The hardest time for me to motivate myself to exercise is Sunday. Yesterday was no exception. We got home from church and the house smelled delicious from the turkey meatloaf and potatoes baking in the oven.
While my family was getting ready to sit down to a nice meal, I was changing into my shorts and t-shirt, and tying on my running shoes. The house felt so cozy and I was more interested in having a date with the couch than running the hilly route I knew was ahead of me.
“Maybe you should eat now and exercise later,” my brain toyed with the temptation. But I knew from past experience that I exercised best on an empty stomach. “Just go and get it over with,” I told myself and I somehow got out the door.
After about a mile into my run, I really started to enjoy myself. Though I hadn’t been “into it” at first, I soon found my zone and kept a strong pace. I could tell I was making good time and felt really good.
As I was running, I thought about how easily it would’ve been to make an excuse and skip my run. I thought about how many times over the years I’ve had to silence the excuses that come to mind and go exercise. I realized that the main reason I’ve been able to “stick” with exercise is because I stick to my commitment to do it. Not necessarily because I feel like doing it.
Whether it’s food or exercise, if you miss one day, it’s a little harder to get on track the next day. If you miss three days, it’s a lot harder. If you miss seven days, it’s really hard.
And why do we skip exercise or make bad food choices? Because we’ve accepted reasons (excuses) for why it’s okay to skip today. But making an excuse today will lead to making an excuse tomorrow. Before we know it, a week, a month, or a year has gone by.
Consider what it would be like if you committed to a certain healthy behavior – like exercising 30 minutes per day or not eating sugary foods – and totally stuck with it. Not because you felt like it, not because you didn’t have many reasons for why you could renege, but because you committed to do it.
By the way, I ran my best time ever on that route yesterday. I’m sure glad I didn’t stay on the couch.
