Bree Smith Fit

To all you lovelies who poured out your support and prayers after I posted my recent stories, bless you! If you haven’t seen the stories, they’re still available for the next day but the tldr of it all is that my dad had a massive stroke two weeks ago and a lot is still unknown. But in the midst of processing that grief I also got to celebrate my sweet friend as she got married to an absolutely wonderful man this past weekend.

So all that to say, life throws a whole lot of curve balls and a lot of them hurt but in the middle of that mess are other things that make you literally jump for joy.

As a pro in the health and wellness world, let me tell you that it’s worthwhile to let your body tell your brain what to do. If you’re in a season of grieving, let it take the pace you need it to. Even (or especially) if you don’t feel like your grief is justified or it doesn’t look how you thought it would, my prayer for you is to interact with your emotions with honesty and curiosity.

I’m rootin’ for ya.

Is it okay to take gym selfies? 🧐 🤳

I had a conversation recently about whether posed gym pics are okay. Specifically I asked: 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿?

Here’s what I decided for the time being: ☀️

I decided that as with most issues…it depends.

It depends where your heart is. If I’m in the camp of, “Ugh I would never post a mirror selfie” then I have to ask myself why I feel so strongly. 🫥 Is it because I have beliefs founded on scripture and worldview to back me up? Or am I feeling some discomfort based on body image, confusing feelings of shame, or maybe I just feel conflicted about what different cultures deem as appropriate (ie my American experience tells me almost all skin is culturally okay but my Nepal years told me that my legs need to be covered). 🫥

With this selfie in particular I asked myself if it would encourage my followers to feel more empowered or discouraged in their own bodies. While I sure don’t think that showing more skin is always necessary, I also don’t believe that we should be fearful posting a photo where we are feeling ourselves! If you’re feeling strong, 🥊 capable, confident, you are allowed to share that energy with your corner of the world, 🌏 even if you think that “I’ve got a long way to go” or “I just want to fix this thing.” 🫶

Ultimately I want to make sure that my content makes a woman feel more excited to live in her body and to continue on her journey to learn what she’s capable of.

I wrote this when I was having an absolutely rotten day. 🙃 My instinct was to completely shut down; I was ready to close my laptop and lay on the couch with Netflix until I fell asleep. 🛋 📺

But I’ve learned the long way that disassociating isn’t as satisfying as your survival mentality is telling you. 🫥

Instead I asked myself the question:
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?

Options I came up with:
🧊Drinking a glass of water
🛁Taking a shower / bath
🌱Going outside and taking a walk (no matter how short)
🚦Stretching or foam rolling
🍊Eating some veggies or fruit
🎧Closing my eyes and turning my phone to silent

Ultimately I chose to get outside and walk even though I only had a few minutes before sunset. 🌅

It doesn’t always have to take massive effort to live a healthy life. Most of the time it is just one small but doable action after another all in row.

You got this. 🫶


via .app

If you feel anxious about missing a workout, know that you’re building a lifestyle that is going to stand the test of this rough day. While our bodies do need consistent and progressive strength work in order to get stronger, changing up your routine on the days when you’re feeling crummy will actually help you build that strength over the years!

Pushing through workouts when your body is telling you to slow your roll (whether that’s a physical pain or emotional stress) is probably going to work for a while…until you burn out and stop being active for months or even years.

On the tough days, look for other ways to move your body that feel good, that will add value to your day rather than take away from it. This might be a hike, swimming, gardening, or your favorite hobby.

📚Book review time!☕️ 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘺: 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺 by Scott Drew.

This one took me by surprise. I always keep an eye out for books that offer a faith-based perspective on sports and exercise but I also am suspicious of a book with someone’s face on it. I have a deep-seated mistrust of someone using their celebrity to tell me the best way to live my life. HOWEVER, I’ve been on a mission to read new genres this year and so I jumped at the opportunity to review this book.

Scott Drew is the head coach of Baylor’s men’s basketball team. 🏀He’s super well respected for coming onto the scene while Baylor was emerging from a major bribery and murder scandal. Coach Scott Drew saw that the team had a great need for faith-based leadership and he stepped up. His leadership completely transformed the basketball program and led the team to win the NCAA championship. 🏀

It’s an easy and restful book to read - you could easily devour this in a weekend, especially if you’re already a fan. Something I really enjoyed about this book is Scott Drew’s obvious humility. I felt like reading the book must feel similar to sitting and listening to Scott Drew just talk about his experiences - a good humored guy who has a close eye on where the Spirit is leading.

