Tag: Exercise

Posted on

No Drive To Exercise

Tired black man with backwards cap on with hand on face

When You Feel Drained

Everyone has experienced those days when you feel drained and you have no idea why. You feel like you’re dragging yourself throughout the day, carrying your own weight but as if you lack the strength to effectively do so. Not only do you feel your body drained of energy, but your mind feels mushy as if all you want to do is pass out. But even passing out is a difficult task because that takes effort to actually lay down and put your day on hold.

Not everyone can afford to just put their day on hold and take a nap as they wish. These are also the days when exercising is the absolute last thing that you want to do. You almost feel that even if someone were to offer you money to exercise, you’d still find the energy to say no; the only energy you do have. So why do these days occur and how can we prevent them?

We will not tackle that question in this article. Let’s focus on how we can regain our energy and exercise so we don’t allow another day to go to waste. Fortunately, one of the easiest ways to regain your oomph is by consuming sugar like ice cream. Fill yourself a big bowl of your favorite ice cream and watch the energy slowly come onto you. You can also go with an ol’ cup of Joe for that extra boost.

The key is to not consume too much or your energy will be followed by a crash; always in moderation! The sugar will also help you exercise and that will make you feel better. So the recipe comes down to sugar and exercise. This is the quick fix to those kind of days when you don’t feel like doing anything.

As to why these days occur in the first place, there are many reasons:

  • Fatigue from work
  • Fatigue from lack of stimulation
  • Depression
  • Lack of motivation
  • Poor sleep hygiene
  • Stress
  • Drug consumption
  • Simply a bad day

. . . and the list goes on. Only you can discover the true reason as to why these days occur. The more honest you are with yourself, the easier it will become to prevent these types of days from reoccurring in the future. But when you are too tired to analyze why, just remember that you can always rely on a quick sugar fix to get your day going and allow you to continue your exercise routine.

At the end of the day, exercising will burn off your sugar consumption, allowing you to have effectively tackled your day in style and good form!

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Advertisement
Posted on

Not Everything Is About Work

Brunette woman with black headphones around neck

Music, Exercise And Meditation

With so much pressure placed on us by modern-day society to earn money and make something out of yourself, it can become very stressful rather quickly. Before the coronavirus hit, most people can attest to the fact that they were running around like chickens with no heads, back and forth from home to work. Now that things have drastically slowed down due to social distancing, it’s time to unwind and appreciate relaxation.

Extremes are never good; social distancing is too much relaxation while working without a break is stressful and potentially harmful to your mental health. You have to learn to find the happy medium. Part of maintaining excellent mental health is learning how to efficiently relax during your down time; some people are awful at relaxing!

While relaxation is different for everybody, you don’t want to be the person who is awful at relaxing. These people find relaxation boring, often complaining that they have nothing to do. The problem is that when they go to work, they also complain that all they do is work and have no life; this is a self-dug hole.

What I like to do during my time off is listen to music. Something relaxing such as classical music or something exciting such as trance helps my mind disconnect from reality; believe me that it helps to do so! Music also sparks my dreams and feeds my ambitions and desires because it helps me imagine what I want and where I want to be in the near future. If music is not part of your relaxation, I highly suggest that you try incorporating it into your life.

Exercising is another great past time of mine when I have time off to relax. Something like running in the park or going to the gym to work out (when the gym used to be open) makes me feel good. Exercising helps reset your mind and makes you feel physically healthy; mentally, you feel refreshed and good about yourself. Definitely start exercising; this is a no brainer!

Lastly, I enjoy meditation. This is more challenging because it really takes a lot of strength and patience to completely relax and absolutely do nothing but just be. I don’t meditate for longer than 15-20 minutes at a time; it’s very difficult to do so. The key to meditation is that you want to prolong your sessions as much as you can; the longer the session, the deeper you can go within yourself. Meditation is something I recommend you start doing today!

What do you enjoy doing when you are relaxing?

