Saturday, March 16, 2024

How To Get Motivated To Exercise When Depressed

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Other Useful Study Tips

  • Get rid of distractions. Once you actually start studying it can be easy to stop and check your social media feed just for a second. The safest option is to put your phone in a different room, so you wont be tempted.
  • Keep snacks nearby and drink plenty of water. Peanuts, almonds, and fresh fruits are the best food choice for study sessions. Youll be energized and refreshed.
  • Listen to soothing music if you find silence terrifying like we do. There are a lot of playlists made just for studying, from jazz to fantasy music.

Focus On What You’re Doing

Depression causes you to be absorbed in your own thoughts. To counter this as you go about your daily routine, focus your thoughts on the outside world. For example, when you wash a dish, feel the water on your hands and listen to the dishtowel rubbing the plate. “By focusing on the outer world with attention,” says Luciani, “you’re really teaching yourself to let go of that inner ‘gerbil wheel’ where you are spinning depressive thoughts.”

Give Yourself Some Credit

Youve got this, you must be doing something right. As humans, were naturally designed to look at our flaws and replay what we did wrong. Its time to change that! Without being prideful, it is time to sit down, and even write a list, of all the things you did right, all your successes and wins. Perhaps, youll realize theres a lot more there than you thought there was.

Eliminate Every Barrier Possible

If the idea of exercising seems impossible, chances are good that laying out workout clothes isnt any easier.

In the absence of motivation, there are few things you can do to make this process easier:

  • Keep your sneakers by the door and ready to go
  • Plan a specific time for your daily walk
  • Invite a friend or family member to join you
  • Go to bed in your workout clothes

How To Get Your Exercise Ideas Off The Ground

How to Get Motivated to Exercise When You

The important thing when trying to get into an exercise rhythm is to take your needs as your point of departurenot the exercise itself. That means sitting down to put some thought into what you really need out of your exercise. Do you need something that you can do at home? Something that requires a partner? Something youre already familiar with? Work outwards from there, and then full speed ahead.

Avoid Sleeping Too Much

Sleep is important; we all know that. However, too much sleep is as bad as too little good nights rest. Getting too much sleep can, in fact, make your depression even worse. This also means it can aggravate symptoms associated with this common mental health problem. Although there comes the time when all you want to do is sleep, you should still strive to do something such as take a walk or go for a jog.

Exercise will also boost your energy, keep you alert, and help you focus more on your work, life, and you name it. As a result, youll feel more motivated at the same time. Its needless to mention sufficient sleep is important for weight management as well.

Find Positivities To Motivate Yourself

Your brain absorbs everything. In other words, if youre creating some thoughts in your mind try to create a positive and healthier one. Try to involve in those activities which have a positive effect on your brain.

Talk with people who have a positive mindset. Express gratitude. When surfing the internet or reading a newspaper find motivation.

Depression Can Sap Motivation To Go To The Gym

Unfortunately, depressions main characteristicsthe stomachaches or headaches, sleep problems, lack of motivation, feelings of hopelessness and lack of energyall make it difficult for someone with this mental illness to lace up their sneakers and go for a morning jog. At times, living with depression may mean that simply going through the daily motions of what has to be done takes every ounce of energy and motivation. Knowing that exercise can have life-changing benefits is one thing, but putting that into practice is something else entirely. For many living with depression, sticking to an exercise regimen feels out of reach.

But What Is Depression

Ever feel you cant catch a break, its just one bad thing after another or a general long-time low mood? That could be depression. Its classified a mood disorder, that affects how a person thinks, feels and acts.

And the tricky part is its not like a cold where the symptoms are the same for every person, so time to get rid of those stereotypes of black clothes, tears, and Morrissey songs.

Depression presents itself in a variety of ways anxiety, low mood, lack of motivation, or even no outward symptoms at all and sometimes, out of stigma, its completely hidden.

Get Expert Depression Treatment With Fhe Health

While it would be nice if depression could be overcome by jogging a few laps around the track or going for a walk and getting some fresh air, the truth is that treating mental illness is complex. Exercise has a host of benefits for those living with depression, and it works most effectively for managing symptoms when its combined with professional treatment.

At FHE Health, we specialize in providing personalized treatment for depression through a holistic approach that addresses the mental, behavioral and physiological elements of this disorder. To speak with a member of our compassionate team at any time, day or night, call us at 969-3881.