Whether you’re a basketball fan or, like me, you just like reading about every day people allowing God to lead in their lives, this is a good one to add to your TBR pile or as a Father’s Day gift (June 19th)! 🎁

To purchase, click on the link in the my bio or go to: https://bit.ly/3xWrMFq

And a huge thanks to Front Gate Media and Scott Drew for my gifted copy! 🙏



                       
                 

I am a huge fan of goal setting. 🪩

But for the first time in about 4 years, I’m realizing that I don’t have specific goals about how I want my body to look or what exactly I’d like my body to do. In the past I’ve set very structures goals to be able to do things like get my first pull up and do a get my hip thrust above 300lbs. 

These days, my goals are way more chill. I prioritize things like:
💃 Moving consistently in ways that I enjoy - strength training/kickboxing 4-5x a week and not stressing if I don’t get a perfect workout split.
🌻 Walking most days a week to prioritize slowing down after work in the evenings and calming my busy brain.
🍳 Eating a protein-anchored diet but not trying to manage every single calorie I consume.

I feel really good about where I’m at. I give myself the freedom to change up my workout routine when my ADHD brain gets antsy, I prioritize my mental health above getting the perfect workout, and I have a healthy self-image which allows me to move my body without constant worries about whether my body fat is “ideal.”

I’m definitely not perfect. 🫠 This is a super busy season of life and I have prioritized some things over others - I choose to make more time for my family and friends 👯‍♀️ and because of that I have chosen to get less sleep 💤 and I’ve chosen to allow my business to grow more slowly. I’m continuing to learn how to adapt to different seasons, but I’m also thankful for seasons like this when I can enjoy the fact that in other seasons I was able to foster a habit of consistency ✅ and self-care 🤸🏻‍♂️ so that in these busier seasons I can focus on other aspects of physical, mental, and emotional health.

👉 Tell me what you’re working towards right now. Do your current goals require a lot of focus or are you feeling easy breezy these days?

I hate lunges. I don’t hate them so much for their ability to toast the legs - I hate them because all I can focus on is how it feels to bend my toes. I know, weird. There’s a couple reasons for this - one is that I broke five bones across the top of my foot and they now make crunching noises. Cool. 🙃The second is that I have ADHD and I have some sensory issues that act up during workouts.

If you have ADHD, ASD, or other sensory processing disorder you may experience this. Maybe it’s not your toes but you avoid a particular athletic fabric or sweat on your temple distracts you from a good workout.

How important is it to push through and do it anyway? 🤔

Exercising is gonna make us uncomfortable - it’s hard to move beyond our current fitness levels! However, I believe we need to take away as many barriers of entry as possible. In the same way that finding exercise that you love will encourage you to keep going, I think that we should recognize the exercises that will make us stop going.

For me and lunges, I had to ask myself why I dread any lunge variation (walking, reverse, curtsy, etc.). Is it because I know that they’re a weak area for me or is there another reason? 🕵️‍♀️ Since I can comfortably say I do all sorts of moves that I’m weak in, I realized that it was mainly my sensory issues going into overdrive.

I then asked myself:
🎯 What’s the goal with lunges? (what muscles are working, what kind of movement pattern, etc.)
🧩 Can I replicate that goal using other moves (will I do Bulgarian split squats, can I elevate my toes so they don’t need to bend, etc.).

Ultimately, I do think that growing in your strength is going to involve some discomfort. But I don’t think we have to do every single exercise we hate in order to keep getting stronger. Giving yourself space to figure out what actually works for you (and not just what you think should work) does wonders for a sustainable routine. 💪

🙋‍♀️ What do you think about this? Are there exceptions?

Do you ever decide that it’s time for a change and then once you start, you get frustrated over how long it’s taking? 🫠

The thing is…all the times when you feel like you’re just plugging along without any major signs of progress are actually where the most meaningful stuff happens. 💐 There are so many days when all you’re doing is the boring leg work of eating the more nutritious option 🥗and choosing to move your body even for a few minutes. 👣 You start itching to figure out how you can possibly speed this thing along so you can hurry up and get to your goal already.

Frustration will come and that’s got to be okay. But know that you are building something very important on the “boring” days. Know that all the work you’re putting into choosing the healthier dinner option - choosing to go up a couple pounds in your dumbbells, going on that walk - those things are bricks forming into a stronger building than you might think. 🧱

In other words, let some days be difficult. Let the journey be a little longer than is comfortable. Because the things that last don’t have shortcuts. 💫

The question to ask when you’re worn down. 👀

When I’m feeling frayed at the edges and willpower is nonexistent, I ask myself one question: “What can I do right now that will actually improve my wellbeing?”