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Posted on

Exercising During A State Of Quarantine

Silhouette of man jogging on the street during sunset near body of water

Finding Pleasure Outside Your Home

During this state of quarantine, many people are wondering what to do with their free time. Now that society is under a lockdown and gyms have closed, many are scratching their heads thinking to themselves, “Crap . . . I always hated exercising in my home.” But who said anything about turning your studio into a gym? Exercising during a state of quarantine should not be a difficult task.

Just take a look outside your window . . . do you see a street? There you go. That’s where you should go exercise. If there’s a park near your home then that’s even better! Now that it’s spring and the temperature is rising, it’s quite lovely to put on your Apple AirPods and go jogging outside. Forget the treadmill; it doesn’t beat nature.

Just because you’re quarantined does not mean that you have to become paranoid. Leaving your home to exercise is actually really good for your mental health: it helps you to step out of your quarantined state of mind and be free again. Being locked up in your home really emphasizes the feeling that you’re in trouble or have done something wrong; neither is the case.

Exercising in nature really helps to clear your mind and escape the confinement of your house. Allow the fresh air and cool breeze surrounding the trees to guide your way through the park; just float down the paths as the clouds float above your vicinity. Feel the air rushing into your lungs as you increase your pace to the beat bumping in your eardrums.

Don’t become a sloth during these times. That’s exactly what the coronavirus wants you to become: it plays with your sanity by gaslighting you. It wants you trapped in your home so that your mental health can be more easily manipulated by the media, internet and your natural curiosity. With too much time on your hands, you risk falling prey to manipulation.

Exercising helps you dodge the coronavirus’s mental attacks.

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Posted on

Waking Up Early To Exercise

Blonde woman stretching outdoors beside brown leafed trees

Morning Exercises Feel Great

It’s very easy to fall into the habit of waking up late on the weekends. After all, you have just worked 5 days in a row, and the last thing that you want to do is force your body into some annoying exercise routine. But waking up early to exercise actually feels quite amazing, once you actually get going with it.

The thing with sleeping in on the weekends is that you feel rested, but it’s a different kind of feeling than exercising early in the morning. When you wake up late, you have the tendency to lay around the house and maybe just relax on your couch; your mind continues to want to rest.

But when you force yourself to wake up early on the weekends in order to exercise, you feel tired at first when you wake up, but afterwards, you feel amazing just in time for lunch. Incorporate a yummy lunch to go with it, and your afternoon is set up nicely for enjoyment. And then it’s time to enjoy your evening as well!

It feels much different to exercise in the morning than in the afternoon. In the afternoon, you still feel good after a nice workout, but you kind of also feel a little tired, considering that you just spent half or more of your day doing things. When you get home from exercising, you kind of just want to relax and maybe even stay in for the evening.

When you exercise in the morning, you feel great up until midday, and then you also have the option of recovering with a nap. It honestly depends on how you like to set up your day: either early morning exercises with relaxation up until the evening, or morning and midday relaxation with exercising in the afternoon or evening.

It comes down to preference. But the important thing is that you are exercising! What are your thoughts?

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Posted on

Benefits of Regular Stretching — Muscle Magic Massage Therapy

While many people may associate stretching with their workouts, loosening up before or cooling down after, it’s actually a very beneficial practice to get into every single day regardless of your workout routine. Whether it’s first thing in the morning, every hour or two throughout your day, or winding down before bed, taking a few […]

Benefits of Regular Stretching — Muscle Magic Massage Therapy
Posted on

Couch Laziness

Lazy adult American bulldog sitting on brown leather couch with pillows

When Exercising Is The Last Thing That You Want To Do

. . . is when you have to push yourself the hardest to get off that comfy couch and jog straight to the gym! You think that couch wants you to get off? You think those beers want you to stop drinking? You think your girlfriend wants you to stop paying attention to her? When exercising is the last thing that you want to do, you do it anyways!

