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-   -   Do it for your health (https://www.fitday.com/fitness/forums/exercise/5148-do-your-health.html)

sarahnevin 09-05-2011 02:19 PM

Do it for your health
 
Hey everyone,
so I decided to write about exercising for health benefits and maybe some motivational tips. For a long while I was only exercising and focusing on losing weight, but I became obsessed with exercising and pretty soon it wasn't fun anymore and I found it harder and harder to do. It became a punishment or something. But now I am trying to focus on everything but weight loss. I want exercise to be fun and I want to want to exercise to be healthy, not thin. Does anyone have any motivation, or ways I can focus on the health benefits of exercise. Sometimes when I jog if I feel tired or discouraged I think in my mind, "this is really good for me, I'm doing so well." This kind of thinking has helped me keep focused thus far, but I'm only on day two.

bodiccea 09-06-2011 07:42 AM

Me too
 
I find as I get older, the health aspects become more and more important to be and the thinness is a side bonus.

Motivation that I am working from:
1. Being fit means being free and I do love to be free
Free to jump and skip when I want, free to run away from things that get me down (or scary situations!) and free to run toward what I want. Freedom to focus my brain on more interesting things than worrying about how I look or what being inactive is doing to my health. Free to reach in the closet and put something on, rather than wasting precious life looking for camouflage outfits.

2. Moving my muscles feels good
I got this especially when I was swimming. I could feel my muscles pushing and pulling through the water and it felt really good, the way a good stretch feels good. I tried to visualize myself as a dolphin, joyful and strong. I sometimes feel it when I am running, and walking up hills or stairs, when I can really feel my glutes contacting and releasing.

3. I owe it to my body
My house, my temple, my package of blood and bone and muscle. It has always been there for me, always carrying me around, giving me arms to hug the people I love, a back to pick up a baby or a hunk of stone to put in a garden wall, feet to take me where I want to go. All it wants in return is to be treated kindly, fed with good fuel and taken out dancing--is that really so much to ask?

4. I owe it to my mind
There is absolute, undeniable scientific proof that regular exercise has a beneficial effect on mood, memory, concentration - it makes me SMARTER and happier. I honestly have never finished an exericse session when I didn't feel better than when I started (one caveat - no exercising when truly physically exhausted, running a fever or feeling really nauseous). It sets me up for success, makes it easier to be a good person who is willing and happy to contribute instead of a depressed, reserved person who is just trying to make it to the end of the day.

Mantra for those critical moments between full stop and getting moving: I'm looking forward to this, this is going to feel good, I'm going to be braver, smarter, stronger and kinder when I finish.

Hey, it really helped me to write this out! Thanks for your post and keep on keeping on....


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