Make The Goal To Do It Not To Enjoy It

When you’re feeling depressed, it’s natural to lose interest in things that used to make you happy. Comedy is no longer funny, sports are no longer fun, spending time with friends is no longer engaging. Anxiety, depression, and self-loathing take over, leading to feelings of detachment and defeat. So, when doing something “fun” or “active,” do it with the goal to do it, not to enjoy it.

You Don’t Need To Wait For Motivation To Actually Do Something

The belief that I have to feel motivated first in order to get something done is one of the myths that underlie depression. You don’t have to feel like doing something in order to do it. You simply need to choose to do it and then actually do it. For example, I exercise almost every morning for an hour before I see patients or do any writing. I cannot say that I feel highly motivated to exercise. And I often dont feel motivated to write. But I have committed myself to that habit because I think it’s a healthful habit and I have committed to doing the exercise even if I don’t feel like doing iteven if I have no motivation. In fact, every day that you go to work you probably are doing things that you’re not particularly motivated to do, but you’re committed to being successful in your job. This is a key element. Commit to action and values rather than waiting for the motivation to show up.

Help Someone To Motivate Yourself

How To Get Motivated To Exercise When Depressed

Another great way is to help people by being social. Without any expectation, this method will keep you very happy from the inside. As well as will keep you confident even more people will get attracts from you.

So that you will understand the importance of being you and easily you will be able to come out of depression and find happiness in yourself.

Whether Youre Dealing With Seasonal Affective Disorder Major Depressive Disorder Postpartum Depression Or Bipolar Depression It Can Be Hard To Motivate Yourself To Work Out

Yetexercise is one of the best things you can do to support your health and that includes your mental health too! But just knowing that exercise is good for you isnt always enough to get the sneakers on, especially if youre unmotivated.  The truth is that no one is always excited about exercise 100% of the time and thats okaybut there are steps you can take if you find it hard to complete everyday tasks.

Depression can grow to be an all-encompassing condition that makes even daily tasks difficult. Depression can lead to indecision, which makes it hard to decide when to exercise or what type of exercise you want to try. Monica Clark, LPA, shares:

Many people with depression will struggle to make . For more complex decisions a person with depression may feel paralyzed by an inability to decide. Difficulty making decisions may be related to either internal or external fears.

If you or a loved one are battling depressionor even suspect you might be our compassionate team here at Next Step 2 Mental Health encourages you to reach out for help. Professional mental healthcare providers can help you learn strategies to make a positive difference in your life, despite the all-consuming nature of depression.

In the meantime, keep reading to explore six strategies to boost your motivation.

Make It As Easy As Possible For Yourself

The hardest thing is task initiationto get started, Forand tells me. Give yourself a chance to succeed by setting up your environment in a way where it makes it easier to do the hard thing. Hence, wearing the running attire to bed. If Im already dressed, all my depressed, sluggish ass needs to do is to walk out the door. Do whatever you need to do to eliminate all obstacles that could make you want to give up and go back to bed, he says.

Keep Fit Keep Healthy

No need to try and be a sports model, unless you want to, in that case, more power to you! But keeping fit and healthy is the foundation of a healthy mind. Exercise has been proven to ease the symptoms of depression, so once you get motivated to start, youll really feel the benefits of those endorphins.

Forget Go Hard Or Go Home

Similarly, the script doesnt have to be to stick to your toughest hour-long heavy lifting session. It can literally be as small as I will stand up off of the couch 15 times. Hey, thats 15 box squats.

These small behaviors lead to more activity for people with depression, Phillips says. Once you get moving and the endorphins start to pump, you may find yourself wanting to do more. If not, and those 15 box squats are all you do that day, thats still far better than nothing.

I discuss expectations about training routines with individual clients and recommend adjusting plans so that they can be manageable and realistic, adds Farris. This may mean that an individual coping with depression struggles to maintain a high level of intensity in their training. Using a cognitive-behavioral approach, we talk about any beliefs or discouraging feelings regarding a decrease in training efforts. Accepting that some movement can make a difference and removing rigid all or nothing thoughts like I must train hard six days per week, and if I cant then I wont work out at all or everything feels heavy today, so I should just quit is an important area to focus on.

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About the Author: Now working as an editor in chief, Nina Collins is a fitness nut addicted to coffee. Trying out a digital nomad kind of life while exploring the world one step at the time.

Breathing in books and museums while exploring the world.

Image from rawpixel.com

The opinions and views expressed in this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of www.rtor.org or its sponsor, Laurel House, Inc. The author and www.rtor.org have no affiliations with any products or services mentioned in this article or linked to herein.