It’s so much easier to come home from work and crash on your furniture; just lay back and browse the internet or surf your cable packages. But within 20 minutes of relaxing on your couch and decompressing after a long day’s work, you begin to experience a nagging feeling within your mind, “get off the couch and head to the gym!”

You then begin to contemplate whether going to the gym is even worth it, “I have to jump in some comfortable clothes, actually get there and then put some effort on the machines or free weights, all while experiencing a crowded environment in-between the hours of 6-8 pm.” On the other hand, the little red bastard demon on your left shoulder is whispering in your ear, “forget that BS! Grab a beer or a fat J and kick back and relax!”

Sometimes you give in to the flesh and do just that. But if you want to improve as a person and lift yourself to the next level (no pun intended), then you have to get off your behind and go lift some weights! It actually doesn’t take that much effort after you develop a consistent routine, and you end up feeling better physically and mentally.

It’s easier to take the lazy and comfy route in life, but are you expecting to gain long-lasting results that way? The harder routes are the ones that pay off dividends in the long-run. But many people lose patience and don’t want to put in the work for that long; these are the folks who never learned or applied the concept of delayed gratification.

When exercising is the last thing that you feel like doing, then you go ahead and do it! It’s as simple as that.

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Posted on

The Passion To Exercise

Silhouette of three women running on concrete road outdoors under blue sky

Only You Can Motivate Yourself

Let’s face it . . . we all wish to some extent to be more disciplined in our workout routines. Maintaining consistency from week to week is a difficult task for many people, especially for those who are not involved in sports or lead busy careers in totally different industries. But regardless of where we stand, we can always find some time to hit the gym or the jogging trails.

Part of the reason that many people do not maintain a consistent exercise routine has to do with motivation. Motivation or the general desire or willingness to exercise has to come from you! Motivation is difficult to maintain because exercising is not an easy task; for many people, it does not come naturally.

Some hope that by paying a personal trainer to motivate them once or twice a week, they will suddenly see a significant difference; don’t bet on it. Either one of two things will happen:

  • You’ll enjoy it for a while but give up later by canceling your trainer
  • You’ll keep paying your trainer but not see any significant results

Your trainer cannot improve your physique if you’re not motivated in the first place! Anyone can go ahead and sign up with a trainer, but not everyone can give 110% during their workouts. Your personal trainer is most likely not going to yell at you because you’re slacking; the guy or gal wants to keep you happy and not scare you off!

Without motivation, it’s likely that you’ll stop seeing your trainer in the near future. And when that’s done, you’ll most likely stop exercising altogether. Motivation is the root of all good things that have the potential to come into your life. It cannot be given to you; you have to create it within yourself.

On the other hand, there are many people who casually exercise while maintaining a decent level of motivation. These are not the people who are jacked like Arnold Schwarzenegger or fit like Cristiano Ronaldo. They are the people who are fit enough to look good and feel great!

And that can be you! You see, motivation can be built upon with the maintenance of a consistent exercise routine. That’s because the more results that you observe in the mirror, the more motivation that you’ll continue to receive; hard work rewards you with happiness and motivation!

Are you DSM Fit?

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Posted on

Exercising After Thanksgiving

Two people enjoying pie and bread during Thanksgiving

Relying On Exercising To Take Away The Guilt

The idea that some people plan on exercising for the first time or more intensely, immediately following Thanksgiving shows you the desperation that runs through their limbic system. The limbic system is involved in motivation, emotions, learning and memory. Guilt is a common feeling following feasting and exercising immediately after does nothing at all in the long run.

There are some people who believe that exercising after consuming a lot of food on a given holiday, will help them to lose weight. If you don’t already have an exercise routine year-round, it will not do anything except maybe help take away your guilt. But what good does that do, if you are still overweight or out of shape?

Exercising after a holiday is based on false hope and guilt. Guess how long these routines end up lasting? Maybe a week at maximum. People who don’t have a consistent exercise routine will not suddenly maintain one, right after a holiday like Thanksgiving. Establishing an exercise routine should have nothing to do with holidays; it’s about wanting to better yourself in the first place.

