Diet and Exercise Fatigue: Unearthing the Saboteur

All of us have had relationships with diets and exercise.  Like many relationships, many end with a breakup accompanied by a sense of failure...a perpetual cycle with repeated disappointing results. 
 
Over the years, I have to come to realize that some of us, including me, have what I call an "inner saboteur” that interferes with our ability to establish a sustained healthy lifestyle with consistent diet and exercise.  
 
Our inner saboteur can sound very helpful.  When you know it’s time to go for a workout it may tell you, “you’re too tired, you didn’t get enough sleep last night…take it easy.”  When you’re hungry, it may tell you, “you’ve been good, have a snack,you need it.”  Worse, it can be cruel and judgmental, encouraging you to, “give up, you never can stick with any program.”  
 
For those of us who have inner saboteur is a powerful force.  So, how can we overcome it?  
 
My own experience may help.  For me, listening for my inner saboteur’s voice, identifying and labeling it such, helps to weaken its control over me.  Yes, when it tells me to “skip the hike, you’re tired,” or “don’t workout now, wait til later,” it can seem overpowering, but, by calling it for what it is...that part of me that really has no interest in changing my old behaviors…I’m more likely to move past it.  And by moving past it once, twice, three times, the momentum grows, and my mind and body become more responsive to the energy, strength and power that comes from diet and exercise and less drawn to my inner saboteur’s pull towards apathy.    
 
Remember the next time you hear it…you are not that voice, it’s your inner saboteur.  With this knowledge you can overcome your inner saboteur and establish a sustained a healthy lifestyle with consistent diet and exercise.   


4 TOOLS TO INTERRUPT YOUR NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS

  1. MEL ROBBINS' 5 SECOND RULE - My favorite! I use everyday…multiple times.
  2. USE A BREATH-BASED MANTRA TO FUEL YOUR DAY 
  3. PEMA CHODRON’S BOOK, GETTING UNSTUCK, BREAKING YOUR HABITUAL PATTERNS & ENCOUNTERING NAKED REALITY (I have this book downloaded on Audible. Whenever I feel stuck in my head, I listen to this. She’s incredible!)
  4. GET INTO MOTION!  One small action can catapult you into a whole new reality! 

Ricka Baker, founder of Love Kick

Phone: 415 302 3603

Email:  rblovekick@gmail.com

Website: www.rickalovekick.com 

Instagram: @rickabakerlovekick

Facebook: Ricka Baker Love Kick

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Submitted by New Fairfield, CT

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