Have you ever found yourself unmotivated to work out? Dreading a workout class? Or unable to pursue a fitness related New Year’s resolution? If you have, don’t worry, you’re not alone! Many individuals struggle to live and sustain a physically active lifestyle. However, there are many benefits that can result from being physically active. Throughout this blog, I will provide you with strategies to help you overcome this struggle so you can maintain a physically active lifestyle.
GOALS
My goal is to find ways to stay motivated to engage in physical activity.
Given my role as a college student, a majority of my energy is spent on academic work. Because I have prioritized my academics, I have little to no time for other activities such as working out. Like many individuals, I have struggled to stay motivated to be physically active, especially because of the amount of energy I put into my school work. However, physical activity plays a major role in our well-being and quality of our life. Because of the importance of physical activity, I made it my goal to find ways to stay motivated to engage in physical activity.
‘No Sweat’ written by Michelle Segar
The book ‘No Sweat’, by Michelle Segar, provides new approaches to sustainable behavior changes in fitness, healthcare and wellness arena. ‘No Sweat’ also provides strategies to stay motivated to live an active lifestyle. ‘No Sweat’ provided me with the strategies necessary to stay motivated to live and sustain a physically active lifestyle.
STRATEGIES
Author of ‘No Sweat’, Michelle Segar, has developed a program referred to as MAPS. MAPS stands for Meaning, Awareness, Permission, and Strategy. This program teaches readers how to enjoy the benefits of living a physically active life and also how to sustain it. Below I will elaborate on the MAPS programs and teach you how you can implement this program into your life.
MEANING
What does exercise mean to you?
Before you begin implementing exercise into your daily routine, think about what exercise means to you. Often times we choose reasons to work out that include goals such as wanting to lose weight or to look good in a swimsuit. These reasons, also known as ‘Wrong Whys’, are usually produced because we want to achieve a societal standard or please someone else. When our ‘Whys’ for working out include reasons such as weight loss or body shaping we often engage in high intensity workouts that we may not even necessarily enjoy because we want to burn a lot of calories. Our workouts become chores as we will do whatever it takes to achieve them. Having the ‘Wrong Whys’ for working out results in these activities feeling like a chore and leads to poor motivation. Finding the right reasons for working out is crucial to staying motivated to achieve your goals. The ‘Right Whys’ can make exercise feel like a gift and lead to high-quality motivation. The ‘Right Whys’ motivate us because they are relevant to our daily lives and personally meaningful and create sustainable behavior changes. If we engage in activities we enjoy doing and feel good while doing them, we are more likely to sustain these behaviors throughout our lifetime. One of the reason that I found motivated me to workout was to feel more energized and focused. I realized that when I work out in the morning, I have more energy throughout the day, which allows me to better focus on my daily activities such as my lectures and homework.
AWARENESS
Identify what’s been standing in your way and discover physical activities that motivate you.
Often times we believe that in order for an activity to be considered a workout, it must be high intensity for a certain period of time. This then leads us to engaging in activities we don’t necessarily enjoy, making them seem like a chore. The likelihood of you sustaining vigorous exercises that you do not enjoy are very slim. You are much more likely to sustain high-intensity workouts if this is something you enjoy doing. Exercise does not have to be some high intensity workout. There are many opportunities that we encounter throughout our daily lives where we can choose to move and increase the amount of physical activity we engage in. There are many hidden opportunities such as purposely taking a longer route to your classes, taking a walk outside, walking around while you’re talking on the phone, partaking in a fitness class with your friends, or engaging in family fun activities such as backyard football or riding your bike. Once I realized that my workouts don’t have to consist of hour long, high intensity cardio sessions, I really started to enjoy being active. Because I started engaging in activities that I actually enjoy doing and feel good doing them, I am much more likely to sustain these behaviors throughout my lifetime.
PERMISSION
Give yourself permission to prioritize your own self-care.
Often times college students get so caught up in their school work that they end up neglecting their self-care, whether it be by not getting enough sleep or stressing over exams. The heavy course loads that come with college classes can create a lot of stress among students. This stress can lead to exhaustion, anxiety, and depression, making it even more difficult to be successful academically. It’s very important, especially among college students, that we prioritize our own self-care and we can do this through engaging in physical activities that we enjoy. Prioritizing our self-care and being active can actually fuel us to complete tasks throughout the day such as feeling more focused during lectures and exams. The more energy you give towards self-care, the more energy you have to give to other aspects of your life. Self-care such as physical activity provides the fuel you need for your daily roles and increases your sense of well-being.