What Did You Do When You Werent Depressed

Act against your depression by doing some of those things. If you are currently depressed you might notice that your behavior is much different from what it was when you were not depressed. You might be avoiding people, exercising less, making fewer plans, and getting lost on the Internet or in your rumination. Let’s call this your Depressive Behavioral Profile. What it reflects is what you look like when you are acting like a depressed person.

Now I want you to identify what you look like when you are not depressed. What are you doing, who are you connecting with, and what activities are you engaged in? The behavioral activation approach to dealing with depression places a great deal of emphasis on acting as if you are not depressed so you can behave your way out of depression. As one of the founders of behavior therapy once said, When facing adversity, behave. In other words, if you’re feeling down, take positive action. Make a list of all of the activities you can think of that you engaged in when you were not depressed and start scheduling those for the next week.

Record Your Triumphant Moments

Even simple things can feel like they are impossible when someone is depressed and conjuring up motivation can be really, really difficult, Serin says. So treat exercising like an experiment and you can potentially use the results to fuel you, since your brain might be predicting that exercising will suck. Approach it with curiosity, Forand says. Ive asked people to write out their predictionswhich are usually negativeand then go try it for a little while and see how accurate their predictions were. Often times, the exercise is pretty self-reinforcing and you feel better afterwards.” Serin adds that it’s hard to remember the positive when depression strikes, so its good to keep a reference to remind you that after exercise your mood really did improve temporarily.

How To Get Motivated To Workout At Home

How to get motivated to exercise when you have depression ...

There are some pros and cons to working out and exercising at home.

The pros are that its much easier since you dont have to drive anywhere.

The cons are that unless you have a designated space/area that feels like a gym , its mentally much harder to get inspired.

One of the benefits of going to a gym is that because of the surrounding and props there, your subconscious mind will send a signal to your conscious mind that We should be working out. Thats what happens here.

The gym, your office, a yoga studio, etc. all cultivate an energy of what is supposed to be done there.

So when you leave your house or office and go to the gym, your mind will be triggered to do what you are supposed to do: workout.

Here are some simple tips for working out at home:

  • Pick a specific time and schedule and stick to it For example, Monday through Friday at 8am. This will get your internal clock used to that
  • Turn off all distractions You do not want to have your computer or phone off because if you get distracted your mind will find an excuse to stop or not exercise at all.
  • Put on your workout clothes Just like when you go out for a nice dinner or to a party and put on nice clothes, your workout clothes sends a signal to your subconscious mind that says, Ok, were working out now.
  • Turn on some good music Get yourself amped up.
  • Read some inspirational quotes:
  • How To Get Motivated To Exercise And Lose Weight

    If you are trying to lose weight and need some simple tips on staying motivated, here is what you can do:

    1. Know your why

    The most powerful way to stay motivated is to have a reason why you are losing weight that is associated with a pain point.

    It is VERY important that it is associated to something you are very frustrated with.

    For example:

    • I am tired of not being able to attract the kind of guy/girl into my life because of my weight
    • I am tired of not being able to fit into the clothes I want
    • I am tired of seeing my friends have a better time when we go out because they look better than me

    Take the time to write down your reasons why and keep that paper with you at all times. Then read it when you feel like you are losing motivation.

    2. Watch transformational videos

    Go to YouTube and search weight loss journey or weight loss transformation. Then try and find a video of someone who is similar to you and watch those videos. Seeing other people who are like you get the results you want will inspire you.

    3. Get results fast

    Make sure you do the research and get the help you need to be on a program that works for you and fast.

    You need to see and feel results each week.

    The results will keep you motivated.

    4. Make it a habit

    You need to get on a weekly routine and make it a habit so it becomes second nature.

    For example:

    Monday through Friday at 8am.

    Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat at 7pm

    Stick to it and make it a habit.

    It will take you three weeks to make it a habit.

    Its okay.

    Move It How To Exercise When You’re Depressed

    Numerous studies have identified exercise as a key factor in reducing depression symptoms. A recent study heightens the argument by finding that as compared to age, race, gender, body mass index cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes, it was the sedentary lifestyle of a depressed person that alone accounted for about 25 percent of the risk of heart-related deaths. The message is that we need to move because our lives depend on it!

    The problem is that when you are depressed often the last thing you want to do is exercise.

    Given the despair, lethargy, self-doubt, exhaustion, disinterest in activities and shame experienced with depression, the suggestion to exercise feels like adding insult to injury. “I’m not exercising because I’m depressed.”

    Knowing exercise could help, but feeling unable to do so often adds to the self-recriminations and low self-esteem of depression.  In one case, the more the young woman watched other family members exercise the less possible it felt.

