Hey, Active Peeps of RPN!

[Lucyfer]

Hello RPNation,


Well, I’m here to seek information, advice, inspiration, and motivation in my progress towards completing life goals of mine.


One of my goals is to get in better shape. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful metabolism, but I still want to actually be in shape. I’ve tried in the past, but I just never stick with it. I don’t stick to exercise. I don’t stick to dance classes. I just…don’t. I’ve tried actively to do this off and on since 2008, but it only tends to last a month at most.


I plan to try again as soon as I get my final papers out of the way. What I’ve come here for is to ask how active members of this community keep at it, and keep going. I want to feed on your stories, your successes, and your advice—because I want this change, but that’s nothing new. Wanting it just hasn’t been enough to get me to stick with it. I can stick to so many other goals of mine, but not this one, it seems.


So, how do you, RPNation, remain active? And what words of wisdom to ya have for others?

 

[DikkeVetteVlinder]

I'm currently superlazy, but last year I was pretty active due to the fact that I always went sporting with my classmates. Having a group to go with always helps me.


Now I just go skating whenever the weather's good. I'm quite consistent at that, but with out rainy springs I can't go too often sadly.

 

[Elernia]

Oh man, I so understand how you feel. I don't know if this will serve as an inspiration, but here's a story of mine that might help.


Whenever you want to change something in your life and make it a daily part of it, you need to make it into a habit, a sort of routine. You need to make it such an essential part of your life and train your mind to do it so that when you don't do it, and you go to bed at night, you don't quite feel right. I've read a bit of the science behind the human mind and apparently it takes about sixty days for your brain to register a new routine. So, doing something for a month isn't enough, it needs to last longer. That's the trick of things.


For me, the problem was medication. I'm anemic, I don't get enough vitamins and I have all sorts of weird health issues. I knew I had to take the medication and supplements I was given, but I always forgot and never committed. I think something needs to happen in your life that makes you understand that you can't keep on doing things the way you are doing them now, so that you can change. For me, it was my boyfriend who lashed out on me when I wouldn't take my medication. Fighting with a loved one who's worried about your health is definitely a wake up call, or was to me. He would check every night if I was taking my medication. And so, it became a routine. I've done it ever since and when I don't do it, something doesn't feel right. I'm also feeling much, much better right now and my body isn't overly weak all the time. My hair and my nails are stronger because of the supplements and I generally feel a lot more energetic than I did half a year ago.


When you succeed in something like this once, I feel like it's easier to establish new routines from there on. It has definitely helped me to commit to sport, schedule my school work, make a proper budget and stick to it and even change my diet for the better. Once your body and mind understand that this is good for you, you'll want to do it and if you don't do it, you actually feel a bit bad for not doing it. So, if I had to give one advice, it would be to start small and make something tiny but healthy part of your routine. Make it easy and simple at first. Keep it up. After two months, chances are you'll keep it as part of your routine.


Fear is also a good way to motivate yourself. My doctor telling me that if I didn't take my medications I could face complications in the future during childbirth was definitely a big deal to me. Obviously, don't make it into an irrational fear, just something that will remind you of why you're doing something and what you're avoiding by doing it. It does the trick for me, at least. But like I said, at the end of the day it's all about repeating the same thing for sixty days over and over again, and teaching your brain that this is part of the routine and that this needs to be done daily.


Hope this helps at all. Good luck!

 

[White Masquerade]

Stone Fox got it all. The best thing to have you start and keep on going, is a reason. The death of a close friend or family member due to being out of shape, a traumatic experience where being out of shape led to extreme and public embarrassment...these are things that will jump-start and help push you down any road you want to take. Fear and failure are the two most powerful tools at your disposal.


Though, it sounds like you haven't experienced anything dire enough from those two sources (that metabolism of yours is a curse in disguise?). This means you'll have to come at it another way. You have no push, so you'll have to create a spark yourself.


