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Workout for Wellness Not Weight Loss

• Danielle Nicole La Rose

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It's time to challenge the conventional approach to fitness, moving away from focusing solely on weight and instead embracing wellness. I share my personal journey from feeling overwhelmed by the demands of daily life to finding happiness through an unexpected venture into tap dance. By shifting the mindset to prioritize joy and gratitude, we can reimagine exercise as a celebration of our bodies rather than a chore.

This episode invites you to see workouts as a vital component of self-care that enhances not just physical health but also mental well-being. We are committing to reframing exercise, not as a punishment for what we ate, but as a joyful act of self-love. By breaking free from the grips of diet culture, we can create a healthier relationship with our bodies and inspire future generations to do the same.

Remember, your strength is your power, and every day is a new opportunity to embrace it.


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Danielle La Rose:

What's up Turn Up Squad. Today, we are talking about how we can rethink our workouts for wellness. Right, I want you to think about the last time that you decided to work out. Or maybe you were thinking about working out, and I want you to think about the feelings that came up for you. Was it, oh, my gosh, I don't wanna do this, like I often think? Or was it, yay, I'm so excited. Or, wow, I'm so grateful I get to do this. Or, oh, I really wish I didn't have to? What? What is the vibe? What's the feeling, what's the energy that you have when you think about working out? Because today, I want to challenge it a little bit in order to really create actual wellness, and wellness is not equivalent to weight. Wellness is not a size, it's not a shape, it's not a number on the scale, it's not a size genes. So how can we turn down the focus on the scale when it comes to our workouts and how can we actually turn up our health? So that's what we're talking about today, and full transparency.

Danielle La Rose:

I was like what am I going to talk about today for the podcast? I have lots of things to share, but I'm in a time crunch, like many people this time of year and I was like, oh my gosh, like what am I going to share? And then, throughout the day, I had been thinking for myself about you know how I encourage and push and motivate and inspire women to do things that bring them joy, to make fitness fun and food simple, and how to love and appreciate their bodies and how to take care of their bodies. And yet, at the same time, I have been putting myself last. Whew, can I get an amen? Are you that person too? Because I've literally been putting myself last.

Danielle La Rose:

I've been working around the clock, which I absolutely love, I absolutely enjoy, and so I found myself. I'm always on my computer, I'm always on my laptop, I'm always sitting, and, you know, with some stuff that I've had going on recently, I haven't had the ability to work out a lot. So we all know, something in motion stays in motion, and so when I stopped, you know, I was told like you can't work out for weeks at a time, and when I? So when I stopped working out. Now the challenge is getting back into the zone right, getting back into that momentum of this is what I do, and this is why I do it, and so, again, I'm just sitting here thinking, oh my gosh, I should work out, I should do this, I should do that. And I was like, okay, I'm going to brush away all the shoulds and I'm going to say what can I do today that would bring me joy and also help me move my body to feel better. And at least you know and I didn't even set a time to it Honestly I was like, well, let's, just what can I do? And so the first thing that came up to me, up for me, was dancing. Obviously, that's my jam. So what can I do?

Danielle La Rose:

And I thought about it how I've been wanting to take a tap dance class. I'm like, well, I can't go take a class right now, but what I can do, let's see what they have on YouTube. So I pulled up YouTube, I searched for tap dance classes and several pulled. You know like I saw several and I opened one of them and I was like, yes, this is so good, because if you are a dancer, you know that when you get older, they don't create like intense, good, great workouts or not workouts, sorry dance routines, like right, they treat us like we're back to five years old, that we can't move our body, and so I'm always irritated by that. So I was like, right, they treat us like we're back to five years old, that we can't move our body, and so I'm always irritated by that. So I was like I have to find something that's like intermediate, advanced, so it'll challenge me, and this one absolutely did that.

Danielle La Rose:

So I found one, and um, and it was to a. I think the song is called Shivers, uh, and so I was like this is it? So I pulled out my tap shoes. It took me a minute to find them, I'm not going to lie. I pulled out my tap shoes and I was like let's just see what happens, let's just have fun. First few minutes, of course, I'm like this is doing nothing for my movement, because I'm like watching his feet like intensely and I'm like I can't even figure out what he's doing, like what it's so advanced. And I was like, hey, just stick with it, just keep trying. So I just kept rewinding, replaying, rewind, replay and eventually I got moving and by the end it was 30 minutes and I'm like breathing heavy, I'm sweating. This is what brings me so much joy.

