How can I tell the bully in my brain to scram?

Every night I lay in bed and drift off to thoughts of bouncing out of bed, high-impact exercise, a cool down with my best dog buddy, shower & off to kick the day in the butt. But, in reality, I get out of bed late, brush my teeth, feed my best dog buddy and I am deflated. I get on the scale, no loss. I have a cup of coffee & slug my way through the day. I want my dreams to be my reality. The bully in my brain never shuts up. She always tells me it will never change, you're not worth it, and even if you lose weight you will still be a loser. Any one else or is it just me?

Replies

  • IAmTheGlue
    IAmTheGlue Posts: 701 Member
    No, but a good idea is sleep in your workout clothes. Put your sneakers on as you get out of bed. That’s what I do. I sleep in yoga pants and a tank top. Sneakers beside the bed… When my alarm goes off, I get up, shoes on and ready to go.

    But… let’s say you run different than me and you are a night owl. You can exercise in the evening. Is there a reason you can’t do it later in the day?
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
    I get up most mornings and run/swim/spin before work, and have done for years.

    This is what works for me: Make the decision the previous evening. Tomorrow I am going to get up at x time and do x thing.
    Ok. Sort out the logistics - I have to lay out the kit so not digging around while partner is asleep. All required clothes for workout and then clothes/wash bag etc for after ready to go.
    Make lunch/breakfast so they just need to come out of the fridge and are ready to be packed.

    Alarm goes off - get up. No procrastinating. No its raining, I'm tired, I'll do it later, 10 more mins etc. I have to just get up and get on with it. As soon as I am having that debate in my head I won't do it.
    It has to be discipline in the same way I do the housework. I don't want to clean the bathroom either, I still have to get on with it. I also know that as soon as I have got going I will be fine. Its just that hauling self out of bed bit that's tricky :D

    You can change thought patterns, takes some time but is possible. I've had to work on it for a long time. Try having a look at CBT techniques. You can make a plan which involves small changes to habits and just work your way along....
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,098 Member
    I'm not sure if your problem is low energy in the morning, or just general lack of 'get up and go'/belief in yourself?

    If it's about energy in the morning: work to your strengths and preferences. I am NOT a morning person, never have been and never will be. Forcing myself to exercise in the morning would just make me dislike exercise and never lead to a sustainable exercise routine.
    But even as an evening person, I know exercising after dinner is not a good fit either.
    So I exercise before dinner, making sure to put on my workout clothes right after work (on weekdays) or even already when getting up in the morning (weekends) or at the very least already have my workout clothes ready.

    As for the self belief: you're not going to become a super fit super dynamic person overnight, and I don't think that's what you should be aiming for, at least not at this point. I would simply set small, manageable goals. Start with one small thing, a good habit to start you on your way. Could be just taking a short walk every day, for example.
    If weight loss is your goal, just eating less is enough by the way, you don't need to do high impact exercise or anything. I don't know if you're working on your food intake, but if you're not, just logging your food could be a small goal to set for yourself.
    I started out obese and very sedentary. I started just focusing on my food intake, reducing it and aiming for a slow rate of loss. After losing a small number of lbs only, I already started to feel more confident, just by knowing I was going in the right direction. I started being more active (increasing my step count) which also increased my confidence. Every small thing I accomplished boosted my self confidence.
    I didn't aim for 'the stars' (to be honest, I didn't even think I could lose weight) but I gave it a go anyway, and I'm glad I did. With a BMI of 22 and a solid exercise routine, this is certainly not where I thought I could end up. If I can do it, you can too 🙂
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    I would start with baby steps. You aren't just going to become this super awesome fit person overnight. Your exercise doesn't have to be high impact or strenuous...in fact, anything like that should be undertaken after building up a good base level of fitness, and even then those things should be side dish and not the main course of your fitness regimen. I started out just walking and took things from there as I built my fitness up. Going from nothing to full throttle out of the gate is only going to burn you out and increase your risk of injury. Go slow...build up. Same with dietary changes...doing a complete 180 with your diet is likely not to work or help you build any kind of consistency. Make small change and set reasonable goals for making those changes.

    Also, play with timing of your exercise. I'm not a morning person and the most rigorous thing I can do in the early morning is take my dog for a leisurely walk while I drink my morning coffee and clear the cobwebs. I do most of my exercise during my lunch hour at work which is when I feel the best and it's also just a really nice way to break up the day.
  • 88AViva
    88AViva Posts: 499 Member
    I try to workout in the morning when I can, but honestly sometimes mornings are just so busy and by the time I'm done with everything, I feel a little deflated too somedays.
    Then I know I would just have to make time in the evening.

    When I'm home or done, I change into my workout clothes, and I found that a little nap helps me, (even if I get done at 7 or 8pm), I take an hour nap (I set an alarm) and then wake up, grab my cold brew from the fridge and I'm all ready for my workout.
  • tamz123
    tamz123 Posts: 1 Member
    That's a hard one. I amy worst enemy. I find it if I get a private journal of things I did a great job of. For example I worked out when I felt like taking a nap instead. Write 3 things a day about you. I bet you will find out that you rock more than you think.7
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    There are many cognitive and mental health resources out there to modify and manage internal self talk.

    This is solvable, you don't have to live this way.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
    edited July 2022
    I struggle with working out in the morning, too. I regularly work out at lunchtime or after work. There's nothing wrong with that!

