OTHER THINGS I USUALLY INCLUDE: • Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns • Reverse Flys • Deadbugs • Cable Crunches • Hanging Knee Raises • Incline DB Curls • Cable Curls • Hammer Curls (sets/reps vary depending on the day) people see the gym videos. they see the muscles. they see the weight loss. they see the progress pictures. but they don’t see the reality behind it. and they definitely don’t feel the pain i’m in every single day to maintain it. they don’t feel what it’s like living in a body that’s constantly fighting itself. autoimmune diseases that attack my own body. inflammation that never fully leaves. the nights i’m in pain trying to sleep. the mornings i wake up exhausted before the day even starts. exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix. the days i physically do not want to get up but i force myself to anyway. the guilt of looking healthy while feeling anything but healthy. they don’t see the doctor’s appointments. the bloodwork. the fear of not knowing what my body is going to do next. muscles that i worked for years to build being broken down by the same body i’m trying so hard to take care of. they don’t see how terrifying it is to work so hard for your body while feeling like your body is working against you at the same time. they don’t see that some days i’m not training to build muscle. i’m training to keep it. i’m training to remind my body that i’m still here. some days it feels like my immune system is eating away at me faster than i can rebuild myself. and trying to explain that to people is exhausting because from the outside i “look healthy.” my metabolism has never made sense. one minute it feels like i can look at a cookie and gain 5 pounds. the next i’m fighting to keep weight on my frame. one month i’m frustrated because nothing moves. another i’m scared because everything is changing too fast. there is no perfect formula. there is no “just do this.” there is no normal. just adapting. adjusting. learning my body over and over again every time it changes the rules. and honestly? there have been a lot of moments where it would’ve been easier to quit. easier to accept that my body is complicated. easier to stop trying. easier to stop showing up. but i refuse. because i’ve learned something over the last 4 years lifting: strength isn’t measured by how much weight you can lift when everything is going right. strength is showing up when nothing is going right. strength is walking into the gym after another setback. strength is training when your body is tired. strength is believing there is still progress to be made when all you can see are obstacles. my body and i don’t always get along. but i’m never gonna stop fighting for it. every workout. every flare. every setback. every time my body gives me a reason to quit. i’ll give it another reason not to. because no matter how many times i get knocked backwards, i will always keep pushing forward.🤍💪🏼 #gym #gymmotivation #autoimmunedisease #fighter #gymgirl