4 thoughts that may be keeping you from the gym

I’ve been mostly consistent about going to the gym for the last 3 years or so, and I still have days when I just don’t want to go. Of course, some of that has to do with my inherent laziness. My perfect day would be spent laying in bed and reading all the books and occasionally I do just that. But another HUGE part of why I fall into cycles of skipping my workouts is all in my brain.

It was actually a lot worse when I first started thinking about working out. I kept going back and forth for over a year before I finally joined GoodLife Fitness, all because I let negative thoughts hold me back. I’m a bit better at getting out of my own way these days, but there are still times when I slip up. So today, I wanted to share a few of the more common anti-gym thoughts, and I do to try to overcome them.

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1. Comparing yourself to others

Health and fitness is HUGE in both mainstream and social media these days and, for the most part, that’s a good thing. But, there’s also a down side. Things like thinspo, fitspo, transformation Tuesday and the like can be great motivation for some, but for others it can just reinforce our opinions that we can’t achieve those things. So we give up before we even begin. And that’s not okay.

My advice to you? Stop comparing yourself to other people and learn to love your body. You don’t know where those people are in their journeys and it doesn’t even matter. The only important things are you and what you’re doing about getting yourself where you want/need to be. Everything else is just noise.

2. Lack of knowledge

Like I mentioned before, it took me about a year to finally talk myself into joining a gym. Aside from comparing myself to others, I was just plain unsure of what to actually do when I got to the gym as well as unclear about what was true and what wasn’t when it came to fitness. And instead of going out and learning what I didn’t know, or asking someone for help, I just avoided it altogether.

But if I could go back, I would absolutely get started on this fitness journey as soon as I first started thinking about it. There’s no shame in asking for help, especially if it’s for something as important as your health.

3. Comparing yourself to yourself

This one is more applicable to people who have been fit in the past and then fell off the wagon and I’ve actually been dealing with this a lot lately. Just 6 months ago, I was going to the gym at least 5 times a week, I could lift heavy, run far and my eating was on point. But somewhere along the way, I got knocked off my path, and getting myself back to where I was seems almost impossible. What makes it worse, is that I keep expecting myself to be able to do what I could then. When that happens, I get so discouraged, and just give up all over again.

What I need to remember is that I did this before. When I first started this journey, I was overweight, couldn’t do half a pushup and was exhausted after just walking up a flight of stairs. If I could go from there to being as fit as I was once, I could do it again. I just have to set realistic goals and put in the work to actually achieve those goals.

4. Being a Perfectionist

I know a lot of people, including myself get caught up in this one. Everything has to be just perfect before you even think about going to the gym. If your favourite yoga pants aren’t clean, or the class you were planning to go gets cancelled, or you’re running late and only have 30 minutes to workout instead of 60, there’s NO WAY you can go to the gym today. You have a plan, and you need to stick with it.

But, life doesn’t work like that. It isn’t clean and orderly and it doesn’t run according to your exact specifications. Something will always happen to through it off. But you just need to go with the flow and make the best of every workout. Because if you’re holding out for the perfect time, you’ll be waiting forever. 

What about you?

• Do you have a lot of negative thoughts when it comes to fitness?
• What tips do have for getting out of your own way?

Share in the comments below!

 

 

 

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This post was written as part of the GoodLife Fitness Blogger Ambassador Program; however all opinions expressed are my own.