I mentioned before that I was slacking at the gym. I think slacking was a generous way of putting it. I’m looking at my calendar right now, and while January through May are covered in markups of my workouts, June is pretty empty. Somehow I deluded myself out of noticing that I took a month off from working out seriously. I’m embarrassed not just that I haven’t been working out, but that I somehow hid from myself the truth of what I was doing. I’ve learned a lot about self-delusion while trying to lose weight.
You break your routine just once. You say, I worked really hard this semester, so I deserve a day off from the gym. Who would find that unreasonable? It’s not unreasonable at all; the problem is that once you say no once, it gets easier to do it again. Soon your routine of going to the gym five days a week has been replaced by a routine of skipping the gym five days a week.
I was always confident that I wouldn’t quit, but I see now that I very easily could have. Then, last Sunday, I was sitting around, having already decided that I wasn’t going to the gym that day, because it would be better to start on Monday. I was looking at some weight loss pictures that I was thinking of using for a post here, and something happened. I’ve said before that I don’t think you can fabricate motivation; I’ve looked at these pictures before, and they’ve done nothing for me. But, last Sunday, I came across a recent picture of me, and I was struck by how much progress I’ve made. I knew I wanted to keep going, so I pushed my laptop off of my lap and got dressed in my gym clothes.
I dragged myself to the gym on Sunday and Monday, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that the enthusiasm really came back to me. I have even less of an explanation for this one. I wasn’t having a very good workout. I was walking on an incline on the treadmill, and I had a cramp in my side. I was hit with the sudden thought: This is amazing! I love to feel like an athlete, working out makes me feel awesome, and I love accomplishing goals.
I’m finishing off month six of my weight loss journey. This isn’t the first obstacle I’ve hit, and it surely isn’t the last. But, I keep going, bringing along my failures with me. Sometimes I’m crazy determined and other times I’m just coasting.
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Hey that’s awesome; seeing progress can be more motivating than anything. I kind of have the opposite problem that you though, I am so addicted to the gym that I fear that if I take one day off, I’ll never go back again. But there is a benefit to giving your body a rest from time to time. So it’s one of those things that we have to learn to balance ourselves out and learn our own weaknesses.
Goodluck; hope things continue to go well.
Thanks! I’ve been there too, where I was over training. I remember the mindset well, but I keep hearing that you really do your body a favor by taking at least one day off a week. Like everything else, it’s about balance.
actually, reading that is inspiring! thanks for posting so candidly!