“Exercise puts me in a good mood.”
“It makes me feel good, psychologically and physically.”“Feel good factor!”This is all great, and either there has been a massive shift in the public mindset, or I have successfully surrounded myself with like-minded people.
You see, once upon a time I’m pretty sure that most responses would have been around losing weight or getting slimmer. Often exercise is seen as the means to and end, with that end result being a physical change such as getting faster, smaller, fitter, lighter, bigger etc. And of course there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that – for most people with those goals – exercise is almost viewed as a kind of punishment. There is a mentality around “I’ve eaten too much so I’ll beast myself in the gym” or “I don’t look the way I want to so I’d better do some exercise.”I’m not suggesting that’s true for everyone, but it was so refreshing to hear people saying that they were taking exercise simply because it made them feel good. Ultimately, that’s what it should be about! We need to move away from the mindset of feeling like we *have* to do it, and instead actually *want* to exercise.
Ideally we need to get to the point where we regard exercising as a treat. A gift to yourself and your body, because it is just that! Think of everything your body does for you on a daily basis! (I’ll talk more about this in my next post). We owe it to ourselves to look after not only our body, but also our mind. When you exercise, you feel good because of the endorphins released. Admittedly that feel good factor usually kicks in post-workout, and often the “during” phase can be really tough, but always worth it!
I’m not saying that it’s easy to get to a place where you enjoy exercise, but if you can find something that’s fun, you’re far more likely to stick at it, and actually begin to look forward to your exercise session, be that the gym, walking with a friend, a team sport, or a dance class.
So whatever you have planned for this weekend, I hope it involves some movement, lots of fun, and a good dose of happy hormones 🙂