Danielle La Rose:

Like I'm getting teary eyed right now, like thinking about it, because for most of my life, I have struggled with loving and appreciating my body, and I never learned, until I got older, how to actually see my body as a wonderful thing that helps me live a great life. I've always just seen it as something that needs to be changed, that needs to look better, that needs to be smaller, that needs to not have the wrinkles and the dimples and all the things. And so in this moment, I was just like, oh my gosh, this feels so good. And yet, before I started that, I was thinking about how I should go do a lifting workout. I should push play on this other workout that I used to do. I should do at least 30 minutes, at least 45 minutes. But nothing was like, yeah, I can't wait to do that. And then, at the end of this work, at the end of this tap routine, I was like I don't want this to stop, like this is so fun, I don't want it to end, but I have to go back to work. So I stopped. But you know before that I was. I was upset with myself that I haven't been moving my body, that I haven't been taking care of myself, that I have been putting myself care last, and so then I decided to do this, and because of that, after, when I stopped, I was like oh my gosh, I got to talk about this.

Danielle La Rose:

This is perfect for the podcast, because many of us see workouts as a way to lose weight, right like that's the only reason you work out. That's how I, that's how I grew up. I heard women talking about working out and going to the gym and doing things, but it was never because they enjoyed it. It was never because it was fun. It was never because they enjoyed it. It was never because it was fun. It was never because they just wanted to take care of their bodies and think about living a long, healthy life and having more energy. I never heard that. All I heard was I need to lose weight, so I need to go to the gym, and so maybe you've experienced that too, and because of that, you equate workouts with weight loss.

Danielle La Rose:

And so what happens, though, if you're working out and you're not losing weight? Is it not working? Is it not effective? Is it not, you know? And so then we get in our heads Well then, I might as well stop. At least, this is what I used to do when I had serious issues with diet culture is that I would go work out and if I didn't lose the weight, then I was like what am I doing this for? Why am I giving up foods, which I don't encourage now? But back then I gave up foods. Why am I giving up foods? Why am I spending an hour at the gym? To not lose any weight? And perhaps if I wouldn't have had that mindset and I would have had the mindset that I have now perhaps I would have continued and actually built a really healthy body. And instead I went the complete opposite and started eating McDonald's twice a day and drinking six pops a day and just destroying my body because I was so angry with it.

Danielle La Rose:

Okay, so enough about that. I talked way too long, but I just wanted to give you that background of where this topic came from and what the moment is for me. Right now, as I sit here, I'm literally sitting still in the clothes that I just did my top class in, with sweat dripping down my back. My hair is up in a crazy messy bun. Down my back, my hair is up in a crazy messy bun and I'm just. I'm just happy, and I want all women to feel this way Again. I didn't feel this way just an hour ago, but I want us all to remember and think about this whole idea. So let's jump in then.

Danielle La Rose:

Okay, that's why this whole thing matters to me, because I also am a daily work in progress of shifting my mindset, remembering that my body is powerful and deserves the time to be taken care of, and I deserve to do things that bring me joy. And so today, in the next few minutes, I want to dive into how we're going to start seeing workouts and viewing workouts, for the amazing ways that they make us feel on the inside to live that great life. So I'm going to give you some tangible takeaways that you can use today, tomorrow, the next day, and share with people around you, so that way, when the next generation of girls is coming up, they're not hearing those same things that we heard about why you work out. They're not hearing those same things that we heard about why you work out. They're going to hear something different, because we're going to be different. We're going to do things differently.

Danielle La Rose:

So first we have to understand why this whole shift matters, and the most important reason is because we have been conditioned as humans with diet culture and that wellness is related to weight loss and workouts are to lose weight, right? You very rarely hear about people or advertisements or anything for a gym, right, they're always a before and after picture of complete, like a big transformation of weight loss. And that's because that sells, that's because that's easy, it's a visual, we can see it. But what we're not selling people on is the reason to work out is for the scientific benefits. Right, this is science. Our bodies are the most magical machines and we know, based on science, the benefits of exercise. That has nothing to do with weight loss. It's your mental health, it's your energy, it's your sleep. Right, it's reducing the risk of chronic diseases, it's your joints feeling good.

Danielle La Rose:

Right, I was sharing with my husband the other day like man, my knees are really hurting these days, and I instantly went back. I've had knee problems because I was a dancer. I've had knee problems and so, of course, when I went to the doctor for that before they gave me exercises to do. They didn't give me exercises to do to lose weight for my knees, they gave me exercises to do to strengthen the muscle in my legs to prevent my knees from hurting. So I was telling him I think we should probably get a bike for the house. So, that way because that was always the first thing they tell me is that if I used a bike which I don't enjoy because it's challenging, because I don't have a lot of muscles in my legs, which is why my knees hurt, but that's beside the point.

