The One Mindset Shift That Made Me Stick To My Workout Schedule
From a serial workout-quitter
It’s 3 AM, and I’ve watched 30 workout videos. I am motivated to start working out right then but I somehow manage to control myself and go off to sleep. Of course, I dream of the crop tops I can now wear and the old pair of jeans that I can fit in, now that I have finally decided to change my entire life.
Next evening, I’m all set and geared up, I put that music on and start working out. I feel great once I’m done. Day two, Day three, and it gets increasingly interesting. Before I know it, it’s been six months and I’m stronger, fitter and happier than ever.
I know it doesn’t happen that easily but I’m here to tell you that it does happen that easily. Here’s what I did.
I ditched the scales.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about working out in order to lose weight and be a fitter version of yourself, but if the only reason behind you hitting the gym is losing weight, chances are you’re going to quit earlier than you think.
In the first couple of months, you’ll see a drastic fall in your weight but very soon you are bound to hit the ever-so-dreadful Weight Loss Plateau. For quite some time after that, you won’t be losing weight as quickly as you were, initially. The results won’t be too stark to be noticed and that can put you under the impression that working out is not doing you any good and consequently, it can get you to quit. Let me tell you how I did away with that mindset.
I wrote it in a piece of paper and stuck it on my desk,
“The benefits of working out are far diverse and more important than simply losing weight.”
It’s a proven fact that thirty minutes of regular activity, five times a week, does wonders to your body. It makes you more energetic, less stressed, less prone to anxiety, reduces the risk of heart diseases, lowers blood pressure and blood sugar and all those good things. Your skin and hair thank you for it.
I promise you I haven’t Googled these. I speak from personal experience.
The sole mindset shift that allowed me to stick to my workout routine after years of trying to have one, is looking at exercising beyond weight loss. Since I wasn’t concerned about how much weight I was losing in a month, I didn’t need to check the scales. I knew I wasn’t signing up for a “lose 10kgs in two weeks” weight loss program. I knew I was trying to make a lifestyle change here and I accepted the fact that it was going to be a slow process.
I still don’t believe it as I write this because there is no crash diet plan I’ve not tried at one point.
You don’t have to be head over heels in love with exercising. In fact, let’s face it, most of us are terrified of the idea of having to put our bodies through the regular and deliberate fatigue of working out, but here’s the thing: You have to do it.
Not because you need to lose weight, not because you need to look better, not because you aren’t worthy of being loved or other bullshit that the World tells you, not because I am telling you but because I want you to feel what I have felt. Because you owe your body and mind the feel-good factor that comes after a good workout session.
I know it sounds like a gargantuan task in the beginning, but there’s only one way to get to where you want to be.
Ditch the scales.
Start. Today.
