@flameinthesnow Best of luck with it! As for the trainer, I just meant you could ask him for suggestions or to come up with a program for you (like a walking program or other, small exercises you could do at home without equipment) that you could do on your own, not with him and possibly not even at the gym. If getting to the gym is a problem, as a beginner, you certainly have a wide variety of exercises that can be done at home with minimal or no equipment! At any rate, it wouldn't hurt to ask the trainer if he'd be able to whip up a program like that for you. The worst thing he can say is no.
At any rate, I hope the walking starts to help and I hope all goes well on your journey!
One thing I did before the current rut is I started a couch to 5k program. I had to change at work so I wouldn't go home and not do it. Then I had to move to mornings because of heat and after a while I liked it because I started to feel accomplished by 7 in the morning and it was out of the way.
I also think the key in the C25k for me was it kept me interested so maybe find something that you can be changing up but also challenging yourself. Like, I didn't follow the actual plan. I went every day and I'd repeat days and try to better my time. I actually liked doing intervals because I was always working to get to the next one and the time went fast. I think find something you really like even if it's not much and get it done and be proud of yourself for doing it. That's a good motivating feeling.
I'm the worst because if something makes me fall off the exercise wagon it's a disaster. Currently my 80 year old parents have my life in constant flux and I just can't seem to get it together.
@staffsgt7 Every time that I actually get to the gym I get the same feeling of accomplishment and I love it! I always tell myself that I've never regretted a workout, and I try to remind myself of how good I feel afterwards, but for some reason it never sticks.
Sending you major love for being with your elderly parents, I can imagine it gets difficult sometimes.
@flameinthesnow I get it. I'm like well if I start tomorrow by Tuesday my schedules a mess and why bother. Maybe we'll find inspiration here. I'm like just get out and do it and then nothing.
@staffsgt7 C25k also changed my life. Turned me into a runner. I've been looking for new apps in that genre. I recently found NRC and was pleasantly surprised by how good their guided runs are.
@dawn16 Right? It was great for me. I think I might have gotten bored after. I did try an app so I could create my own intervals. I have to say I think I really fell apart during covid, I was like yeah I'll have time to run and then that turned into well I can wait until later in the day and then later in the day I was like oh well too late. Apparently without a tight schedule I'm a total procrastinator. I think once spring returns and I'm excited to be outside I'll try it again.
@flameinthesnow What time of the day do you have the most energy?
Can you use your lunch time to walk/jog?
Can you improve your sleep quality at all? Or food quality for better energy?
I totally understand the effort require to get out of bed - it took having kids to force me to get up! Is there anyone who you can use to get you up in the morning? Someone that you don’t want to / can’t let down?
@delalt I feel like I have the most energy during my work hours, and it's frustrating because I wish I had that same energy when I got home.
I want to improve my food quality, because currently I am on a very bad diet. I do work a lot and it has required me to travel at least once a week for the last 2 months, and unfortunately when I'm out I am not eating the best. But when I'm home I also haven't been doing so good. It's like I have been comfort eating if that makes any sense.
My partner works out of state for the winter unfortunately, and I know that this affects me a lot too because I'd be able to get up when he's here. It's just different when he's not.
@flameinthesnow I’m in a funk just like this right now. I used to workout a lot in college and now that I work a “real job” I just can’t seem to do it. I’ve started therapy and a meditation practice to try and get to the bottom of my mental exhaustion and discipline issues. I’m looking for a new job and I’m taking fun dance classes to fill in my exercise gap.
Don’t feel bad- doing things is freakin hard. People are not inherently lazy, there’s always more going on beneath the surface so it’s important for us to be kind. As you already pointed out, you will never become motivated or disciplined by beating yourself up.
@dawn16 I used to live in a big city, and then moved to a much smaller town for work so now there aren't that many classes to go to without having to drive 45 mins. I know there's something going on beneath the surface, I know my job has a lot to do with it I am trying to figure out what else is going on. Thanks for your kind words.
@flameinthesnow I think this his the issue. If I had to drive 45 minutes to the gym, I wouldn't exercise either. I also wouldn't commute 45 minutes for work.
Is there a gym between work and home you can go to? To save commute time? Or try exercising at home. Try r/bodyweightfitness or home exercise apps.
@flameinthesnow I am not qualified in any way, and are going on experiences in my life in terms of something else going some kind of ADHD or executive dysfunction, the wanting to, but not being able to make yourself, feeling bad, but not bad enough really smacks of it to me. Also for the end of day tiredness, rule out iron and folate deficiency anemia.
@flameinthesnow Me too you described me to a T!!! But i try to remember that the more you do it the more energy you'll have and the easier it'll become!! I just started at a climbing gym and its been a great reset for me. Other commenters have said this but finding something you enjoy that just HAPPENS to be exercise is key!! So is NOT being too hard on yourself - you're a beginner like me so its better to spend a month making the effort to take a 30 minute walk every day and clean up your eating than try to immediately commit to an intense 90-minute gym routine.
Like you i have to travel a lot for work so this is what i did to get in control of my eating: tracked for 1 month TOTAL HONESTY no caloric daily deficit or diet plan. Then for the next month i tracked WITH daily caloric deficit (small one like 100 kcal deficit a day) but no diet plan. Then then on month 3 i tracked WITH caloric deficit AND diet plan. Then month 4 i started calculating more precisely. Like the whole point is to set up the habit/expectation first and then slot in your more specific goals as time goes on.
GO SLOW!!! the first 90 days are a slog and i would honestly see if you can take up to a week off work just to reset those habits and time management. But then it gets INFINITELY easier
@terramestris Thank you, I am going to try this! I need to get into a routine, and I am sure that once I do things will feel so much easier than they do now.
@flameinthesnow Let me know if you ever want to chat or brainstorm ideas!! I am literally the same exact way have trouble getting out of bed feeling pbysically and mentally exhausted etc.....it sucks bc im like in such a rut and i want to like be able to do things that arent going to work and then going to bed LOL
Yesss! Sometimes I feel like I get home, make dinner and then I have to start getting ready for bed. Like... there has to be more to my day than this?!
@flameinthesnow YES every once in a while my coworkers will be like oh yeah we attended this huge concert or hike or event and im like wow people are doing things? On a school night?? And then i have my midlife crisis about wasting my life and then to combat the stress i immediately pass out
@terramestris Ah yeah, I know the feeling lol and for me it gets a little harder in the winter bc my partner and I have to work in separate states due to our job so it sucks not having him physically here for these months bc I feel like I would do more with him here. Idk if that makes sense
