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You can make tiny adjustments in your schedule so you still stay on track and your body is buzzing with all the dopamine you need.
Like half the world, I struggle with workout discipline. It is surprising because discipline comes easy to me. I have lists that I go by, I am a stickler for deadlines, rarely missing them. I feel in control when I have structure in my life and I am usually on top of all important tasks that need to be done. My life is pretty tidy and organized.
And yet I struggle with workouts. My need to exercise and stay fit comes from a health condition which is a topic for another day.
As unbelievable as it is, my epiphany one Sunday morning many moons ago, showed me that my water tight structures are my undoing. That I have strung everything so tightly in my day, that there is no room for adjustments. That unless I was assured of a 45 minute – 1 hour activity 6 days a week, I couldn’t even get started! Which is silly!
So here are 10 points I wrote down so all those struggling like me, can be assured that you are not alone. So much of it just getting over the inertia. You can make tiny adjustments in your schedule so you still stay on track and your body is buzzing with all the dopamine you need.
1 – Allow for short burst workouts – maybe 20 minutes on days when you have sudden demands on your time.
2 – Any movement is good – walk around the block, walk to the grocer, run up and down your apartment stairs, do 10 pushups/ squats/ sit-ups.
3 – Keep changing your workout so you keep boredom at way. After working out for 20 years and suffering many abject boring exercise days, I now have 3 activities I love– yoga, weight training and walking. I like to do each twice a week, but there are days when I am loathe to go to gym, so I move that day to a walking day or a yoga day.
4 – Learn to let go. If you haven’t worked out for a week – it is ok. You are human and down days are bound to happen. Workouts should be a life long commitment.
5 – Listen to your body – maybe you haven’t had enough sleep or maybe you are anxious about your presentation that day. Your body and mind are both refusing to move. Listening to your body and mind is most critical for long term mental and physical health.
6 – Dress for the workout; it helps – On days when your inertia is refusing to let up, simply change into your workout clothes. Wear your shoes and see how you feel. Chances are very high that the outfit has put you in the mood to exercise.
7 – On other days, simply decide you will give it 10 minutes to see if you want to workout. Chances are that in 10 minutes, your heart rate has increased and has put you in the mood to move.
8 – Movement is important; and doesn’t have to be your routine. On other days, simply put on some music, shut the door (if you are shy like me), and start dancing! 9. Create time in your busy day for movement and enlist the support of family so everyone respects your desire to exercise.
10 – Lastly, keep your workout equipment/clothes laid out and ready for the next day, so you are mentally working towards it in your mind both the previous night and as soon as you wake up.
Published here first.
Image source: Boggy Free for Canva Pro
I am a banker, author, poet and an intersectional feminist. Speaking up on social issues, mentoring and coaching and cooking up a storm for friends and a certain strapping 21 year old boy are what read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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