I'm going to kick this off with a bit of a story about something that happened to me recently (which all ties into what this post is about, by the way) but if you're just interested in the tips I have to share, you can scroll down closer to the bottom :).

Three weeks ago, I canceled my CrossFit membership. I know this might not seem very dramatic – people cancel gym memberships all the time. But this was a huge moment for me. Up until then, I had been going to CrossFit 4 days/week for 5 years. The best part? I loved it. It didn't feel like a drag. I was genuinely excited to go explore what my body could do today that it couldn't do yesterday. Sure, waking up at 5:20am to make it for a 6am CrossFit class wasn't the most pleasant but amidst all of the "I'm too tired" thoughts that would creep in, I would immediately remind myself how freaking AWESOME and energetic I would feel if I went come 7am – and I was always right.

So you're probably wondering – why'd I cancel it? Well, let's back it up a bit.

Over the past few months while at CrossFit, I noticed more aches and pains in my body than usual. The great thing about CrossFit is that you can modify any workout to work for where your body is at on a given day – so I did that. But even with the modifications, my body felt broken. I always felt sore and inflamed. I took after my cat Duncan and would rub my back up on any ridge or corner of the wall I could find in hope of finding a tiny bit of relief. Around the same time, I started hearing a little whisper in the back of my head "do yoga, do yoga, do yoga". The truth is, I really LOVE yoga but I don't love paying $300 in gym memberships, so in my mind, it was CrossFit or Yoga. CrossFit won.

Then I ended up in the hospital (no, not because of CrossFit). I was experiencing super severe chest pains. I'm not a stranger to chest pains and have been able to chalk it up to stress and anxiety in the past, but this felt different. But sure enough, after an ECG and a chest x-ray, everything came back clear. While I didn't get a super clear answer, we chalked it up to anxiety and likely stress once again (something I'm always working on managing).

A few days later, I received a call from the hospital saying they actually did find something in my chest x-ray. They asked me if I had a cold recently (to which I answered no) because they found the start of pneumonia in my left lung.

To be honest, I didn't know a whole lot about pneumonia when I heard that news but that, combined with my hospital visit earlier that week and how I had been feeling run down, stressed and broken was enough for me to finally surrender and make some changes.

I canceled my CrossFit membership the next day (not forever – still love you, CrossFit friends and community!) and signed up for hot yoga. I connected with some close friends in my neighbourhood to see if they would be open to me taking their dogs for walks 1-2X/week as moving my body in a gentle way was still a priority for me. I looped in the team (aka my second family) over at Joyous Health who were super supportive of me slowing down and finding other ways to be active while at work.

I committed to more sleep-ins (even if it was just an hour longer), not working at night or past 9pm (still working on this – hard when you love what you do!) and focused on all of the ways I could go about prioritizing self-care, slowing down and filling my cup.

And here we are, three weeks later, and I have to say, I am feeling really, damn good.

I love that each day is different and I'm not just living on auto-pilot anymore. I love the challenge of something new (hot yoga is freaking hard guys!) and I love that this shift is nourishing both my physical and mental health.

I have to admit, the first few days were challenging. You see, I joined CrossFit at the end of my disordered eating journey. I often say CrossFit is one of the things that helped me break the disordered eating cycle and repair my relationship with my body and food.

If you've ever been to a CrossFit gym, you'll notice there are no mirrors. The goal of aesthetics is entirely removed and everything is focused on what your body can do on a given day, while prioritizing proper form. CrossFit helped me celebrate what my body could do, rather than what it looked like. I also learned really fast that I couldn't "fuel" myself on aspartame-filled foods anymore. I had to start filling it with what I now call #RealAssFood!

But I also learned to trust my body. I discovered that I could eat pretty much whatever I want (which includes #RealAssFood and from time to time, wine, beer and what I call "play food" which you may know as junk food) without gaining weight, which I thought was due to the amount of energy I was expending at CrossFit. And to suddenly go without it – well, that's scary.

I found myself questioning whether I deserved certain foods (um, WHAT Rach?!) aka everything I advise my clients NOT to focus on. But needless to say, the worry-filled thoughts around my changing body and losing strength have since simmered as I've chosen to focus my energy on healing right now – healing my body, healing my mind and lowering stress.

Here's the thing – strength, abs and a cute number on the scale really don't matter if you're in a hospital bed and that is why I've made self-care and restorative movement my utmost priority right now.

Will I go back to CrossFit? It's very likely, but I'm giving myself 1-2 months before doing so and even when I return, I only plan to go 2-3X/week while still making room for yoga and walking. I know that my body needs that balance to thrive and so, if it means dishing out $300/month to make that happen, then well, I'm going to have to pull back on my online shopping because nothing is more valuable and worth investing in than your health.

How To Know When Your Exercise Regime Is No Longer Working For You

If you read my story above, you probably already know a few of the tell-tale signs of how to know when your exercise regime is no longer working for you, but I want to highlight them nonetheless. I also want to preface that this isn't about finding a reason to stop moving your body, but to show you, that by ignoring the signs and messages your body is giving you and continuing with your routine even when it's no longer right for you, you are actually doing more harm than good.

In a post in the near future, I'll share my top tips for finding a form of movement that you genuinely ENJOY that you can stick to.

1. It feels like an obligation – Once something feels like a dreaded obligation, it's going to be really difficult to stick with it. You should feel EXCITED about your form of exercise. I didn't love waking up at 5:20am to hit up the 6am CrossFit class but I LOVED moving my body in that way. Same goes for yoga – I view it as a delicious treat for my body. I want you to find that for you and be patient because it can take some time to find a form of exercise (or movement) that you're excited about but part of the process of doing that, is removing the expectation of what exercise "should" be. Remember, exercise is simply about moving your body. You don't have to break a sweat. You don't have to lift weights. As long as the form of movement you choose encourages you to move your body on a consistent basis, that's what is most important!

2. It doesn't make your body feel good – Sore muscles that even make it hard to sit down on the toilet sometimes is normal from time to time. But if your form of exercise is constantly leaving your body feeling broken like you are an 80-year-old in a 27-year-old body, that's a problem. Not to mention, if you're constantly having to seek care from a chiropractor or physiotherapist, maybe it's time to re-evaluate your form of movement as well. Movement should make your body feel good, not set you back. Yes, exercise is great but if your body is in a constant state of inflammation, that's going to contribute to even bigger issues down the line.

3. You intuitively feel like your body would benefit from something else – In my story above, I mentioned how I had been hearing tiny whispers in my mind to move towards yoga, which I ignored for quite some time until a medical reason forced me to surrender to it. Now that I've been doing yoga, my body feels SO good. I can hear my body saying thank you in each downward dog and pigeon pose.

Here's the thing – our body is pretty dang smart. We might feel like we know better than it, but the truth is that, it always knows best. If you're hearing those tiny whispers, it's time to honour them! If that's a scary thought to you, I want to challenge you to try it for at least 2 weeks – and just see how you feel! The worst thing that could happen is that you're wrong and you don't enjoy it. But alternatively, the best thing that could happen is that you really love it and it ends up being exactly what your body needs. I double dog dare you!

Have you experienced something similar, where you made the transition to a new form of movement that actually ended up benefiting you more? Share in the comments below!