    However, when I work out in the morning, it gives me an extra confidence boost. So, I often attempt it. Sometimes, I am victorious!

    I have sometimes conquered my morning workout by the following techniques.

    1) On a day off work when you have few other pressures, get up and do something active before you eat breakfast. Doesn't matter how long it takes or what it is (e.g., a walk outside), just delay breakfast until afterward. Breakfast will be your reward!

    2) On a work day, do something active before you have your coffee, even if it's just walking around the block. Bring your coffee with you, if you want.

    3) Join an exercise group that meets in the morning. Nothing harder than you can manage. Something you find fun.

    In all cases, lay everything out the night before, skip the booze, get to bed early, and pick your wake-up time. I find it helps to put on the bluetooth headphones right when I get out of bed and listen to music to wake up. The sooner you are on the other side of the door, the sooner you will wake up and feel normal.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,970 Member
    Not sure on the root of your issue, so I'll just share what I've been doing.

    While I've had moments in the past of motivation, sometimes lasting 6 months or more, reality is that it has never really lasted much longer than that. In most areas of my life.

    Near the end of last year, I started a critical task list. I get up in the morning (no snoozing, no options - alarm goes off, I get up - although I do set a back up just in case lol). After making the bed (if the bf isn't in it), I go let the dog out. Right then, I sit down and choose my 3-5 tasks for that day that are critical to helping move the needles towards my bigger life goals. If I do all my tasks that day, I have "won" the day.

    The small wins, but also the daily touches/focusing has been huge in helping me in numerous ways.

    First, my stress is a lot lower, because I'm not always trying to tackle everything at once, or feeling overwhelmed by everything - instead, I know if I do this small thing, I am getting closer to that bigger thing.

    With lowering my stress, my blood pressure improved greatly (from scary high to high end of normal-for-me, and has finally stabilized - all without meds or dramatic lifestyle changes.

    My career is progressing - slowly for me, but considering where I was before I started this list in December, I've made some very solid progress. I'm getting my own business off the ground and ready to start bringing in clients very soon as well. Small touches - again, not trying to eat the elephant in one day!

    I took some time off worrying about my weight - I was getting a fair bit of activity, but working a LOT, and time and mental capacity were restricted - so, my task list didn't include weight-related items for a while. This week I'm feeling like it's time to make that a priority again now that other balls are rolling along, so it's back on my list.

    Examples of a daily list include: 1) Visualization for 10 min 2) Track kcal 3) Follow up on samples statuses 4) Set up IG page for business

    Again - not huge things, but they all move the needles in some way, shape or form. Not feeling overwhelmed with it all is huge for me, and has kept me focused every day far longer than I have - well, in my entire life to this point.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,463 Member
    There’s a lot going on in your post. Setting out to fix “loser” probably won’t get you far. Its too big and too vague. As others have suggested, try to break things down into smaller pieces. Try this-

    1 You want to exercise regularly. (It’s overrated for weight loss but it can really do a lot for our brains, especially fighting depression.)
    2 You want to lose weight.
    3 You want to push back against negative thinking.

    How does that look to you? Let’s work backwards. Fact is we can’t shut off our brains, we aren’t wired like that. I’ve lost a lot of weight and have maintained for years. I also went from couch potato to gym regular. But my brain still has a collection of old junk its willing to drag out on a moments notice. Especially when I’m tired. One of the things I’ve done is listen to positive affirmations on YouTube. Another is to make sticky notes with positive words and phrases and stick them where I will see them. Sound silly? Both those things helped. Its a fact that the voice in our head can’t say 2 things at once. If it is saying something positive, even if it’s forced to, it can’t be saying something negative. Try it. You’ll see that a lot of what we call negative thinking, isn’t thinking at all, it’s just a bad habit. Habits can be changed.

    If you want to lose weight, try calorie counting. Its a whole set of things to do and it works.

    You don’t say but do you walk your best dog buddy in the morning? Instead of bouncing out of bed for a high impact workout, what if you just got up and went for a walk? You can add to it later after you are in the habit of getting up to exercise. I wanted to be the kind of person who worked out regularly. I came home from work, put on my shorts and T shirt and headed for the exercise bike that I knew we had in the basement. I found it in the corner, took the stuff off of it and put it in front of the TV. That first day I did 8 minutes, that was the most I could do. 8 minutes. That was about 28 years ago. Yesterday I trained with weights for an hour, walked for an hour and played Pickleball
    for 1 1/2 hrs. All that from 8 minutes on a stationary bike.

    You can do this. I can tell you for a fact because I did it and there’s nothing special about me. I’m just likely more stubborn than a lot of people. Someone on here said something about baby steps, its true. And we had to crawl before that. If you can make just one positive move per day, no matter how small, that will be 7 things in a week, 30 things in a month. Its mostly a matter of problem solving and persistence. Never quit.

  • latown66
    latown66 Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks for the response. I checked out CBT techniques and ended up with post-its on my bathroom mirror. Since I made this post I get out of bed 15 minutes early and set a timer. I run through a set of reps first thing. I am determined to change my mindset. @88olds, I uncovered my bike yesterday and did 8 minutes. :)
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,531 Member
    Keep a set of weights by your bed and do 5 reps, then 10 reps, then 15 reps... of weights in the morning and picture in your head "that bully". Tell that bully to Bite Me during those reps.