The beauty of this question is that it doesn’t have to rely on your current emotions and it also doesn’t have to be any of the things you’re currently feeling guilty about not doing (like meal prepping, certain workouts, tracking macros, etc). All you need is one doable action that will move you even a fraction of a step in the right direction.

So what might some of these actions be? When I ask myself what I can do to instantly improve my wellbeing, I might answer with things like:
🌿 10-min walk
🛁 Bath
🥗 Fresh food from a fav restaurant
🎧 Turn music on loud
💐 Buying flowers
✍️ Letting it out in my journal

Your answers will look diffeeent but I believe strongly that small steps, like making a teeny healthy decision in the the moments, move us most quickly to where we want to go.

👉 What are some of your answers to this question?

      

Still coming at you with hiking and food pictures, now with a much more fun addition. 🌱

Proof that I have only ever had this single pose. 😂

I was looking through the old family albums and came across these gems. 6-year old Bree really had the outfits going on! 29-year old Bree is on the lookout for that sweet geometric sweater if anyone has any leads. 🪩

If you have tried and given up on health or fitness-related goals, you may approach any new goals with two thoughts. 1️⃣ You feel distrustful of yourself and your ability to actually finish things you set out to do. 2️⃣ You feel like if you just try hard enough this time, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to do it this time.

We often neglect to really consider the reasons we aren’t already doing those habits you want to establish. The truth is, these aren’t easy! 🙃They go against the grain of some part of your current lifestyle and changing that is going to take work!

The good news is that the effort will be worth it. 🔥 So take the time now to honestly think through those obstacles and brainstorm some strategies to not let them stop you!

      

Thankful today for…
☀️ blue skies after storms
🌿green places to walk
💫 experience that has taught me that the best thing to do when I’m grumpy is get outside and move my body.

There’s going to be photos that make you feel really like a hot mama and then there are the photos that make you feel more like you’re hiding in the pantry from your kids. There will be leggings that fit your curves in the best way and the leggings that point a spotlight on your cellulite. There are exercises that your body takes to immediately and exercises that make you feel like an otter (not known for their bench press maxes).

I don’t want to lie to you and tell you that your true self is in those gorgeous photos. I am not only my poppin’ hamstrings, I am also dimples and cellulite, and a whole heck of a lot more than that: I am strong and getting stronger each day. I’m learning and learning more. I’m worthwhile in that I have a love from God that’s way bigger than the bad as well as the good pictures.

Keep moving, don’t take those photos too seriously, and don’t let the people around you take those photos too seriously either. We’ve got a bigger goal and we’re well on our way!

Weight loss can be a valuable part of a health journey, but it is not the goal itself - the goal is ultimately that you come to a place where your life is vigorous and you are able to do what you have been called to do.

I never force weight loss on my clients but I do come alongside the ladies I coach and help them figure out what they really want and how to get there. 🏇 That means that when they tell me their goals, I help them dig deeper and find the root of why that goal is worth it (or even why there may be a better goal).

For instance, maybe you have a goal of becoming stronger and you want to get stronger mainly by compound moves where you gradually increase weight and reps. Awesome! But when that goal doesn’t feel new and exciting, what is your anchor ⚓️ that will remind you why strength was the goal in the first place? What will not change even when schedules and work and seasons shift? 🌱 Is it because you see strength as a way of taking care of yourself as a single lady? Is it because you value lifting your kids?

Even as you goalset, think of the reasons behind that goal. Then go kick some butt! 🎯

      

Living in an apartment for so many years really made me forget how amazing it feels to use my strength for something tangible!

My sister and I had way too much fun splitting a friend’s daffodil collection. And I got to use a pick mattocks so of course I had a blast.

Guess what! 📢 I, a fitnsss professional who talks about habit change and healthy living a big chunk of my days, am still majorly figuring it out!

For years I’ve had a recurring daily reminder on my phone to take a supplement. At some point it worked fine - I saw the reminder, I took the supplement. But the last year, when every day looks different, that routine stopped working.

I had the idea to put my white board in my kitchen where I’m the most likely to be standing and waiting throughout the day. I mark every day that I do the habits I’m working on, work goals for the week, and even meal ideas when I’m uninspired. ✅

It’s been working like a charm for a few weeks now and I’m so excited to have found something that works in this season of life!

