Masochist Mindset

So much I want to tell you guys! Today I wanted to talk about the pure change in mindset I've had since this whole..."transformation", I guess, started. I've talked about the different ways you have to trick yourself into doing stuff, especially eating healthier, but I really want to explore this thought process of forcing yourself to go to the gym or work out at all. Now, as I've mentioned before, being successful in changing your way of doing things really depends on how well you know yourself. I KNOW I'm not gonna eat just a salad for lunch, as much as I may want it to work out or as much as I know it will benefit my life, it's just not something I am capable of. It's on my maybe-one-day-when-I'm-skinny list.

I used to tell my boyfriend "I do NOT want to work out on days that I work". This is a big problem for most people I think that work during the day and you're thinking "Jeez, I have to either get up early to go to the gym and then come home and shower and THEN go to work." Or the even more dreaded "I have to go straight to the gym and change there and then work out and then come home and shower and THEN make dinner and eat and go to bed". Well, if you think of it this way it's never going to happen. And this is why for so long I never worked out. My mindset was "I'd rather have that 1-2 hours to practice/do homework/do anything but work out". You really have to kick yourself in the butt. I like to think of this as distinguishing your habits from your capabilities. So, I've really taken the last couple months to focus on this, especially because my work schedule changed slightly at work, and this is what I've figured out. 

I am not capable of working out before work. It's not possible, I start at 7am and work 10 hour days- not happening. It is okay to let yourself off the hook as long as you make yourself do something else. But then we come back to the "I don't want to work out on days that I work". Well, that's a habit that I'd like to have, but it's not letting myself live up to my capabilities. I am capable of working out on days that I work, I've done it before- it just sucks. So, this is where you have to force yourself to do something that you know is going to suck, but will make you better. I made my boyfriend a deal- I will work out on workdays but it has to be a class or something where I don't have to decide what I have to do. For those of you doing your own thing without a trainer, this is more than half the battle. So since the start of the year with my schedule change I've been doing Zumba or another class that doesn't require me to do anything but go with the flow. Because I figured this out about myself, we've been going to the gym pretty much every work day. I'm making things easier for myself in a really masochistic way, so I'm more likely to go along with it. 

Man last week there was a day that I just did NOT want to go to the gym. It wasn't even really that I didn't want to work out, I just physically didn't want to have to get dressed, go to the gym and be there. My boyfriend almost literally had to drag me to the gym. He grabbed my hand and I let him pull me upright from my cozy napping cocoon on the bed and told me to put my workout clothes on because we were going to the gym. So I'm yawning all the way in the car and I get there and I'm just grumpy but I do my workout anyway AND I clock in 2 miles in 17:33. I left feeling completely different than when I walked in. I was energized and in a good mood and felt really good about myself. Those are the times you have to think of when you're laying in your comfortable bed or couch or wherever and don't want to go. You have to remind yourself "You will feel awesome when you walk out of there. You will be so proud of yourself if you go and so disappointed at yourself if you stay here and nap." Because let's be honest- we have all picked a nap over working out. And I'm not saying I'm never going to pick the nap again, I'm just not going to make a habit of it.