Spanish Women Were The Motivation For Me To Eat Healthier And Get Back Into Shape

I have been in Spain for about three weeks now, and within those three weeks, I’ve made a decision to start taking better care of my body by hitting the gym and adopting a healthier diet and lifestyle. I pushed myself to go to the local gym in Gran Alacant, Spain and purchased a one month pass to use for the reminder of my holiday.

I’m not going to lie, I was amped in the beginning, but in the back of my mind, I didn’t think I’d see that gym after a week of going because being a mom to my four kids is a demand that sucks the life out of me. Finding time throughout the day to workout has been the hardest for me because my day usually starts with me tired and ends exhausted, leaving me to be more of a couch potato who snacks on junk food rather then exercising. Tiredness and no motivation will make you do this, but eventually your body will start talking and before you know it, you’re 20 lbs heavier with aches and pains and dealing with various health issues.

I think living in Spain for one month has been a wake up call for me. During my first week here lounging on the beach, I was in awe of the beautiful, confident and fit-as-ever Spanish women sunbathing topless. Their hot bodies put a spark in my motivation to get my ass up and go to the gym. In Spain, going topless at the beach is nothing. It’s like a guy taking off his shirt. No one cares! However, these Spanish women, by golly, have some beautiful bodies with perky tities, tight bums and thighs that made me miss my own once-toned physique. I miss looking like Kelly Rowland with my cut arms, hard rock abs and firm b-cup breasts. I want to be able to look down and actually see my vagina rather than my 2-year postpartum pop belly. I’m tired of feeling 20 years older than I actually am, barley able to run and catch a bus without feeling like I just raced Usain Bolt in a 100-meter dash. I may feel it, but to me, I don’t look sexy and I want my sexy back!

Now, in my final week in Spain, I have been going to the gym everyday consistently, Monday to Friday with my weekends as rest days. I’ve chosen to workout at 7 am (I’d do earlier, but the gym doesn’t open until 7am), leaving the kids with hubby, to have some ‘me’ time for exercising, praying, meditating, and preparing for the day ahead. The first seven days were the hardest, as dragging myself out of my bed at 6:45 am felt dreadful. However, every morning I mustered up the energy to get my body in line with my mind and head out the door as I brisk walked my way to the gym. For those first seven days, I felt like giving up every day, but seeing those fit Spanish women on the beach, and now in the gym, pushed me to work this body out! For me, starting slowly and gradually increasing my workouts has been key to maintaining consistency. A lesson I learned from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s newsletter, “The Pump Daily”. You gotta start somewhere to get somewhere, and that’s what I have been doing, along with making healthier food choices in my diet. I don’t know how much I weigh at this moment because I don’t have access to a scale, but to be honest, I don’t want to know until I get back to the UK in a few weeks. I do notice that my clothes are becoming looser and my tummy is going down where I no longer look like I’m 7 months pregnant. So for me, that’s enough to know that whatever I’m doing at the gym and whatever I’m eating is definitely working.

To the women of Spain, thank you for being the motivation I needed to challenge myself to get back in shape, not just for physical appearance but for the sake of my kids and my long-term health.

God only knows how motivated I would have been if I went to Brazil!