Danielle La Rose:

But again, the whole point is that there are scientific benefits to exercise, that we get to remind ourselves of why we're doing these things that have nothing to do with weight loss, right? So there is this bigger picture, and so that's why this matters so much is that we have to shift our mindset and remember this bigger picture. Because, also, when we remember this bigger picture and we talk about exercise in this new way of it helps me sleep better, it gives me a lot of energy, it makes me feel good, my knees feel better, my stomach feels better, my arms feel better, whatever it is, when we talk about it that way, we are empowering other people to work out for reasons other than weight loss, and same goes for the little kids in our life. So that's great, right? Yay, this is what we should do and shift, and that's why it's important. But how do we actually shift that?

Danielle La Rose:

And so the first thing we need to do is reframe the purpose right. We get to think of exercise as an act of self-care. You might have heard me mention that at the very beginning, where I said think of exercise as an act of self-care. You might have heard me mention that at the very beginning, where I said I put my self-care last and one of the first things for me for self-care is moving my body, is a workout is to sweat, is to get my heart rate up because I know I have more energy. The only reason right now that I'm recording this podcast is because I have so much positive energy oozing out of my body right now. Also sweat, but it's like literally oozing out of my body, because when you move your body in and your blood gets pumping and you just feel so good and so that is self-care. So we get to reframe our purpose for working out. So we're going to think of exercise as an act of self-care and nothing else. It is not a punishment for what we ate, it is not to lose weight. It is not for anything else other than to take care of ourselves.

Danielle La Rose:

We're going to also think about how we feel after a workout. Right, we're not going to run to a mirror to see how we look. Instead, we're going to ask ourselves how does this make me feel? Sometimes workouts aren't going to feel good. They're just not. And so you get to ask yourself is this something that I get to keep doing because it's good for my body? Or, like I did today, I could have done an intense workout that probably would still make me feel good, but I decided I need to do something that would actually bring me joy, to get me back in the zone, to have that energy, to just just feel good, and so that was dance for me. So we get to focus on how we feel after a workout, and that's one of the most important things we can do. We also get to celebrate, right. What are we celebrating? Can we track how we feel? Right? Can you journal and share, like, what worked really well for your workout today and how did it make you feel and how do you want to feel tomorrow? Is it that we lift heavier weights and that made us really proud? Did you do an extra minute in your run? Do you have more energy? Do you feel really good, like I feel right now? Right, are you sleeping better? What are those non-scale wins that are happening when we work out, right, and so that's how we can.

Danielle La Rose:

First, we need to shift our mindset, approaching exercise in a different way. And then how do we? How do we start, you know, enjoying the workouts more and enjoying them for the purpose of health, not weight, obviously. I'm going to tell you, first and foremost, you got to find your fun. What lights you up when you like, when you turn, like what is? Is it dance? Is it yoga? Is it weightlifting? Is it hiking? I don't know what it is. Maybe you need to go try them all. Maybe you're like, hey, I don't actually know what brings me joy, what lights me up when it comes to moving my body.

Danielle La Rose:

Take a couple months, go try random things. Take some group fitness classes, try whatever works for you, but try so many different things if you don't know yet, and see what works, see what. At the end of it you're like, yes, that was it. I have a handful of things that I know that I can go to that light me up, and so, on those days where I'm like I don't want to work out, I know my body would love me for it. I know you know like I have it scheduled, so I'm going to do it, but I don't really want to do this workout, then what can I shift to? So find those things. We also get to set different goals.

Danielle La Rose:

I am so sick and tired of hearing, especially when it comes to the new year, about oh, I'm going to lose X amount of weight. You can't freaking control that, my friend. Okay, I don't care how hard your workouts are, I don't care how much you lift, I don't care how much you run, it does not matter. You cannot control the scale. You cannot control the scale. So stop setting goals that you aren't in control of. You are in control, though, of how many workouts you do. You are in control of the food choices that you make. You are in control of the mindset work that you do. You are in control of how you shift, how you view your body. You are in control of several things.

Danielle La Rose:

So, instead of setting the goals of weight loss when it comes to workouts, let's set the goals of what do I want? Like, what do I actually want for my life? Do I want to have more energy to play with my kids? Do I want to lower my stress? Do I want to smile from ear to ear. Do I want? What is it that I want to achieve that working out will allow me to do? That has nothing to do with changing my body, because we're not about that life anymore. Can I get a yes, girl? Okay, so there's that. We're going to find our fun, we're going to set different goals and we are going to.

Danielle La Rose:

Perhaps it's time to find a community, right? Maybe some group fitness classes I keep saying that because I'm a group fitness instructor and that supports me but maybe it's some workout buddies. Maybe it's coming back to podcasts like this to remind yourself that you're not alone. Maybe it's an online community. Maybe it's getting a coach or a mentor, Whatever it is.

Danielle La Rose:

Find some people that are encouraging of working out, not for weight loss. Stop following the fit influencers who are showing you their food in a day, who are showing you how to lose weight, who are showing you intense workouts in a day, who are showing you how to lose weight, who are showing you intense workouts and you're like I should be able to do that, I want to do that and you're never going to do it because that's not your goal. That's not the life you want to live. Find the people who are supportive of you, shifting the way that you feel about your body, improving your life overall and using workouts as a way to live a great life, not to get smaller. And find those people and surround yourself with them. Follow those types of people on social media. Connect with them. I'm always my DMs are always open Please send them to me if you're like I have no one or I have very few people and I need a little support in this area. Today, I got you, girl, like for real, like I got you.

Danielle La Rose:

So let's talk about a few quick tips for shifting your focus and then we'll wrap it up. I want you to think about your mantras. So, as we're going into our workouts again, if you're like me, you might be in the habit of saying, oh, I don't want to do this. Oh, this is going to hurt, it's been so long. Oh, my gosh, right, I'm going to be so sore tomorrow. This is miserable.

Danielle La Rose:

A lot of times, that's how we approach workouts and we have if we actually want to make a change in our life, if we actually want to get healthy, if we actually want to improve other areas of our lives, and we have to stop talking about our workouts like that. So we're going to shift what we say, and so perhaps you want to start saying I work out because I love my body. Today I deserve 30 minutes with myself. Today I'm choosing to work out so I feel good. I'm choosing to work out so I feel good. I work out because I know it supports the life that I want to live.

Danielle La Rose:

So what are some of the quick quotes, mantras, things you can say and put on repeat in your head? Again, you don't have to look. As I've shared many times on this podcast, you do not need to say I love working out, it's going to feel great, it's going to be amazing, because if you don't feel that way, you ain't going to believe it anyways. Okay, so what I did today was, instead of I'm not going to lie I was like oh gosh, I really don't want to do anything today. I really just want to keep working and just stay here. But I knew that I needed to do something to feel better. So I told myself Danielle, you are not going to be the best version of yourself in other areas of your life if you don't take care of yourself today. You deserve to do something fun for yourself and move your body. So that's what I told. That was my mantra today. Okay, so shift your mantras.

Danielle La Rose:

The second thing is our micro workouts. You guys, we've been so programmed to believe that working out is inefficient If it's not an hour. You will not believe the people that come to my class and when I stop at minute 45, they're like I thought this was an hour, what am I going to do? Oh, no, and I say that kindly, but it's so like ingrained in us that you have to do an hour long workout. Listen, if you, even if you're like, you know, I want the most intense workout and I want to get the most out of it. I want my muscles to grow and I want to be stronger and I want to feel really good. I want my heart rate to be really, really fast. You still don't have to do an hour. I promise you come to my class for 45 minutes and at the 45 minute mark you will be like okay, yeah, that was enough. I do high intensity workouts. They're lots of fun, but we sweat a lot, our heart rates get really, really high. And also, it does not have to be an hour, because if you do it effectively, you can work your whole body in less than an hour.

Danielle La Rose:

So you have to get out of this mindset of it has to be a certain amount of time, even if 45 minutes. You know, if you're like, you know, I don't have 45 minutes, sister, I feel you, I feel you and so that's why today I didn't set a time limit. I said I'm going to do this tap routine, I'm going to learn it, and then that's going to be it. I didn't know if it was going to take me 10 minutes, if it was going to take me 20 minutes, if I was going to do an hour. I had no idea. But at the 30-minute mark I learned it and I did it a few times and I was like, oh, I'm so sweaty. Yes, now I have the energy, I'm going to get back to work.

