by Madeleine St. Marie
So I just got back from a pretty sweet vacation. And it was pretty much a vacation from everything: school, work, exercising, eating well. When the vacation was over, though, I was more than ready to get back at everything I had let lapse over vacation. I was actually refreshed and ready to go. I know that’s the point of a vacation, but it made me realize something:
I was bored with working out.
The weeks leading up to my vacation were pretty awful in terms of getting myself into the gym or to the park or to do anything, really. I had no motivation, I was exhausted, and I felt like I wasn’t able to keep anything together, let alone my head above water. I was going through the motions, which was not only unsatisfying but it wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
However, after my break, I felt really good and motivated to get back in the gym, to get into the library, to eat well (which has been made easier by my discovery over my break that my body no longer enjoys the company of dairy products). I had lost that spark, that almost obsessive need to eat well and exercise. Some people always have that spark. I am not that person. I like playing sports but I was never a big fan of conditioning. I’m not really the kind of person who gets hot and heavy over box jumps just for the sake of doing box jumps. And when I’m stressed out, my ability to stomach and execute the less personally inspiring parts of my life fall quickly by the wayside. Need to write a paper? Eat a pizza. Need to translate 50 lines of Latin by tomorrow? Guess I can’t go to the gym.
Basically, I was no longer willing to make time for that part of my life because I had lost that spark, the spark that got me to try a kickboxing class with one of my best friends two years ago after being a slug for longer than I’d like to admit.
Now, I am not 100% why I was able to relight the fire under my ass to get back in the gym. But I do know that by taking a few steps back from everything, I was able to recenter and focus on my priorities. I do want to exercise and I do want to eat well, because I want to feel good physically and emotionally. On my break, I was able to be honest with myself and figure out what I had to do to make everything in my life fit without being a hot mess or collapsing like a house of cards at the first sign of trouble.
Exercise should be a priority. That’s obvious. So if you find yourself just struggling to work up the will power to get to the gym, take a good hard look at what you’re doing. I, for example, will probably be taking a bunch of kickboxing classes, because I realize that is what I like to do, and since I enjoy them so much, they are not a chore. Some people walk the track with their friends for an hour, other people take ballet barre classes. Find what works for you and run with it.