Fitness

Learn to love exercise with this one simple trick

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It’s no secret I’ve been struggling with exercise lately so I’ve had to learn to love exercise like a total newbie. But I think I’ve discovered something truly worth sharing. It might freak you out at first, but stay with me. I promise, it’s not as scary as it sounds, and it will completely change the way you feel about exercise.

OneSimpleWay

After running two half marathons in July/August, and then a load of other health issues over the past few months, I feel almost like I’m starting from ZERO.

 

Exercise is hard. Motivation is almost non-existent. Once or twice a week I turn my alarm off, roll over and go back to sleep. Other days, I get up grudgingly and go and do the bare minimum, and then feel shite about myself for the rest of the day for not trying hard enough.

 

At least, I did. But now I’ve found a way to make my life a whole lot easier, and all it took was making one major mind switch. And if you struggle with exercise, I think this could help you too.

Are you ready?

 

Instead of exercising 3-4 times a week, try exercising every day.

Wait, no! Don’t go! Hear me out, okay?

 

When you exercise 3-4 days a week, you have a choice every morning. Do I feel like exercising today? Yep – great. Nope (and there is always that nope) – okay, let’s take a break today and try again tomorrow.

Except tomorrow is hard too. And so is the next day, right?

When does it get easier? It doesn’t if you keep going like this.

 

So here is my key to exercise happiness. Set your alarm and make a deal with yourself. When that sucker goes off, you get up, you go out the front door, and you go move that gorgeous bod of yours in whatever way you fancy. All movement is good movement (except licking melted chocolate off a spoon – pretty sure that doesn’t count as exercise).

 

Some days you can do something major. I went for a 10km run on Saturday and that felt amazing.

 

And then other days you might do something tiny. Sunday I walked up to the local park and used the lame-o gym equipment they have there with Miss 10. We didn’t work that hard but we had fun chatting, laughing and exercising together. Other times I go for a walk around the block. But every day I do something.

And every day I feel better about myself, momentum builds and it gets easier and easier to get out that door.

 

The question of whether I feel like exercise today is now taken care of. The question is now: how much exercising do you feel like doing today? And the great thing about that is that often, once you’ve started, that amount is more than what you first thought, when you were snuggly under your doona.

And the weirdo part about it is that, now that I’m not asking myself that ‘will I or won’t I’ question, I am relaxing and enjoying getting out there and moving. I can’t tell you what a difference this has made to my life, and I seriously think it could help you too if you suffer from that sporadic approach, and find yourself making excuses and saying, “tomorrow…”

What do you think? Could you try exercising every day?

 

If you liked this, you might also dig:

You can be a runner (yes, you) – my beginner’s guide to running

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Carolyn Tate
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Carolyn is the editorial director of Champagne Cartel and a freelance writer. In her spare time she is a long-distance runner, peanut butter enthusiast, and single mum to three incredible humans.

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