You’re actually better off enjoying Thanksgiving and feasting, than feeling guilty and running to the gym immediately afterwards. The latter situation only plays with your emotions and reinforces your lack of desire to exercise in the first place. But the former situation allows you to enjoy all of the hard work which you have been putting in throughout the year.

By eating healthy and exercising consistently throughout the year, Thanksgiving becomes a time to reward your state of mind by enjoying all of the food that you can eat. You see, when you put in hard work, playtime becomes much more pleasantly sweet; feelings such as guilt and sadness don’t overcome you.

The yearly formula that you should adopt includes: exercising + healthy eating + a happy state of mind + feasting on the holidays + repeat.

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Posted on

Exercise Alone Won’t Help You Lose Weight

Bowl on wooden table filled with colorful mixed fruits

The Weight Loss We All Crave

We all naively believe from the media that if we suddenly start hitting the gym or the hills, our weight will start to decrease over time. Until we realize after many weeks or months of decent workout routines, that our weight has not budged; or has not declined as much as we were hoping it would.

To achieve weight loss, an entire new mindset has to be adopted in order for the results to be observed. You have to be determined and believe that you will lose weight in the long run; not the short run. Many people don’t last as long as it takes to see weight loss results, because they lose hope prematurely.

Hope should only be lost if you are genetically predisposed to being obese and have tried your hardest to lose weight. But even then, hope should actually never be lost! Because lost hope opens the doors to mental illness: say goodbye to happiness and hello to depression!

In addition to a right mindset and legitimate exercise routines, you have to ditch the unhealthy food and start eating right! If you’re addicted to fast food, well guess what? You’re going to have to shed that addiction and make Whole Foods your new addiction! Bad food simply will not get you where you want to be.

Another mistake that people make is indulging in fast food mixed with healthy food, as if the healthy food would bring any benefit when junk is still being consumed! It’s like how we’re taught in the bible, “you can’t worship both good and evil.” How in the world do you expect to lose weight when you’re still sneaking in those quarter pounders?

Do yourself a favor and stop trying to find shortcuts in life. The DSM Ready Movement does not advocate for shortcuts. We are in this together to promote and lead a healthy lifestyle and state of mind!

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Posted on

Taking Breaks From Exercising

Young woman in gym with headphones on tying her right shoe

Space Out Your Workouts

Life is more than just exercising all the time. Once a fitness routine is established, we sometimes become obsessive; we worry if we miss a workout. Unless you are training for the olympics or are a pro athlete, it’s fine and acceptable to space out your workouts and take some pressure off your shoulders.

Working out too consistently can actually promote fatigue and burnout. This can increase your chances of kissing your workouts goodbye for good. Once burnout occurs, it becomes quite difficult to recover; it’s key to avoid it in the first place. Imagine all of your months or years of hard work, only to lose it all because you became burned out!

The key to maintaining a proper workout regimen is to space out the days in which you exercise. Your routine need not be rigidly consistent over a long period of time. This may work at first, but over time, it greatly increases your chances of losing interest. Rather, space out your workouts and be flexible. If on one day you do not feel like exercising, find something else to do!

You do not have to feel guilty or stressed because you skipped a workout day. Rather, find another activity which will take your mind off exercising and bring you peace and relaxation. Sometimes just “chilling” is all you need to feel good and take your mind off fitness.

There are so many other activities which you can do rather than exercising all of the time. Learn to find pleasure in various activities and hobbies; a rigid life will stir up your mental health in the wrong direction and potentially increase your chances of developing a mental illness.

A repetitive life can quickly spiral out of control. It may cause you to not only lose interest in exercising but in life in general. Once a certain threshold of stress has been surpassed, your chances of developing a substance abuse disorder or major depression increase substantially.

Don’t overdo your workouts. Sometimes going with the flow is all you need to remain relaxed and happy in life.

Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)

Blog at WordPress.com.
%d bloggers like this: