You know the people who say they don’t have the time or motivation to work out?
A lot of fitness experts write that off as laziness. But me? I totally get it. I understand where those people are coming from.
That’s because with this experiment, I’m discovering a few things about myself.
The first is that I love working out.
The second is that I absolutely hate working out.
And I never know which mood I’ll be in when it’s finally time to put on my workout clothes and go to the gym.
Even before this experiment, most people I talked with had it in their heads that I work out “all the time” or eat strictly 100% healthy meals. Not true.
The truth is, I’m past the “honeymoon” stage of lifting weights and getting in shape. I’ve been doing it for over 10 years now. I no longer go to the gym because I “have to.” Now it’s just something I do, like brushing my teeth. (Though I usually only workout three or four times per week. But I brush my teeth at least once every day.)
It stopped being about “motivation” a long time ago.
And yet, I’m struggling with motivation right now. Today was my lower body day and I just flat-out didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to fucking do it.
But I made myself.
And something interesting happened once I got to the gym. The more time went by — going through my warm-ups, foam rolling, etc. — the more motivated I got.
I ended up having a great workout, smashing my numbers from last week on the squat and deadlift. (My ankle feels much better, by the way.)
This never would have happened if I stayed home. In fact, if I stayed home, I’d just be pissed off at myself for being weak, for giving in when I could have done something.
So I realized today that motivation happens once you start doing.
That’s a good thing for me to remember.
Every now and then motivation will show up unannounced and I’ll let it take me where it will. But other times, it won’t show up at all and I’m gonna have to make myself do it anyway.
Because if I just sit around and wait for motivation to hit, I may sit there forever.
Other highlights from Day 13
- Eating two omelets, a huge bowl of oatmeal with fruit, and a cup of coffee for breakfast. Food is going down so much easier now.
- Driving back home with my little brother and his friend. They’re good kids.