Since I went grocery shopping at freaking BJ’s (I never go there) last week, I have noticed my will-power simply vanish! I was up like 3 lbs on my last weigh-in (Thursday) and have a serious goal to meet by this Thursday! I am having a really hard time with the stupid amount of snacks I bought – stuff I haven’t bought in 6 months for a reason. Gummi Bears, M&M’s, Soda, and Gushers have been finding their way into my mouth – it’s killing me. I missed my Tuesday afternoon class as well as my Wednesday and Friday morning classes, and I feel like a sloth and my clothes feel tight 😦 . I am struggling to wake up before 8am – before this week; that was me seriously sleeping in! I have temporarily lost the desire to do a lot of things, clean the house, workout, cook..the list goes on.
..said my will-power and self-control this past week
I gotta make a change, this is getting ridiculous (as I sit here finishing a handful of gummi bears) I was browsing some other Fitness related blogs and I saw this list – the title caught my eye:
Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump
- One Goal. Probably the most common mistake that people make: they try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.
- Find inspiration. Inspiration, comes from others who have achieved what I want to achieve, or who are currently doing it.
- Get excited. This sounds obvious, but most people don’t think about it much: if you want to break out of a slump, get yourself excited about a goal.
- Post your goal. Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (“Exercise 15 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal (like a model with sexy abs, for example) also helps.
- Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.
- Think about it daily. If you think about your goal every day, it is much more likely to become true. To this end, posting the goal on your wall or computer desktop (as mentioned above) helps a lot. Sending yourself daily reminders also helps. And if you can commit to doing one small thing to further your goal (even just 5 minutes) every single day, your goal will almost certainly come true.
- Get support. It’s hard to accomplish something alone. Find your support network, either in the real world or online, or both.
- Realize that there’s an ebb and flow. Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it doesn’t do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, read about your goal (see below), ask for help (see below), and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back.
- Stick with it. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Even if you aren’t feeling any motivation today, or this week, don’t give up. Again, that motivation will come back. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a little bump in the road. You can’t give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long-term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and you’ll get there.
- Start small. Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you’re thinking too big. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 2 minutes of exercise. I know, that sounds wimpy. But it works. Commit to 2 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 2 minutes. It’s so easy, you can’t fail. Do it at the same time, every day. Just some crunches, 2 push ups, and some jogging in place. Once you’ve done 2 minutes a day for a week, increase it to 5, and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 15-20. Want to wake up early? Don’t think about waking at 5 a.m. Instead, think about waking 10 minutes earlier for a week. That’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake 10 minutes earlier than that. Baby steps.
- Build on small successes. Again, if you start small for a week, you’re going to be successful. You can’t fail if you start with something ridiculously easy. Who can’t exercise for 2 minutes? (If that’s you, I apologize.) And you’ll feel successful, and good about yourself. Take that successful feeling and build on it, with another baby step. Add 2-3 minutes to your exercise routine, for example. With each step (and each step should last about a week), you will feel even more successful. Make each step really, really small, and you won’t fail. After a couple of months, your tiny steps will add up to a lot of progress and a lot of success.
- Read about it daily. Read a book or blog about my goal. It will inspire and reinvigorates you. For some reason, reading helps motivate and focus you on whatever you’re reading about. So read about your goal every day, if you can, especially when you’re not feeling motivated.
- Call for help when your motivation ebbs. Having trouble? Ask for help. Email, Join an online forum. Get a partner to join you. Call your mom. It doesn’t matter who, just tell them your problems, and talking about it will help. Ask them for advice. Ask them to help you overcome your slump. It works.
- Think about the benefits, not the difficulties. One common problem is that we think about how hard something is. Exercise sounds so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. But instead of thinking about how hard something is, think about what you will get out of it. For example, instead of thinking about how tiring exercise can be, focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re done, and how you’ll be healthier and slimmer over the long run. The benefits of something will help energize you.
- Squash negative thoughts; replace them with positive ones. Along those lines, it’s important to start monitoring your thoughts. Recognize negative self-talk, which is really what’s causing your slump. Just spend a few days becoming aware of every negative thought. Then, after a few days, try squashing those negative thoughts like a bug, and then replacing them with a corresponding positive thought. Squash, “This is too hard!” and replace it with, “I can do this! If that wimp Leo can do it, so can I!” It sounds corny, but it works. Really.
Okay, let’s hope I can get out of this slump and get myself together! Starting tomorrow, I am going to post my plans for this week for motivation purposed only, and because this article told me to.
Sunday: Sync double-down, 1 hour TRX, 1 hour Cycle-Sculpt
Monday: 1 hour Total Body Circuit, 1 hour run
Tuesday: 1 hour cycle
Wednesday: 1 hour Total Body Circuit, 1.5 hour Cycle
Thursday (weigh day): 1 hour Cycle, Crossfit
Friday: 1 hour run
Saturday: I will be home in VB and plan to run at least 6 miles on the Boardwalk
Sunday: In VB again, plan is 2 classes at Inlet (my mom’s gym)
Thursday’s weigh-in is extra important because that is my goal date, I am currently 5 lbs from where I need/want to be by then..I think at least 2-2.5 is strictly water retention from all the crap I’ve eaten. I have yet to think of my consequence if I don’t reach my goal by then, probably because I don’t plan on that happening!
Here are some other lists to help to get motivated or stay motivated:
OPRAH – How to Get Motivated to Change Your Life
Fitspire 