How I suggest you do this, is by overworking yourself. Whether it be by endless squats, continuous stretching, hour after hour in spin class, or jogging till you fall down, you'll need to break yourself on the 1st day, on your own. No routine will indefinitely stick, if you don't learn to do it for yourself, on your own.


Taxing yourself so much in one day, will be a shock to your body. This is what you want. You want the soreness. It serves for these two reasons. One, as a reminder of the work you've put in and the harshness you've been through. When twinges of soft pain constantly run down your calf and lower back, as you try to bend down, or walk up a flight of stairs, what you did the day before, becomes very hard to forget. Two, it turns into a sense of pride. It makes you think, "ouch...that exercise routine was really brutal...I'm hurting all over but...I did it."





That is the feeling you want to grow if you don't have fear or failure. Pride in yourself. Pride that you did it. It may seem weird to hear now, but you will grow to like it. Not the soreness Luc; what the soreness means.


Afterwards, you'll find yourself walking a little taller, mood getting lighter, thoughts getting clearer, body feeling firmer (or limber if you're just stretching), more confidence -- there are just too many benefits to list them all. There will be a noticeable difference in how you feel, move, think, and project yourself. It will feel good.


Since you're not using fear or failure as motivator, you have to always remember that sticking to it will require you to keep lighting a spark yourself. The best way to aid that, is to keep at least some level of soreness. That means continuing to push yourself more and more in your routines. No soreness means stagnation. It also eats away at your will to continue. With no form of torture constantly driving your body mad, you don't feel the pride that comes from what the soreness means...this kills the pride (sense of accomplishment) leaving no good reason to keep up the exercise.


However, there is good news. Going of what Stone said, you wouldn't need to keep this pride game up for long. Once your body establishes the process of getting fit as a habit, you'll start to feel as if you can't go a day without it. It will become natural. That, is the place where you want to be. You will need to stick it out until the body just doesn't feel right going without some type of exercise. Till it becomes a habit.


Lastly, being in shape includes eating right too. If you want to change your figure, eating the right foods is the crux of it. If you're into counting calories and such, there are many good guides online, that can help you out there (when to eat, what to eat, etc). If you want to make things simple, just use common sense. Avoid things with lots of sugar, and drink plenty of water.


I wish you luck as well.

 

[Lucyfer]

I would rather not experience some sort of life-altering event…as White has noticed I haven’t. I don’t want it to get that far, so I’m trying to avoid that by working on things now, haha. I had that happen once before in my life with an unrelated thing and, suffice to say, didn’t enjoy it.


Unfortunately, a group isn’t much of an option for me, Dikke, if only because the friends that live near me aren’t interested in such things (and yes, I asked). I did find a class of sorts that is being offered for free, which has the group element, but no one I’d really call a friend or anyone I plan to bond with. I am, however, going to it since I know the instructor.


I’m also anemic, Stone! Mine is clearly a bit more manageable (which was surprising to me when I went vegetarian). I just make sure to incorporate foods with lots of iron in them and eat them regularly rather than go the route of medication. I am pleased to hear you are doing better.


White, I was actually given advice opposite to yours, that being not to go full out. This was coming from people who sort of knew I’d tried in the past, and tended to start that way and then just say “F it!” when my hedonism got the better of me and I saw no “gains” from the strain. This is why I haven’t made weight loss or toning the goal, so much as just getting active and maintaining that.


I do know that wonderful soreness, though, and I definitely intend to work towards it, but I don’t want to immediately hate what I’m doing since, from past attempts, I’ll quit. I won’t see the value in it even though I know, logically, there is one. I appreciate the advice ^-^ and I have been enjoying mild soreness today, but not the full-body ache I’ve known in the past when I’ve started out on this route. I’m sure I’ll get there, and it’ll have as much value as you say.


Thank you all for your well wishes, and White, if things start going a bit wrong with this current plan of mine, I'll try to "break myself" and see if that fixes the motivation issue ^-^ promise.