Survival of the fittest is a concept that is fixed in our minds. We apply it in various aspects of our lives to ensure that we come out at the top. Essentially, being the fittest survivor in your own way is about adapting to your circumstances. Todays fitness inspiration, Loyiso Moumakoe, shows us her intrinsic way of using her fitness to work towards her goals and daily demands.
A 38-year-old single mom of 2, Loyiso Moumakoe works as a supervisor for a high voltage engineering plant at an electricity supply company. She is also a fitness influencer and ambassador for On Running Shoes, a Tifosi Sports initiative. Although it changes on a day-to-day basis, her routine involves driving long distances to work sites which involves a lot of concentration, and her job requires her to stand for extended periods of time. Based on her career and daily demands, maintaining her body, health- and fitness-wise, is essential. So how does she make it work for her to stay consistent and focused on building her body?
For starters, she plans her days in advance, getting an overview of the day’s demands and then she selects her workouts accordingly.
“If I know that, for instance, my work will require a lot of standing and physical jobs, on those days I will do upper body workouts. And on the other days where my work will not require physical activities, I will do my leg and cardio workouts. So I keep my workout sessions flexible,” Loyiso explains.
Due to her varying work schedule, she cannot partner up with a gym buddy like most can. On days that involve a lot of parental duties where she is not able to go to the gym, she adapts her fitness routine to home workouts. It’s all about maintaining that consistency.
Naturally, any good fitness routine involves proper nourishment. Understanding her hectic schedule, and to avoid eating unhealthy foods when she is on the go, meal prepping helps her stay on track. Preparing her week’s meals in advance, Loyiso cooks in bulk and keeps her food in the fridge to save time.
She also relies on herself to stay motivated. Her main motivation is seeing the results and the progress. Loyiso finds it relatively easy to get into her fitness routine, but that does not mean she is immune to finding some workouts hard, especially upper body and ab workouts. So she trains and puts more effort into her abs than any other part of her body, knowing that this part is the hardest.
“I like to challenge myself and it is fulfilling to me when I see myself becoming better than I was yesterday,” she adds.
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Ultimately, setting goals is how you get there. With a target in mind, you shift things around so that you can take steps to meet it. Her motto in life is that we are all a work in progress, you become what you consistently think about and what you consistently do. Think positively about what you need to do to achieve your goals and believe in yourself. “Even when I don’t feel like it, if it’s on my training schedule it will be done no matter what,” she says.
For instance, during the hard lockdown where people were not allowed movement and the gyms were closed, she adjusted her exercises to home workouts with free weights. When things were normal again she headed straight to the gym, this time exploring the variety of weight and strength workouts with a physical trainer. Having a physical trainer in the beginning of her fitness journey helped her understand how to work out with weights and avoid injuries, and learn the skills to do exercises with the correct technique to achieve her body goals.
“My goal is to become the best version of myself. I believe that each one of us is unique. We all have different body structures and different body physiques, therefore to look fabulous you need to focus only on yourself, challenge yourself, and your only competition should be you. Get motivated by your own results, in that way you will keep your focus and be happy for each of the milestones that you achieve,” she says.
So what does she do when things get difficult and she feels like giving up? She takes a break. Rest and taking time off to pamper herself, and spending time with friends is also an important part of achieving a balanced life. “When I am rested I can bring my A-game when I resume chasing my body goals again,” she adds.
For Loyiso, joy is making time for self love. To her younger self, she would say that there is more to you than what other people believe or a see on the surface. So be you; other people’s opinions of you do not matter. Loyiso aspires to promote self love to people around the world; particularly women, mothers, and young girls. Her goal is to motivate and inspire them to live a healthy and balanced fit lifestyle. Her desire is for everyone to accept love and embrace their uniqueness. That is how you rise up to your A-game.
Images Shot by@72_photography
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