Running Towards Non-Scale Victories

Running Towards Non-Scale Victories

By  Cledra Gross (@cledracledra )

Flat abs in 30 days, thin thighs for summer, arms like Angela Bassett with these few steps……..seems like everything is focused on chopping us up into parts instead of focusing on us as women as a whole.  What about our purpose beyond how we look?  One of my biggest regrets is spending all of my 20s and even most of my 30s consumed by changing “parts”of me.  All that dieting, counting, measuring, and feeling bad about myself for coming up short led to even MORE weight and I found myself 70 lbs overweight.  When I recommitted to running in my late 30s this time it was for purpose and not for “parts”.  Running helped me clear my mind, give thanks for a healthy body, and more importantly get in tuned with my created purpose.  The irony in focusing in purpose is that the “parts”that I wrestled with for almost 2 decades changed as a nice side effect. So I offer these 5 purpose driven reasons to run and turn your back on the messages that try to reduce us to “parts”

1. Gratitude for movement: Run because it’s a gift to be able to CHOOSE to move
2. Love: Run because when you’re better everyone you love gets the benefit of a better you
3. Clarity: Run because it helps your mental clarity which helps you make better decisions
4. Focus: Run because when you spend focused time on working out then you don’t have to spend time in regret from not working out
5. Energy: Run because you don’t have time to be tired & with all you’re called to do you need energy

Enjoy your purpose driven run and know that you are so much more than a body “part”. About Cledra Gross Cledra Gross is a proud member of BGR! Atlanta. For more strategies to live your best life in your best body check out her page www.cledra.com and her book “Rewrite Your Story”(available at amazon.com) includes more ways to change your mind about this whole journey called life!

Also in Black Girls RUN!