155 - Keeping Exercise Motivation

01/29/18 • 59 min

The Truth About Mental Health by Paula Sweet at Absolute Mind

his is episode 155 of the Absolute Mind podcasts and today I am covering how to keep motivated when exercising.

This is a request from our Facebook audience and once again thank you for sending in your requests if you have any please do send a message with your request.

http://www.absolutemind.co.uk/freeanxietycourse

Please do bear in mind that we have created this podcast to be of some insight and some sort of assistance but by no means a way to treat conditions on their own.

If you do have any deep-rooted conditions or ailments that you'd like some assistance with on a one-to-one professional approach, then please feel free to contact either me or Michael on Facebook or directly through the website and we can arrange sessions that way or via Skype, whatever suits.

I have decided to do this post today because I myself have not long since got back to my gym routine since the Christmas period and being back has brought back so many memories of when I would always try to start a new fitness regime and fail over and over again because I just wasn't quite ready or motivated enough to stick to it!

So if you want to remain motivated and stick to your healthy fitness conscious way of life then today's podcast could be the one for you, and if you're starting out then welcome, buckle up and get ready for a new way of thinking.

Why do we fail at exercise?

If you're one of the many who make new years resolutions to loose weight and exercise more did you know that only 8 percent of the 45 percent who make them actually succeed?? now the most popular types of resolutions generally involve some level of fitness, weight loss or new healthy lifestyle. So why do we quit? How is it that we start the new year with motivation, enthusiasm to quit just a short period after?

1. Busy Life

Between having to work for a living and having a happy family life/personal life its easy to feel like you run out of hours during the day. Using this as an excuse is simply that, an excuse! The amount of times I used to say I have no time to work out but would then sit and watch TV or go on my phone, We all have time! Even a 15 minute brisk walk, jog, run, whatever you can manage to get your body fitter and stronger. The saying the more you do it the easier it becomes, well it doesn't get easier you get better at doing it! so stop telling yourself you have no time and make the time. Even if you "have" to watch your tv programmes do something in-between the adverts or whilst watching do some moving.

Get rid of all potential excuses, if you have 1 hour lunch break at work, cu it down to 30 minutes then spend the rest of it getting your heart rate up. This will have the added benefit of a midday energy boost to go back to work with.

Nobody ever regrets a workout, the only regret is the workout they didn't do!

2. Going it alone

Studies show that those who exercise alone are more likely to give up sooner than those who have a gym buddy, gym class, or workout with a partner. This is because when we go it alone there's no accountability. When we make a pact with ourselves its much easier to let ourselves down than a partner or buddy.

So if you find that you quit too easily and throw the towel in then perhaps start looking at who you could partner up with. Try some PT sessions, join some groups, theres so much out there from running groups, cycling, walking, dancing, cross-fit, the list is endless. Who knows you might meet some amazing friends at the groups who are all in the same mindset as you, wanting to get fitter, stronger and healthier. And they do say you become like the 5 people you spend most of your time with so surround yourself with health conscious people who help support you and keep you accountable.

4. Too much too soon

Too much too soon, or the burn out as i like to call it. Hands up how many of you started your new healthy life style aiming for 6 days a week, high intensity, full blown diet overhaul and found it all a little overwhelming. Don't think you can go from little or no exercise to marathon runner in a matter of a week.

Slow and steady, gradually build your stamina. Push yourself a little harder every time. experiment with food, nutrition and different types of exercise.

5. Not enjoyable

If you're exercising and finding that you truly hate every minute of it then try something new! Exercise should be fun, find something that you look forward to doing every single time and cant wait to go back for more.

If you ask a professional athlete why they do what they do they will tell you because they love it, they enjoy pushing their bodies to the limit, but that doesn't mean they enjoy every exercise, if you tell a cyclist to change to a runner I'm almost certain they wouldn't enjoy it as much and it would take a lot of ...

his is episode 155 of the Absolute Mind podcasts and today I am covering how to keep motivated when exercising.

This is a request from our Facebook audience and once again thank you for sending in your requests if you have any please do send a message with your request.

http://www.absolutemind.co.uk/freeanxietycourse

Please do bear in mind that we have created this podcast to be of some insight and some sort of assistance but by no means a way to treat conditions on their own.

Why do we fail at exercise?

1. Busy Life

Nobody ever regrets a workout, the only regret is the workout they didn't do!

2. Going it alone

4. Too much too soon

Slow and steady, gradually build your stamina. Push yourself a little harder every time. experiment with food, nutrition and different types of exercise.

5. Not enjoyable

Previous Episode

154 - How To Save A Failing Relationship

This is episode 154 of the Absolute Mind podcasts and today I am covering how to save a failing relationship.

This is a request from our Facebook audience and once again thank you for sending in your requests if you have any please do send a message with your request.

http://www.absolutemind.co.uk/freeanxietycourse

Please do bear in mind that we have created this podcast to be of some insight and some sort of assistance but by no means a way to treat conditions on their own.

I've decided to do this podcast as its come through from our Facebook audience and I hate the thought of relationships failing when they don't need to when all it needs is a little bit of work from both parties! Now don't get me wrong sometimes relationships can just naturally come to an end and both parties amicably agree to end their relationship.

So if your relationship is going through a bad stage at the minute don't throw the towel in just yet hopefully today's podcast can help you to turn it around and start afresh with your loved one.

