Weird how the mind operates....really in an exercise slump

  • I just need to put this out there...put pen to paper as the saying goes. I am an avid exerciser, exercising on average around 6hrs per week. However since the holidays I have been in an exercise slump and have hardly worked out. My eating has been on plan and so fortunately, the scale has continued to trend downwards. But the exercise is nonexistent.

    I have my gym bag, have my class schedule and yet in my mind I am making excuses not to go the gym this evening. My mind is telling me that I do not need to work out as I am losing the weight as is but I know that I really should get up off my butt and get moving. Why does our mind operate like this?
  • I have to exercise early in the day, or sure as shootin', I will talk myself out of it. And I like exercise! The only cure is to go ahead and do it. Like they say, no one ever says "I wish I hadn't exercised!"
  • Without knowing you, I'll just try out a few possible reasons on you. These are generated nearly randomly, so see if the shoe fits for any of them:

    1) You are prone to taking up something enthusiastically, but eventually burning out on it & discarding it completely. That is, you're not good at moderation. You're gung-ho, or you're just "over it."

    2) You haven't taken a break in a while, but part of you wants to, and has kind of gone on strike. That part of you is actually running things, though rather passive-aggressively; that is, instead of saying outright to yourself & others, "I am taking a break from exercise, and it will run from this date to this date," you are doing it day-by-day, in a sort of spontaneous break.

    3) You haven't been having fun lately. You've been doing it, but losing interest over time. The part of you that needs variety is bored with your routine, and isn't going to perk up again till you offer it something new: A new goal. A different class. A different gym. I don't know where the novelty may lie, but you might recognize it when you think, "Hey, I'd like to do that" or "I've always wanted to do that."

    4) Someone said something to you, it wasn't nice, or if it was borderline, it upset your equilibrium, and you feel somehow that all your effort was futile & unrewarded, and so you are kind of sulking until you recover from a bruised ego.

    See, this could be due to so many things, even things that I haven't been able to think up, in a couple minutes typing this.

    Figure out what it is, and then you can address it.
  • Quote: Without knowing you, I'll just try out a few possible reasons on you. These are generated nearly randomly, so see if the shoe fits for any of them:

    3) You haven't been having fun lately. You've been doing it, but losing interest over time. The part of you that needs variety is bored with your routine, and isn't going to perk up again till you offer it something new: A new goal. A different class. A different gym. I don't know where the novelty may lie, but you might recognize it when you think, "Hey, I'd like to do that" or "I've always wanted to do that."

    Figure out what it is, and then you can address it.
    This........this is the problem wise saef. I get bored soooo easily I annoy my gym buddies. I did something about it last year, I joined another gym which has a lot of variety...so now I have two gym memberships. But guess what....I am bored with the new gym now. As a matter of fact, I had to tell them in November that they need to shake up their classes and luckily for me they are a responsive gym so they did listen to me. But the truth is....I am still bored. Maybe I am just hard to please....
  • That's when I just lace up my sneakers and head out for a walk. I wander around my neighborhood for about an hour and I hardly notice since I'm enjoying the scenery, looking at the Christmas lights, etc.
  • I get spurts of laziness too ... At those times I take a week off, when it's time to go back I get a new workout together and I feel rejuvinated from the well deserved break... This happens to me 2-3 times per year.... This is my body telling me to give it a rest...
  • Update...I did get my butt moving yesterday. Exercise slump is officially over!!
  • DH and I were discussing this just last night. We suspect SADD may be the cause. The cure - just do it + get outside even in the cold and get some sunshine!