    Given the recent discussion of the pros and cons of medications and treatments for depression, it seems clear that people need to have information and treatment options. It also seems important to stack the deck toward feeling better with anything that might work for you. If you have wanted to exercise but find it impossible here are some suggestions.

    Don’t think Exercise: Think movement with motivation

    Don’t exercise for you: Help someone you love

    Enhance the romance

    Pay back the pet

    How To Get Motivated To Workout In The Morning

    The benefits of exercising first thing in the morning is that you:

    • Get it out of the way
    • Jump start your heart and metabolism
    • Having a feeling of accomplishment

    Once you truly understand those benefits, this should motivate you.

    However, here are some other tips:

  • Have a specific goal that is associated with a pain point Waking up early to exercise is not easy. You need to having a burning desire or pain point that gets you fired up. Tired of being weak? Tired of all your friends doing better than you? Tired of settling for a guy/girl that does not meet your requirements? Then get out of bed and get to work!
  • Do some deep breathing exercises like breath of fire Because you just woke up, your breathing and heart rate are very slow. You need to pump and wake yourself up with some deep breathing. Here is a simple tutorial
  • Go for a walk or do some jumping jacks Once again, you have been sleeping and you need to wake up your body. The best way to do that is to start moving your body and increase your heart rate.
  • Make it a routine and ritual It takes 21 days to form a new habit. If you wake up and exercise consistently for three weeks, it will become much easier and you will find that you wont have to work so hard to motivate yourself.
  • Watch YouTube workout videos Whatever type of exercise you plan on doing, watch some videos of other people doing the same thing so you can get pumped up! The same way porn excites you to have sex, workout videos will do the same thing!
  • Why Is Motivation Trash

    I know we all think motivation is what drives action, but in many cases its the other way aroundactions create motivation.

    Have you ever felt like you didnt want to go to the gym, but then once you put on your gym shoes and walked out the door you felt super motivated and ready to go? Thats an example of motivation coming after the action.

    Motivation should never be the sole force driving your actions because it is a temporary emotion. Just like you cant feel sad or angry all the time, you cant feel motivated all the time.

    Motivation was not going to save me from my cycle of binging and self-sabotage. My problem was I knew exactly what I needed to do , but I didnt know how or why I wanted to do it.

    I needed to connect to the intention, or the why, behind my goals before I could determine how to follow through on them. Its not what you do; its why you do it that will ultimately drive you to succeed.

    I also needed something that required very little willpower or motivation; what I needed was a habit. 

    The Problem With Suggesting Exercise For Depression

    Terri Cheney, a 59-year-old writer from Beverly Hills, has lived with bipolar disorder for the majority of her life. When a wave of depression hits a hallmark symptom of the mental health condition she says she feels as if shes got a bad case of the flu. She wishes she could get up the energy to exercise, but on the days when even shuffling into the kitchen feels difficult, trying to endure an actual workout seems unbearable.

    There are times when I simply cant move, said Cheney, author of . The exercise advice is what makes me craziest. You know its good for you, but its a little fraught with danger. If you try and fail, you might feel worse.

    You dont have to Google long to learn that exercise is a go-to, expert-backed remedy for managing depression. In fact, physical activity is so beneficial that research shows it can be as effective as antidepressants for some patients or, at the very least, it improves symptoms if youre on medication. A new study published in August also found that hot yoga was associated with reduced depressive symptoms, anxiety and hopelessness.

    This boost is likely because exercise releases mood-regulating endorphins and serotonin, as well as prompts the growth of new brain cells and blood vessels that bring more oxygen into your body, said depression researcher Peter J. Carek, professor and chair in the department of community health and family medicine at the University of Florida.

    You Are Experiencing Leaden Paralysis

    In atypical depression which actually isnt atypical but is the name for the type of depression more common in women and in bipolar depression symptoms include leaden paralysis, which means your limbs feel heavy and unable to move. This sensation is more intense than a normal level of tiredness.

    The Standard Approach: What Not To Do

    When most people feel depressed, they try to push through it.

    In a culture that has a bias toward happiness, we believe depression is a bad thing. If we have depression, we need to change it right away.

    And how do we go about changing it? By using brute forcepushing ourselves to do that which we dont want to do.

    But heres the most valuable lesson anyone can learn about their subconscious mind:

    What we resist, persists.

    What does this mean?

    Resisting depression or frustration will not only prolong its existence; it may even make it stronger. So, when we try to motivate ourselves through sheer will, we are feeding the very monster were trying to overcome.

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