I Want to Get Started Again

appalachiantransman
appalachiantransman Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
It's been a long time since I've tried to live an active life but I need to get started again. I hope that using my fitness pal will help keep me motivated and that I'll make lots of friends here who also live active lifestyles.

When I was younger I enjoyed the martial arts, playing basketball, and baseball.

Currently I enjoy hiking, camping, mountain biking, and rollerblading. I do hope to pick up the martial arts again when my schedule allows for it.

Does anyone have any tips for building good habits? I find it hard to change my bad habits of bring inactive and just zoning out on my phone.

Replies

  • kodiakke
    kodiakke Posts: 379 Member
    Some things that have been working for me, and just focusing on the mental aspect of building good habits around losing weight:

    -Definitely surround yourself with people here who are motivated. They will keep you coming back, checking in. I've been on MFP for a long time, but weight loss hasn't stuck because I don't use it for long. Engage. Get involved. Meet other people on your journey, either ahead, behind, or by your side.
    -Join an accountability group, or create one. Your MFP feed can be that if you hook up an activity tracker; I personally take a selfie after almost every workout and send it to a group that does the same. It helps me be truly accountable, especially as I see the other selfies coming in throughout the day. Makes me want to be able to post mine as well.
    -If you really zone out on your phone, set an alarm for that before you start browsing. I think there are even apps that will help you. Basically, don't allow yourself to "lose time" that easily.
    -And speaking of your phone... schedule time for your workouts. Just go into your calendar now, block off the best time (or times, if different on different days). Make it repeat, daily, every other day. Whatever you need to do. And when it comes to that time, DO something. Even if you just skip rope for 10 minutes, or go for a walk, or lift those dumbbells that are gathering dust in the corner. Get in the habit of DOING. Recognize that just DOING is a win.
    -I do MUCH better when I can just follow a plan. It's easier for me to be lazy if I'm making it up on the spot, because the mental challenge then gets wrapped up in "WHAT am I going to do" rather than just applying that same mental energy to "just get out there and get it DONE". So I research 12 and 16 week plans (it sounds harder than it is, honestly), pick one, and then load it onto my watch. Before I had my cool Garmin watch on which I can load workouts, I printed out the spreadsheets and kept that by my bedside. (Completing the first plan was the goal I used to reward myself with the watch.)

    And the toughest two....

    -When you surround yourself with people who motivate you, look around at what, or who, is dragging you down. That person who is happy to meet you at the bar every night, but doesn't want to meet you for a hike on a weekend? Skip one night at the bar, and go for the hike anyway. You go to the movies every Sunday morning and get the huge bucket of popcorn because that's what you've been doing for the last 10 years? Ask yourself if you're really hungry. Get the small bag of popcorn, no butter. Fit that into your calorie count for the day.
    -Have patience. Understand that this is a journey. It won't happen overnight. Pick realistic goals. Challenge yourself to be better today than you were yesterday, and just keep repeating that.

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