If things that helped you stay healthy in past seasons are no longer serving you, that’s okay! Leave room to find new ways of helping yourself out. 🌱

You got this. 🙌

Spring 🌱 is here and it’s inspiring a lot of us to change how we think about moving our bodies.

Are you feeling pressure to look a certain way for summer? Does putting on that bikini👙 make you anxious?

This year I’m focusing a lot less on whether or not my body deserves to be out in the open in the warmer weather. Instead, I’m thinking about how my own training and my clients’ training can make us feel awesome doing really fun stuff like hiking and paddle boarding!

🙋‍♀️ Tell me a fun activity I missed and I’ll give some ways that you can prep your fitness!!

I am so grateful to have the strength as an adult to do all the things that my child self would have wanted to do. 💚

Climbing this treee was irresistible. ☀️ Getting over the base needed lower and upper body strength since the diameter was so broad and my arms are so short, but I surprised myself by how easy it actually felt. No scrapes or ripping my pants - major success! 🙋‍♀️

My goal of giving myself my weekends back was a great success this weekend! Brunch with and hiking with my sisters () and I feel like a million bucks. 💯

May your physical fitness actually fuel all the activities that would make your kid-self excited! Onwards to a new week, friends!

Getting to introduce women to their own strength is my absolute FAVORITE thing. 🤩

Today a group of women I’m coaching found out what their hip thrust max is - we went over form, practiced, and then stacked weight on the bar and let them loose for as many reps as possible. This is the start of a 5 week glute building program and I’m having a blast.

One gal performed her first EVER hip thrust in this class and she busted out 45 lbs for 11 reps with great form. Afterwards I asked how she was feeling and she said, “Shaky but strong.” 💪 And if that isn’t an amazing place to be, I don’t know what is!

Other women in the group have experience with hip thrusts but don’t know that I’m going to have them hip thrusting their bodyweight+ within 5 weeks. 👀

I really love my job.

🤳One of the ways that I’ve seen myself mature in my health and fitness journey is seeing how different my “ideal body” has looked over the years.

I went through years of working towards aesthetics only before I realized that there are way more fulfilling things to measure like strength gains, knowledge, consistency, mental health, etc.

Still, I don’t know that we can truly shut down that comparison instinct - we’re physical beings that live in physical communities and we are made to observe. But rather than making conclusions about my own body based on what I observe, I’m including a few questions I might ask myself, particularly when I feel myself slipping into dangerous territory. 🙋‍♀️

Questions like:
🧠 Do I know the depths of her mental and physical health? Even reaching our cultural ideals does not save us from human hardship.

🗝 Is her skeletal structure different than mine? The answer is always yes - even if I were to do everything exactly like her, I would still look different!

🗓 How long has she been training? I may be looking at decades of consistent training.

📷 Did this beautiful photo require a strict cutting phase beforehand where she strategically gave up certain foods and salt? Often photoshoots require prep.

🌖 What body fat percentage does she have? Is it a high enough level to maintain a healthy female cycle? Losing our cycles are a sign that our bodies are under major stress (no matter your size).

Again, I don’t ask these to trash another woman. I can’t know the ins and outs of who she is and how she got there. I don’t know her values or the adversity and advantages she’s had. But if I can use those questions to remind myself of my own road, it’s a lot easier to do the things that further my own values, one of which includes getting to build up women in their OWN right!

👇 Tell me, are other ways you speak truth into yourself when you fall into the comparison trap?

When you are undertaking change in your life, do you tend towards an “all or nothing” mentality or an “all or something” approach? 🧐

For a long time I tended towards all or nothing; 🌪 I would overeat on the weekend and Sunday night, riddled with the adrenaline-inducing shame, set goals to do everything perfectly the coming week. 🌪 On Monday I would be golden. Tuesday would be slightly less golden. By Wednesday, I had fallen off the wagon. What’s even the point, I can’t do this anyway. And then the cycle would begin anew.

The ❌ all or nothing mindset ❌ says we should arrive to our destination all at once - all the pieces (exercise, eating, self-care) should be in place immediately and if they aren’t, well then we’ve failed. It’s a fixed mindset; it’s the belief that these healthy traits are either there or they’re not. It’s exhausting and defeating and I ain’t got no time for that!

The 🍀 all or something mindset 🍀 leaves room to grow. It’s a plant that has just been uprooted and placed in a roomier pot; it should take a while for it to fill that space. This mindset maintains that, while we’re not where we exactly want to be, any action that moves us a little further along is worthwhile. We don’t need to give up when old habits show back up, we take stock and keep moving. It’s growth mindset at its finest.

🙋‍♀️ Tell me, have you seen traits of the all or nothing mentality in yourself? Have you seen this mentality projected in media? Is there one action that you could take today to incorporate more “all or something” today? 👇

A reminder that we can’t afford to take our health or our bodies for granted. 🌱

The other day I was training a client. I often focus on movements that help trying balance and stabilizing muscles, and this day I included hopping on the same same foot between rungs of an agility ladder. After watching me demonstrate, my client started off and quickly realized that this was going to be way more challenging than she realized.

She kept at it and within the session we were able to add on a few other variables like bending down to pick up a cone. But at the end she told me how surprised she was, particularly because she grew up as a gymnast. “I would have never imagined that it was going to be so hard. This has been really eye opening.”

This was a good reminder that no one needs to tell little kids to jump and hop. As adults we might need a little incentive. Keep looking for ways to move joyfully. Pull out the jumprope. Get on the trampoline. Take a hike and balance on rocks in the stream. We aren’t promised good health or bodies that last forever, but luckily we also are capable of making our bodies a little stronger at any time of our lives.

Tell me, what are some of your favorite ways to move your body joyfully?! 💫

  

📚 As we have a winter storm heading our way, seems appropriate for a book review about the South Pole! 📚

‘Race to the Pole’ is an account of the first expeditions to reach the South Pole in the early 1900s. ❄️ The crux comes when the British team, lead by Captain Scott, sets out to reach the South Pole only to have a Norwegian team (lead by Amundsen) basically swoop right over them. Spoiler: Amundsen and the Norwegian team reach the pole first, having gone over a different glacier than the British team. While the Norwegian team reported blue and sunny skies, the British team battled through weeks of blizzards with the coldest recorded temps in decades. The British team actually died in their tents after reaching the pole.

Okay, that summary makes it sound like a bummer but I actually found this book to be a super uplifting account of the tenacity of humans and their ability to make the best of every situation. I can just barely imagine going somewhere brand new where you have zero tried and trusted methods to get you there. Like I have a hard time figuring out how much food to bring with me during an 8-hour workday, how does one figure out how to carry enough food when you’re burning 10,000 calories every day while literally freezing your buns off and hauling hundreds of lbs of stuff behind you?!

This is written by Sir Randolph Fiennes, who I gotta say, is probably the only person who should be allowed to write about this. This dude was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by land and also the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot (hauling his own supplies rather than using dogs). He would sometimes give insight, like how people have criticized Scott and the British team for wearing cotton suits (yes, frickin’ cotton) rather than fur, but Fiennes writes he wore very similar cotton clothing because it was easy to move in and breathable when hauling everything behind you on a sledge. Insane.

Anyway, I very much recommend giving this a read. I feel like it opened up a whole new world of biographies and I’m pumped to find more. If you have favorites, pop them in the comments! 👇

Sometimes there are actually really good excuses to miss a workout. 🙊

If I haven’t sleep well the night before (or the last four nights if you’re me), I’m not going to torture myself until I do a workout that I might injure myself because I don’t feel in tune with my body! If I haven’t eaten that day, I’m not going to do a workout that is going to make me feel dizzy and end up passing out!

I’ve been working for MONTHS to take away a deeply ingrained sense of guilt whenever I miss a training session. Feeling guilty about something that is meant to add value to myself feels way counterproductive. I don’t need help feeling GUILTY, I need more help feeling JOYFUL!

These days I do my best to go towards grace. On the hard days, I gotta ask myself what is going to be the most beneficial for my whole health. Most of the time I decide that some kind of movement is the best choice. The lowest barrier of entry for me is always going out for a walk (preferably somewhere I can feel connected to nature). Modifying my training plan for that day is also always an option, which I did today.

When I go ahead with a workout, I keep a few things in mind, which include:
👉 I can’t always anticipate which moves are going to feel good, so I try to do at least one set of each of the exercises I would have done if everything was ideal. If my balance sucks that day, I let those exercises alone because I don’t want to hurt myself.
👉 I try to do something (but not all things) new; that way I can’t compare how it felt today versus last week. I’m successful no matter what!
👉 I do a power-based move that gets my blood pumping and requires some concentration. This type of movement in particular is great for releasing the feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters.

Let me know: when you’re feeling rough, do you feel guilty if you have to change a workout or if you miss a workout?