Danielle La Rose:

So shifting your focus includes not hating on micro workouts. If a 10-minute walk is the most that you can do to move your body, that is great. Go take a 10-minute walk. If doing a yoga session for 10 minutes at a time, three times a day, works for you, do that. If you can get 30 minutes in of doing a fun tap dance routine, do it. Stop putting the pressure on yourself for it to be quote-unquote perfect, for it to be this expectation that the rest of the world has told you and sold you. Micro workouts are wonderful, especially as we're getting back and saying I deserve to take care of myself, because it might be just too much to say I'm gonna take a whole hour out of my day to do this, but 10, 15 minutes, I got that right.

Danielle La Rose:

And then also, the third thing to remember, when it comes to shifting this focus and approaching you know your workouts in a different way, is to remember that rest and recovery are also part of your health, that's part of your wellness. Yes, I'm telling you that your body deserves to be taken care of and moved so you feel good and have lots of energy. But do not skip some rest days and do not beat yourself up over it. If you choose one day to say, hey, I really wanted to show up and move my body today, but today my mind, my mental health, my energy, my body, my work, everything is screaming and saying please just rest, then you better take a rest day, my friend. Okay, because again, we're approaching our workouts for wellness, not approaching our workouts for weight loss, and wellness includes rest days. Wellness includes great sleep. Wellness includes your mental health, not just your physical, includes your mental health, not just your physical.

Danielle La Rose:

So let's just remember, okay, as we are continuing and as we're going into new year and people are going to be talking, like they always do, about workouts and weight loss when it comes to setting new year's resolutions, remember the importance of shifting our mindset. Diet culture, gems, the beauty industry, beauty standards are all putting this pressure and saying the workouts are in order to lose weight, and we know that that is not the case. Our workouts are scientifically proven to do many, many things for ourselves in many areas of our lives. So it's so important to shift our mindset and we have to start now and again. How do we start? We find our fun, we set goals that have nothing to do with weight loss. We build a community of people, we set those mantras, we focus on micro workouts Right and we lean on some rest days.

Danielle La Rose:

So I want to ask you now well, first of all, we're going to turn up the volume on this that workouts are for wellness, and we're going to turn down the volume on the quote that workouts are for weight loss, and we are going to, and I'd love to just ask you, right, what is your favorite workout? For health, for wellness? Go ahead, share that with me. Hey, oh, actually. Okay, I'm going to go here, I'm going to give you a little challenge, but just because I did this today and now I'm in the zone, I want you to do one of your favorite workouts. What's one of your favorite workouts? I don't care if you're like, no one else likes this workout. It's not about anybody else. This is about you. What is the workout that set your soul on fire, that gives you energy, that brings you joy, that makes you feel really freaking good? I want you to go do that this week.

Danielle La Rose:

Okay, choose one workout, go do it this week, whatever it is, and I want you to either show yourself doing it, take a sweaty selfie after, take a picture of your feet. I don't, I don't, I'm not a feet. Please don't take a picture of your feet and send them to me, but, like you know your shoes, if you're taking a walk, you can take a picture of your feet, your shoes. You get it right Like, okay, that just got a little awkward, okay, so you're going to do your workout and you're going to tag me on social media with that picture for the challenge. Yes, you are, because we're going to turn up, let's go, okay.

Danielle La Rose:

And then, obviously, if you're listening to this now, if this served you and you're like, whew, I need to shift that mindset. This is so important for me to do for myself, for my family, for my kiddos, for the community, for just everybody, right? I want you to drop a comment, drop a review here and share it on social or send it to a couple of friends that maybe are struggling with their wellness and perhaps that this could support them. Hey, and even you could be like sister on this episode. She said that we need a community of people. Would you want to be my person, do you want to be my partner of saying we're going to do workouts for wellness and we're going to support each other. Make sure we're doing some micro workouts and that kind of thing, right? We always we got to ask for what we need, okay, so that's that All right. Are you ready? We're going to turn up, turn down all the things.

Danielle La Rose:

You're going to take my challenge and then next week, I'm so excited to share an interview that I had done with a body image researcher.

Danielle La Rose:

She's a psychologist, chair of the department out of university and the conversation was so good because it was different. She challenged me and I respected that so much, and I think it's just so important that we realize and recognize, as we're thinking about turning up and turning down and all the things that we recognize, that body image is the most important thing that we can focus on as women, especially for the girls in our lives. And so, coming from a research background, with actual science to support what we're doing, right, like all the things that I do with my clients in my programs, it's all research backed, and so to actually have one of the researchers that I personally follow and use their insights in order to develop my programs, it was really, really cool. I was nerding out so hard and I was so nervous to talk to her, but it's good. So that will be next week's episode, so I hope you'll come back and tune into that and remember that you are pretty powerful. Now go turn it up. Have a great day. Bye, friend.