Do you struggle to find a regular exercise routine? Have you tried a million things but nothing ever seems to stick?

Hi there, Amy here with Total Health Chiropractic and today we are talking about the #1 reason people don’t stick with an exercise routine.

Do you struggle to find a regular exercise routine? Have you tried a million things but nothing ever seems to stick?

Let me share with you a little bit about my struggle with exercise. All throughout my teenage years, I was quite active and had no trouble with weight or energy levels. As I moved out of college and into my “real world” years, I found that it was harder and harder to keep weight off and I was getting more and more tired.

All of the things I read indicated running was the highest calorie burner out there. So I thought, well if I want to lose weight, I’m going to have to run. I would go through cycles of doing well at running and then I would tank and do nothing for months on end. It was a vicious cycle. But I thought running was what I had to do to get the best calorie burn out of the shortest timeframe. I just couldn’t figure out WHY I couldn’t get more consistent with running.

This vicious cycle continued well into my 30’s until about 3 years ago. During my schooling to become a health coach, I listened to a particular instructor talk about exercise. He stated the number one reason people can’t maintain an exercise program is because they actually don’t like the exercise they are doing.

This was such an AHA moment for me! I realized I hate running, absolutely hated it. Did I feel good when I was done? Sure, but that was because I had just exercised for 30 minutes and released a bunch of endorphins! The truth is I loathed even thinking about starting a run. The first mile was pure hell with all parts of my body screaming at me. Second mile was tolerable. To top it off, somewhere in that last mile, I was thinking, can this just be over already?

Think about it, your to do list has tasks on it that you like and tasks you don’t like. How many times do the things you don’t like to do get pushed to the end of the list and the things you do like to do are the ones that get done first? This is so true in my world! So, if you hate the exercise you’re doing, it’s certainly not going to be on the top of your list of things to get done in a day and truthfully probably won’t happen.

During that class, I decided right then and there that I was done running forever and it was one of the most freeing moments! I realized I was much more apt to stick with my routine if it was something I looked forward to. Today, my workouts look like a combination of pilates, yoga and Zumba. I love all 3 of these forms of exercise and to me that makes the difference between doing it regularly and not doing it at all.

Have you ever thought to yourself, I just don’t have the time or energy to workout? Truthfully, time is the #1 excuse I hear as to why it’s hard to get in a regular workout routine. Americans are busy people with very full lives so of course it’s hard to find the time. But somehow it’s easy to find time to do the things we like to do.

I want to challenge you to think about what the reason really is about why don’t exercise regularly? Is it the time or the energy or is that the reason you give yourself to make it seem ok? Think about how you feel when doing some form of physical activity you love. It’s fun right?! The fun is what you have to hold onto! Because really any form of activity is 100% better than none. So if you like walking, swimming, Zumba, kayaking, yoga or pilates, rest assured, if you are doing any of those things, you are helping your body.

So spend some time over the next week and think about the activities you truly enjoy, start doing them and see how easy it is to maintain!

Thanks for listening and keep smiling!