How to Stick to Any Exercise Schedule With This Simple Mindset Shift

Since the petition, and with all the awesomeness I’ve encountered, I’ve been in quite a sharing mood. My workouts and exercise schedule fall on that spectrum.

Trigger warning: body image, body image issues, weight loss, eating disorders, fat-shaming

The 1000-calorie workout

Fitness Blender is my favorite workout channel in the whole world. They’ve shared 600+ free, highly researched exercise videos, for all fitness levels. 0 yelling, 0 fat-shaming. The community is extremely supportive too.

I’ve been working out with them for more than a decade now.

Last week I did one of their famous 90 minutes, 1000-calorie-burning workouts.

They have millions of subscribers, and they celebrate each new million with a new 1000-calorie workout. Champagne follows suit, but that’s irrelevant (though champagne itself is never irrelevant).

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My workout motivation tips

Sticking to a regular exercise schedule has worked wonders for my mental and physical health. (I know weight isn’t in and of itself a marker of good health, please also read Fuck Weight Loss: Bikini, Beyoncé, and Weight Misconceptions, Debunked if you haven’t.)

If you want to start working out, the best tip I can give you is to just start.

As Isaac Newton came to discover, “Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and resting objects tend to remain at rest unless acted upon by an external force”.

Start small, but start. Speed isn’t as important as building momentum.

In A Month Later, 5 Tips for Building a Writing Routine, or Hey, Any New Habit Really I shared my tips on just that, easily applicable for an exercise schedule, roughly mentioned below:

1. Pick a time – Ideally and also realistically, when are you most likely to do this work? I picked a specific day, Sunday, and explained why it worked out for me
2. Make it as smooth as possible for yourself – Smooth peanut butter is a disgrace. Smooth as butter is what we’re aiming for here. Friction isn’t good for anyone.
3. Aim for real, not perfect – YouTube creators who promise absurd things like 5 videos a week either fall behind, making their ‘WHY I LEFT YOUTUBE’ video reappearance months later, or they follow through, just to eventually end up so burnt out they can’t stand to look at a camera again.
4. Public accountability – Tell your friends, tell social media, tell everyone and ask them to hold you accountable. You’ll be surprised how many people like doing this.
5. Pick something you care about – Self-explanatory, but I like explaining. Communication, am I right?!

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How the way I view exercise and 1000-calorie workouts changed over the years

The way I view exercise and the 1000-calorie workouts specifically has changed dramatically over the years.

The #1 thing that has changed? The reason behind them.

Years ago, as a half-adult still trying to find myself while navigating the always-changing world around me, I made my body suffer along.

I used to do the 1000-calorie workouts to punish myself, my body, my appetite. I was happy they existed so that I could quickly undo “the damage” I’d done by overeating or indulging.

Now, I work out 3X a week. My workouts are rarely longer than 40 minutes. Even Kelli, the Fitness Blender founder, doesn’t work out for more than an hour. I work out for more strength, endurance, flexibility, and a clearer mind, not fat loss. I don’t stress out if I can’t make time for a workout or change my meals in any way.

Now, I rarely do one of the 1000-calorie workouts, but I did last week, just to reward myself.

Just to appreciate my body and all it can do; to prove again to my body what it’s capable of. Just out of love.

Find a way to move your body, one that’s sustainable long term, and most importantly, one you enjoy.

Just out of love.