Prioritizing my health ahead of my school work was a major step towards increasing my self-care. I tended to not get a sufficient amount of sleep and never made time to be active. Now that I have given myself permission to prioritize my self-care by being physically active, not only do I feel significantly better but I am also able to perform better in the classroom because I’m putting more energy towards myself which allows me to give more energy to my other daily tasks.
STRATEGIES
Use learning and negotiation strategies to sustain the lifelong gift of physical activity.
Living a physically active lifestyle will definitely bring along some challenges so it’s important to know strategies that will aid you in being resilient and successful when they arise. We may find ourselves having a hard time fitting physical activity into our schedules. Given the busy lives a lot of college students live, it’s important to be aware of negotiation strategies for implementing physical activity into our daily lives. A few negotiation strategies are listed below:
Give physical activity clout: Understanding the specific value and influence exercise has on your daily life.
Plan the weekly logistics: Planning which physical activities benefit you, when you will do them, for how long you will do them, and where you will do them.
Confront challenges not roadblocks: Roadblocks prevent us from achieving our goals. Instead we should confront our challenges with a response and learn and grow from them.
Bring friends and family on board: Get friends and family to engage in physical activity with you. Not only are you helping loved ones to build better lives but you also get to spend quality time with them. You can also use them as a support system on your journey to achieve your goals.
Evaluate and recalibrate with compassionate non-judgement: Review your progress with awareness, nonjudgement, and self-compassion. Doing this shows you where changes may need to be made and allows you to celebrate your successes. Monitoring your success keeps you motivated to achieve your goals. It’s also important you give yourself credit and recognize your achievements when progress is made.
Having negotiation strategies has really helped me to sustain living an active lifestyle. There are many obstacles I encounter on my way towards achieving my goals of staying motivated to engage in physical activity such as not having time to work out, or feeling defeated by not seeing the results I hoped for. However, these negotiation strategies have helped me to overcome these challenges when they arise.
EXAMPLES
A strategy from the book that really stood out to me was engaging in physical activities that you actually enjoy doing. When it comes to physical activity, I believe so many of us believe that in order it to actually be considered a workout it must be high intensity for a certain length of time. I implemented this strategy into my life and began engaging in physical activities that I enjoy doing. This resulted in me viewing physical activity as a gift instead of a chore.
Below I have provided the calendars I used to track the number of times I engaged in the physical activities I enjoy doing which include riding my bike, walking my dog, and meditating.
Riding my Bike
Growing up, I used to love riding my bike. Because of how much I enjoy this activity, I never really thought of it as a workout. Riding my bike seems more like a gift than a chore. It’s important to engage in activities you view as a gift because this will allow you to sustain the activity throughout your lifetime. Each day I rode my bike I filled in the day this happened which can be seen in the calendar pictured below.
Walking my Dog
Walking my dog is an activity I really enjoy doing. Not only do I get to experience the outdoors but I also get to spend time with my dog. I have always thought that in order for an activity to count as a workout it must be high intensity so I didn’t believe walking my dog classified as such. However, I now realize that my workouts don’t have to be vigorous, just as long as I’m moving. Each day I walked my dog I filled in the day this happened which can be seen in the calendar pictured below.
Meditating
Although meditating isn’t necessarily considered a physical activity, it is a form of self-care, which is very important. Meditating helped me to recognize my bodies signals and figure out which tasks I need to prioritize to feel my best. Each day I meditated I filled in the day this happened which can be seen in the pictured calendar below.
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
The book, ‘No Sweat’, written by Michelle Segar along with this course have taught me many valuable lessons that I will continue to implement throughout my life and academic work. One thing mentioned in the book and in the course that really stuck with me is finding meaning in my tasks. Whether it be finding meaning in my workouts or schoolwork, this can help me to stay motivated to achieve these tasks. Knowing why you are doing something and realizing the value behind it makes the task more enjoyable and easier to sustain.
“The meaning of life is to give life meaning.” – Viktor E. Frankl
