Beginning or getting back to an exercise routine involves more than just scheduling your workouts and joining a gym. In fact, it’s entirely possible to join a gym and never actually go, even as those monthly payments show up on your bank statement. I know this because I’ve done that a few times in my life. Sticking with your goals requires a few mental tricks to help keep you moving, focused and motivated.
1. Momentum. Momentum is a key part of consistent exercise. You know what I’m talking about...you have those weeks when everything goes right: you do all your workouts, eat like a health freak and start to think, ‘I can totally do this!’ Then ‘it’ happens. ‘It’ might be a holiday, a vacation, an illness...something that throws you off your game. Getting back is always tough, partly because you’ve lost that momentum. We already know (courtesy of Isaac Newton) that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, so getting moving again is the only way to get your momentum going. Think of yourself like a stalled car...once you start pushing it, it’ll pick up speed and you won’t have to work hard to keep it moving. If that analogy doesn’t do it for you, try these ideas:
• Focus on the habit. Instead of worrying about making up for lost time with crazy-intense workouts, focus on just getting some workout time in. Plan your workouts for the week and call yourself successful just for showing up.
• Buy yourself a little something. Maybe I’m weird, but I always get a little excited when I have a shiny new pair of running shoes or a great pair of shorts to wear to the gym. If you’re having trouble getting back to it, get a new outfit or download some new songs to your MP3 player so you have something to look forward to.
• Make a date. Make an appointment to workout with a friend or call your gym and set up a free consultation with a personal trainer. Even if you don’t sign up, getting back into the exercise environment can be just the nudge you need.
• Do something crazy. If the thought of going back to boring gym workouts makes you want to curl up and die, do something totally different. Sign up for a local belly dancing class or check out that new yoga studio you drive by every day. A change of scenery and a brand new activity can refresh and rejuvenate you.
2. Stay in the Moment. Picture this: you’re at a party. You’ve promised yourself you won’t attack the buffet like a starving lunatic. Then you see a giant platter of the prettiest, most perfect cubes of cheese you’ve ever encountered. Several hours later, feeling your cheese hangover begin, you vow to make up for it tomorrow with a two-hour workout.
There are a couple of problems with this approach--first, you can’t un-eat what you ate the night before and, second, killing yourself with a workout is not a great solution since it makes you hate exercise even more.
If you’re busy living in yesterday’s mistakes, many of your decisions will be based on guilt and shame rather than what you genuinely want (and need) to do to reach your goals. True change comes from daily choices and basing your choices on what you need now (instead of what you did or didn’t do yesterday) will make your exercise life much more tolerable.
• Stop the blame game. If you mess up, give yourself a time limit for how long you’ll feel bad about it. For example, if you missed your workout yesterday, give yourself permission to kick yourself for the next 20 minutes. When time’s up, let it go and focus on today’s workout.
• Set daily goals. You might find it’s easier to stay in the moment if you have specific daily goals (instead of just relying on a long-term goal to lose weight). Make a list of what you want to accomplish today (e.g., eat fruit with every meal, a 30-minute workout, getting at least 8,000 steps on my pedometer, etc.) and check off each thing you accomplish. Makes you feel good, doesn’t it?
• Reward yourself. After setting and meeting your daily goals, plan a little something nice for yourself. Having something to look forward to always makes it easier to do the hard things (like exercise). Take a few minutes to listen to your favorite song, sip a hot cup of tea, take a bath or putter in the garage...whatever floats your boat.