Having a solid loving relationship is one of life's greatest joys. To have somebody in your life who you deeply love and build each other up can give the foundation of a meaningful life. But the truth of it is relationships don't just take care of themselves, they need work from both parties each and every day. relationships require commitment, self-awareness, willingness to change and grow and listen. You need to learn to shift from a thought pattern of "me" to "us" when you enter a relationship.

Relationships can survive life's ups and downs but when it comes down to behaviours and patterns is when it can have a more damaging effect on our relationships. Through my years as a therapist, I have seen many behaviours and patterns that would instantly raise alarm bells in a relationship that cause lasting damage and create lasting resentment.

Here are some of the behaviours I have come across and how you can begin to make some changes to save your relationship.

Damaging Behaviours And Patterns

Selfishness - Being selfish in a relationship can cause resentment and a feeling of unloved or uncared for by the other partner. Focusing on your own needs and not taking into consideration what they may want, need or desire can create this barrier between two people.
Unbalanced - When a relationship is unbalanced meaning one person always makes the decision on how money is spent or one partners extended family is always priority this can damage the ties that hold you together as a unit/partnership. Marriage and committed relationships are all about the partnership of two people, uniting two people as a couple and when this sense of partnership is tarnished this weakens that bond. When you disregard your partner's needs or wishes it signals a lack of respect for that person.
Not making the relationship a priority - When you enter a committed relationship, you have to start thinking differently and making the relationship a priority over certain things. Even when kids come along we must make our relationship a priority, after all a loving relationship and loving family life is important for your children to see, and not a family life full of resentment and arguments. Nights out with friends need a little more of a thought process and a discussion with our partners to show consideration for their feelings too.
Anger - It is normal for a couple to have discussions or heated conversations but when they result in raised voices, shouting and arguing is when it can begin to break down a relationship. In a relationship you should be able to discuss your feelings calmly and effectively so that voices don't need to be raised, doors slammed and so on.
Infidelity - Now this is something that I have found comes along with a relationship that is failing somewhere along the lines, generally infidelity happens because there is something lacking in the relationship and not always physically. A lack of emotional needs being met, simple compliments not being said, physical embraces not happening can lead to infidelity. However, a relationship doesn't need to get to this stage if you can correct all of the smaller steps that lead up to this stage.

As you can see there are many ways in which a relationship can fail but you can stop it, it doesn't have to get to the dreaded infidelity stage, there doesn't need to be arguments with raised voices, resentment doesn't need to be a part of your life! If you want to save your relationship and get bac...

Next Episode

156 - Why Do You Feel Lost

This is episode 156 of the Absolute Mind podcasts and today I am covering feeling lost in life and how/why does this happen and how you can find your path again.

This is a request from our Facebook audience and once again thank you for sending in your requests if you have any please do send a message with your request.

http://www.absolutemind.co.uk/freeanxietycourse

Please do bear in mind that we have created this podcast to be of some insight and some sort of assistance but by no means a way to treat conditions on their own.

When we start to feel lost in life it can seem like everything is a muddle, theres no direction, no clear path of what we should chose and where to go.

Now whether you have lost yourself in your career, relationship, your parental role or just lost in life in general you are not alone. This is something I hear a lot in therapy, "am I weird" "is there something wrong with me" NO you're not weird or have something wrong that you can't fix!

Feeling lost in life doesn't mean your life is forever doomed and you're going to spend the rest of your days aimlessly wondering around never finding your self again. It simply means you are going through a stage in life that you can learn something from, theres no need to get stuck where you are you can help yourself get out from this state and start living to the fullest again.

How Can You Find Yourself Again?

Do what you love - Do you remember the last time you had fun in your life? What where you doing, what ignites your fire and makes you smile? When we do something we love its easy to go with the flow and be fully engrossed in the fun of the moment. As we grow we tend to lose sight of how fun and amazing life can be due to the number of increasing stressors from family, mortgages, careers, debt and mundane parts of life. But if you reconnect back to that inner child and do what you love do what makes you smile and creates that element of fun once more, don't allow any excuses anymore as to why you "can't" do the things you love make a commitment to yourself that you will do them and just see how much your life can begin to get more clarity and have more fun.
Have An Adventure - whether you can get out on a day trip or book a full excursion for a week or a few months go and explore. Taking yourself away from your "safe" zone which is generally our homes where we don't need to think about anything else and can dwell in how bad we feel, if you can explore you can free your mind and have time to re evaluate your life and where it is going.
Re-connect With Dreams - Have you ever aspired to do something big but always talk yourself out of it or you're just simply too busy? Well re connect with them, give yourself something to work towards, aspire to help yourself as much as you can to feel uplifted and awakened again.
Get Uncomfortable - Shake things up a little and make yourself uncomfortable every once in a while. We tend to get too comfortable in our routines and daily life that things get boring or mundane and theres no element of change or excitement. Albert Einsteins definition of insanity is to do the same thing day in day out and expect different results. If you're doing the same thing every day and wondering why you feel the way you do then mix it up and do something different to get different results.
Ask For Help - Theres nothing wrong with asking for help, simply opening up and letting people into your world is like a therapy in itself! Locking your feelings up so that nobody knows what you're going through only impacts you negatively, once you begin to open up you may notice everything feels a little bit lighter and easier.