Today has been a tough day. I haven’t been motivated to exercise. I wanted to eat junk and I wanted to have a beer.
Let’s face it, staying on the straight and narrow takes a lot of motivation. There are many days where I have no motivation. I may be tired, the kids may be at my ankles, I’ve left it too late or I’m hungover… or worse still, I’m all of those! The last thing I want to do is cook a healthy meal or haul myself around for 25 miles on my bike.
You cannot be motivated all day every day… you would not be human if you were! However, over the last 15 years, I’ve definitely found that it’s as much in my head as it is in my body. I have come up with a number of techniques that help me to get out and also keep healthy. I know that if push comes to shove one of the following will come good and I’ll be able to keep on track.
Here are my top 5 things that I do:
1 – Stop thinking about it and just go and do it – obvious I know, but the more I think about it the more difficult it becomes. Make it a morning thing then just get it done! I get up early so it’s not a problem. If I leave it until the evening when I’ve got a day of work in me then its even less likely to get done
2 – Make it easy for yourself – if you have to get in the car to go to the gym or put your bike back together, it’s not going to happen. Limit the number of steps in between getting up off your chair and actually doing the activity. For me, my bike is always ready. it’s set up in the house and at the most, I have to pump my tires with the pump that’s sitting right by my back wheel.
When it comes to food, make sure that you have stuff in that’s good to go. I really wanted to go to the chippy and get a kebab tonight! – I didn’t because I’d have to drive out. I had already taken some chicken out that would then go off etc etc. I already had a pre-made curry sauce good to go. All I had to do was cook some rice and cook the chicken, job done.
3 – Practice – the more you do it the easier it gets. This is a really hard one. I can do it now as I’ve had a lot of practice. the more that you get up and power through the urge to bin off the workout, flick the telly on and get a take away, the easier it will get.
4 – set some goals. Maybe it’s to hit your target weight, cycle from London to Paris or just be able to walk round a park. Whatever it is I always find that having something bigger to focus on helps to focus your mind
5 – The best thing, by far that I have learned is to think about how good you will feel… then think about how rubbish you will feel if you don’t – Excercise for me is a way to blow away the cobwebs and get some headspace. I know how good I will feel getting out into the fresh air and pedaling hard. Even when I’m low on energy, like today, struggling to push those pedals, all I could think about was how grateful I was that I’d managed to get out otherwise I would have felt terrible if I didn’t.
I would have sat at home, gone to the chippy got some beer, and then felt awful tomorrow. Not to mention that I would have to work twice as hard the next day to make up for it if that was possible. It really is a vicious cycle. You have to work twice as hard to meet your goal. You can’t do it which gets you down, you then want to give up and it spirals out of control!!
If you really cant face it….
Just remember, there are going to be times where none of these work. You will give in to the pizza and beer and it will go pear-shaped! the most important thing that you can do is not to be too hard on yourself. understand that these things will happen and that you just need to get back up and go again.
If you are wondering – yes, I went out. I did 24 miles, took it easy, burned 800cals and had a homemade curry. It would have been nice with a beer… hey ho!
