Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Attacking the negativity (Jennifer)

This is an important post for me.

I finally made it to the gym today.  I did my upper body workout and then a zumba class.  I spent a few minutes in the sauna and that was it.  It did feel nice to get back into it.  But after not going for so long I felt pressured to go.  The pressure was from no one but myself.  The girls arent sick so I didnt have an excuse.  For a while I was going about 5 days a week.  It was quite a little routine we had.  But then I got out of the swing of things, although I was still exercising.  Today I was mentally making plans for the rest of the week.  I have a dr appt tomorrow and then on Friday have plans all day.  So I would really have to squeeze the gym in tomorrow in order to go, get home and shower and then to the dr by 11:00.  And then this wave of negativity came over me.  I was pouting inside!  "I dont want to go to the gym tomorrow but I should because I cant go on Friday.  I want to stay home and spend some time with the hubs on his day off". Then it hit me.  I was posting just the other day about how I dont want to set myself up to fail.  Just because I dont run 3+ miles or go to the gym doesnt mean I am a failure and have to drive to Mcdonalds and then stop for an ice cream cone(large) on the way home. Nope.  If I give myself rigid expectations that I must go to the gym X days a week and complete X  miles per day then I am setting myself up to fail.  That is when the pout comes into play and the negativity towards exercise comes out.  That is how I operate.  I have seen this before.  I will not let it happen.  I have learned from my mistakes in the past.  I am a different person now.  I exercise, I eat healthier, and I am AWARE of what is going on.  I am blogging almost daily and I think overall I am making changes in the right direction.  So there...I need to take the "requirements" that I have placed on myself off and let myself enjoy the gym, enjoy exercise.  I need to think of every exercise "event" as a success instead of every day off as a failure.  The mind is a powerful thing...

3 comments:

divad said...

The mind is a powerful thing and it likes to trick us and tell us lies. Tell it the truth - you are changed, you want to eat healthily, you don't need food to deal with life's stresses. I'll tell my mind the same thing!!!

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

The mind IS powerful and it will try every trick to get you to rationalize things. The fact that you recognize this is awesome and powerful in itself! Now, go to the gym! :-)

Bring Pretty Back said...

What a great post! yes , the mind is a powerful thing! This hit home with me today.