth.
I pushed myself hard today—hard enough to hit a few personal records (PRs), which felt amazing! But about 30 minutes into my planned 60-minute workout, I could tell my muscles were starting to fatigue in a way that didn’t feel safe for what I still had left to do. In the past, I would’ve kept going, thinking, “You’re in the zone, you’ve got time, let’s finish strong!” But now, I know better. I hadn’t fueled myself properly for such an intense session, and rather than risk poor form or injury, I decided to call it. I took a shower and went for a walk instead.
That decision wasn’t easy. There’s a fine line between cutting a workout short because I’m not in the mood and stopping because my body is truly signaling it’s time. This is something I’ve had to learn over time. Understanding when to push through and when to back off is a huge part of learning to listen to your body. It’s a lesson I’m still practicing, but it’s crucial for progress.
Rather than feeling like a quitter for ending my workout early, I felt empowered. I put in hard work during those 30 minutes. I’m proud of my PRs, proud of myself for sticking to my workout even when I felt distracted, and proud for knowing when to stop because my body needed it.
These lessons didn’t come overnight. They’ve taken years to develop.
Everyone’s journey is different. We all evolve at our own pace, and that’s okay. The most important thing is to keep learning, growing, and acknowledging the progress we’re making along the way.
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