After planning out my morning last night, devoting myself to a 30-minute morning walk, and setting my alarm for 7:30am, I found myself awake at 5:00am talking myself out of it.
"It's too cold, You don't have the proper clothing, What if you catch pneumonia?" was a common thought, also, "Oh, I'll work out later, it will be smarter..."
LO AND BEHOLD, here I am at 8:30 at night, too exhausted after sleeping for three hours, worrying the rest of the night, classes for ten hours. I'm obviously not working out tonight.
Does anyone else have this problem? Is there any way to fix it?
I'm hoping the exercise anxiety doesn't mean that I am also anxious about what it will be like in a different body...
I have done that numerous times I even have used my son as an excuse not to work out. What I have started doing now is just making myself go it was hard at first because then it would turn to well I will just go around the block and start turning to go back to my house but then I was like what the heck I'm already out here, I'm already awake I might as well make it worth it. And honestly I always feel so much better after a good workout. I am scarred to be in a new body. I am scarred that even though I would be thinner that I might look worse because of sagging skin my stomack already sags so much after my 2 kids that I worry that the fat is holding it up higher.
But I know what you mean. I'm one of those people who is NOT an exercisey person. Never will I run in a marathon of any sort, and that's just fine. But I do know that exercise is key to weight loss (dang it), so I do it.
I'm one who talks myself out of stuff if I can, and I'm working on quitting that. One thing that helped me as it got colder was to go and exercise at a gym. I was freaked out at first (as I wasn't in good shape at all), but it went fine. You probably won't feel motivated at first, but just keep doing it. After you get more used to it, you might like it better. And trust me, it helps take off the weight. Pick an exercise you like (or at least don't dislike) - that tends to help. After a while you'll get into the habit and it's a little easier.
Just this morning I found out how dedicated I am to exercise. Lol! I woke up and it was POURING rain, and it was so windy the rain was going sideways sometimes! But I didn't let myself think about it - I grabbed my rain parka, my gym stuff, and headed out. It's a 10 min walk minimum to the gym (don't own a car). I get up at 5 in the morning to work out because of my school/job schedule, so no one's up to give me a ride.
So I get to the gym soaking wet from the hips down (my jeans literally dripped). The electricity went out 3 times or more at the gym, too. But I'm glad I went - I won't do that again probably, but it let me know what I'm willing to go through. And I actually did an extra long workout just to make the most of my suffering. Hahaha!
The roundabout point is that if you pick something you like and can stick with, it's way more likely you'll stick with it. Try different things and different times of day until you find out what works for you.
Good luck!
Last edited by LiannaKole; 10-26-2010 at 08:46 PM.
HAHAHAHA my body tries to do that every day. It succeeded today unfortunately. I woke up late, so AM workout was not possible, I was FULLY intending to walk the whole whopping .5mile to the bank at lunch, and that did not happen and now...yeah.
I just usually just muscle through it, and do it. I NEVER regret it. I feel great after a work out, not tired during the day and it carries me through. Enough that I seriously want to work out at lunch when it starts wearing off and again at night. It is the getting going bit that sucks HAHA
I am extremely convincing to myself in the WORST circumstances. I'm also one of those "Tomorrow I'll start my diet" people. Tomorrow hasn't come yet for, uh... ever? Yep. It has never been the day. One of these days. I'm taking small steps.
The beauty of working out in the morning is that you don't have to worry about fitting it in in the evening. Don't give yourself time to think about it and just zombie yourself out the door.
Also you can't get sick from being physically cold and you don't need special clothes to walk outside. All you need are non-heels-type shoes.
You could also park your car half an hours' walk away from work!
I don't "like" exercise per se, however I find myself doing it alot. At a very minimum for an hour per day. Approx 3 days per week I do 30 mins in the morning (typically a jillian michaels DVD), walk briskly for an hour at lunch, and then gym at night for atleast an hour. It is weird, because I do not get excited about going, but I feel a lot better after. I honestly think that I make myself feel so guilty when I don't go, that it is just easier to do it.......whatever gets my butt moving I guess! (not that I am saying you should make yourself feel guilty, but sometimes you just have to drag yourself kicking and screaming--I've done it many times) Hang in there! You can totally do this! Maybe start small and build up!
i think the best thing is to find a time and plan that works for you. if you are looking forward to it, then being tired isn't SUCH a big deal i guess. maybe try different things see what you like best? my fav. instructor is cathe friedrich. When i can afford it, i'd love to get some of her dvds. In the meantime, it's been a hassle getting myself motivated or do much of anything. but i have stuff i enjoy doing, and that helps. so eventually, i'll get out of my funk.
also, with the procrastination. oh i am the queen of doing that. it's horrible. i just recently, in the last few months, learned how to be consistent, well i got alot better at least.
set a deadline for yourself. i have to do it by this time, or before this happens, or if all else fails some crunches, squats etc before bed. you could also try setting a goal of x hours/miles etc each week.
find a person or group to be accountable to. i just use online check in groups. try to get in your exercise as many days in a row as you can. charts are great for this. you could use an online tracker, or just use a journal at home. try to build up the momentum.
have you tried doing a challenge? you could try the 5 pound challenge. it's short, no rules. just simply post your updated weight, first one to lose 5 pounds wins.
hope that helps. and maybe when you are worried try to examine the thought. is there any fact to it? or is it just baloney? maybe you could do some calming yoga before bed? i hate yoga. when i'm worried it helps to listen to music or write it out. somehow writing it gets it out of my head. and if what i'm thinking is completely irrational, i'm more likely to see it, or in the morning that's clear. man, ok well that was alot longer than intended, but i hope something is helpful.
I make excuses, too. But not because I'm anxious... exercise doesn't scare me, I'm just damn lazy. And also, I think I need to find some new workouts b/c I used to be so into working out everyday and now I'm like: "Bleh".
But I'm always like. "After this, this and this..." and pretty soon it's bedtime. Yeah - I hate how unmotivated I've become...
Ah! YES! I have HAD it constantly in the past. Finally I had a breakthough. I think the cure is to find something that is important to you. Whether it's losing the weight or trying to build more muscle...for me, I am a cheapo!
I love being cheap, lol. I PAY a lot of money for boot camp. There is no way I am going to continue paying for something and then not utilizing it. So when my brain starts to talk me out of it, I just think of all the money I spent on it and then I get my a$$ up!
I just recently became a morning "work-out-er" and this is how i've done it. I started getting up 40 minutes earlier than my normal. My goal was to make it 2 weeks, they say it takes 2 weeks to make (or break) a habit. I think it was easier to think of it as 2 weeks than thinking that I have to do this for an indefinite amount of time. I have a 16 month old, so I can't leave the house in the mornings as DH is already at work, so I started doing workouts from Excercise On Demand. I would pick a different workout each day so as not to get bored.
Starting this week, I get up at 4:30 and do P90x. The workouts are typically an hour for 6 days per week.
So far I am making it just fine. I find that it helps to just not think about it at all. Don't dread it before you go to sleep. Just set your alarm, then when it goes off, skip the snooze and just get right up. I've never been a coffee drinker...until now. I have the maker set to start at 4:35. I get up, get dressed, have a cup of coffee and am working out by 5.
I also like that I don't have to worry about getting a workout in for the rest of the day. And nothing can come up to get in the way of my workout. Basically there are no excuses. You just have to do it.
I have NEVER been a morning person. Or a night person for that matter. i am a girl that LOVES her sleep! But the benefits of morning workouts outweigh that little bit of extra sleep for me.
Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway. ~ Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, 1966
Exercise Anxiety?
