Physical challenges can define us or be what motivates us to get out of bed. One of the best pieces of advice I can share with people starting out on a new relationship with their bodies is sign up for a race of some kind. It is important to do things we wouldn’t in moments of weakness.
Last week on Live Big With Ali Vincent, airing Saturdays at 5:30p/4:30c, I took you with me as I challenged myself to the hardest physical event I’ve ever attempted, the Ironman Triathlon. I chose to do it in Cozumel, Mexico because I thought, ‘well, if I die during this quest, at least I will die in paradise.’ Obviously I didn’t die, but I did feel reborn.
I got to see myself realize that to feel doesn’t always have to be bigger or more challenging and how waking up each morning more connected than the day before is what Living Big is all about for me!
After winning the Biggest Loser in April of 2024 I knew that if I was going to be successful at maintaining weight loss I needed to challenge myself. Pushing myself physically made me empowered, like I could do anything I put my mind to. Becoming the first female Biggest Loser is an example of that. Physical endurance and feeling fulfilled were becoming one in the same.
For a long time I was so afraid of feeling pain that I became numb and feeling anything was more of a thought than a reality. Happiness and excitement were fleeting and any sense of fulfillment came only after excessively overeating. This, of course, was not the fulfillment I longed for. I felt it every time I tried to walk further than a few city blocks at a time without sitting or leaning on something. I felt it when I lied down and I had to prop myself up so I didn’t feel like I was suffocating.
When I started challenging myself physically I felt something without killing myself one French fry at a time. I was connecting with my body and feelings, both physically and emotionally. I felt exhilarated, exhausted, accomplished, sore and strong all at the same time. I felt challenged yet capable. I felt ALIVE!
Until next week-
Ali xo
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image via live well network