After too much time away from the gym, you’ve beat back your Inner Slug a bit and recommitted to ”living the healthy life.” 

 

Typically, this is how it goes:

 

Day 1: You’re enthusiastic, looking forward to getting some exercise.  It’s hard work - during which you get smelly & sweaty - but those endorphins are a good payoff, right? 

 

Day 2: Your body feels a bit stiff, which you equate to “feeling alive!”  You welcome the slight muscle aches, thinking “The stiffness is worth it - I’m being a healthy person!”  You have no problem turning down the donuts you’re offered by a colleague at work…you even feel a bit superior as you watch everyone else in the office chow down on the calorie-laden grease bombs.  Heading to the gym after work is a breeze.

 

Day 3: You wake up with an unyielding desire to stay in bed all day - if only you had enough mobility in your arms to actually pull the covers up over your head.  You’re hungry all day…the fruit and yogurt you had at breakfast was not satisfying!  A big, juicy double cheeseburger sounds really good for lunch.  The extreme soreness in every one of your muscles prompts you to think, “Maybe there’s something really wrong.  I should rest today, and return to the gym tomorrow.”

 

That third day is always a bitch. 

 

You’re vulnerable, and your Inner Slug proudly slithers back into the picture in an attempt to derail you.  But you must fight it!  If you don’t, there’s too much chance you won’t actually return to “living the healthy life” tomorrow, like you promised yourself.

 

And 3 to 4 days after that you’ll realize that you didn’t actually have a severe medical problem that justified skipping your workout, you just succumbed to your Inner Slug.  And then where will you be?  Discouraged and doubtful that “living the healthy life” is actually for you.

 

So here’s the secret….the deal that you make with yourself to prevent that always-lurking-potential-derailment.  Are you ready?

 

It’s semantics, really.  With a Zen-like flair.

 

You have to make your interpretation of  “I’m going to the gym” more literal.

 

Clear as mud?

 

OK, let’s try it this way:

 

You just have to show up.  And then you can leave.  That way, you can honestly state, “I went to the gym.”

 

That’s it.

 

That’s the deal you make with yourself:  Just show up.

 

Of course, 99% of the time, once you’ve “just shown up” you’ll likely feel silly not continuing on and doing some kind of minimal workout.

 

After all, it takes a lot of effort to oppose Newton’s First Law: an object in motion tends to stay in motion. 

 

And when you’re in that “just show up” state of mind, you certainly aren’t going to expend enough effort to oppose Sir Isaac Newton!  So, even if it’s just 5 minutes on the treadmill’s slowest speed, making the 80-year old lady with the Flashdance-era headband next to you look like Speedy McGreedy, you still showed up.  Your Inner Slug did not win!

 

        [Who could forget Speedy?] 

 

My husband schooled me on “just showing up” years ago, when we were playing racquetball each morning before work.  There were a few days where all I did was “just show up,” walking past everyone who was weight training, spinning, running, etc., and went straight to the showers.  I didn’t expend many calories on those days, but I didn’t beat myself up afterward, either.

 

What deals do you make with yourself to prevent getting derailed?

 

 

Tags: Day 3, Gym avoidance, Just Show Up, Speedy McGreedy