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Mental strategies
Sometimes I use mental strategies to handle things that would otherwise more greatly bother me. For example, with painful medical treatment I find that it helps to imagine that it is not my body being treated but that I am instead somehow possessing another's body and experiencing their sensations: that disassociation makes the experience considerably more bearable. Or, with A-level chemistry, I didn't much like the laboratory practicals. I made a conscious choice to try to enjoy them and, while I don't know if I found silver linings or what, it really did mostly work and I thereafter looked forward to them more.
I have found myself using similar techniques for my workouts. My most basic would be that of trying to see my time on the cross-trainer as a positive opportunity for desirable fitness rather than an ordeal to be endured. Or, if I am increasing my workout time, I might decide that the extra time is at the end, then tell myself for most of the workout that I am doing no more than I already have lately, then into the extra time I tell myself that I may as well keep on going for just that bit longer because the planned workout is nearly finished.
It is possible that similar approaches have helped my diet. For instance, while I limit my calories, I also tell myself that if I am not feeling hungry then it is okay not to eat up to my limit but if I do care to eat right up to my limit then that is also okay. I can thus often heed my body's sense of satiety, both negative and positive, without feeling as if I am doing something wrong.
I have found myself using similar techniques for my workouts. My most basic would be that of trying to see my time on the cross-trainer as a positive opportunity for desirable fitness rather than an ordeal to be endured. Or, if I am increasing my workout time, I might decide that the extra time is at the end, then tell myself for most of the workout that I am doing no more than I already have lately, then into the extra time I tell myself that I may as well keep on going for just that bit longer because the planned workout is nearly finished.
It is possible that similar approaches have helped my diet. For instance, while I limit my calories, I also tell myself that if I am not feeling hungry then it is okay not to eat up to my limit but if I do care to eat right up to my limit then that is also okay. I can thus often heed my body's sense of satiety, both negative and positive, without feeling as if I am doing something wrong.