“Every Part of me is so tired right now, I just want to cry.” Been there? Me to.
School, work, the kids, clients, a relationship with your partner, sibling or friend… unfortunately many things in life drain us instead of feed us. Exhaustion itself takes on many forms - You have your standard ‘physical exhaustion’ and then you have your ‘mental' and 'emotional' exhaustion… all can be equally yucky If I do say so myself. Exhaustion, tiredness, fatigue, over-extending yourself, etc... it's a part of life... practically unavoidable, unless you win the lottery and can afford a full-time staff and even then you can't hire someone to work-out for you! The important thing is learning how to not let that exhaustion be an excuse that stands in the way of you achieving your goals. As NPC Nationals near I've been feeling overly tired/cranky/you-name-it-won't let-the-Mr-touch-me-without-biting-his-head-off so I have had to work (extra) hard to get everything into my day while maintaining (loose term) my sanity and my energy. True, I have a strong work-ethic but I'm only human and my activity-loaded days get to me as much as the next girl! Here I break down the steps that work for me when I'm just too tired.
The first step – the Mental Piece
To put the
kibosh on sabotaging behaviors and kill the thoughts that accompany
exhaustion, the first step is to have a brutally honest conversation with yourself. Approach yourself with
kindness and love (sneak attack works best) and ask yourself:
Am I tired?
For all intensive purposes, regarding my current state of health, should I be physically able to get to the gym/fix a clean meal/etc? Have I eaten and slept enough to devote one measly little hour to my body?
Am I allowing myself to wallow in my "exhaustion" and be lazy?
Could I really push through if I really, really wanted to?
Could I stick to the plan, hold out and wait for my
scheduled day of recovery or eat my scheduled cheat meal instead of blowing it
all today?
(If you are not sick or injured) The answer is most definitely: Of course you can!
Put quite simply: check Yo’Self before you Wreck Yo’Self (or
your health and fitness goals) Got It?!?! The difference between having a
‘Perfect 10 Body’ and not having a
‘Perfect 10 Body’ is going after it and sticking with it when you just don’t wanna! You know you. Not only do you now what you
are capable of achieving but you know better then anyone else what you are
capable of talking yourself out of. Out-smart yourself.
The Second Step – the
Emotional Piece
Don’t feel sorry for yourself! Remind yourself why you
started all of this in the first place – to become your best self and get a
rockin’ drool-worthy body! I say to do
this a lot because I do this a lot! I am always reminding myself why
I am fighting like this. I remind myself of my vision and tell myself that
whatever tiredness I’m feeling right now won’t compare to the feeling of joy I
will feel once I accomplish my goal! I know I will never get there if I let
excuses such as 'tiredness' stand in my way. I look at my vision-wall, stalk a woman I admire on Facebook, stare blankly at a piece of clothing I'm striving to look awesome in and figure out how to trigger myself into wanting it again. Find your thing and hold onto it for dear life! Self motivation is the key to jump starting that booty!
The Third Step – the Physical
Piece
Get your move on! Cry if you must but move forward. I said
FORCE YOURSELF TO MOVE damn it! Put on your gym clothes (slowly if you must) drive to
the gym or grocery store, begrudgingly (cursing my voice in your head, telling you to get off your lazy/tired tush)… before you know it your task will
be completed and instead of dealing with the ‘Why did I do that?!?’s and trying
to justify the poor choice you just made with that pitiful “I’m just sooo tired”
excuse, you’ll be one step closer to reaching your goal! The results you have
been getting, no matter how small, are worth fighting for mentally as well as physically. You must physically remove yourself from your comfortable/ pajama-enticing hole and put yourself where you don't want to be because once you are there you are already involved! You are already committed! What's more I can pretty much guarantee you will not get to the gym, in your gym clothes, and then decide to leave! You will do something workout-y and that alone will be worth it baby! It's not about being Perfect, It's about effort. Make the effort, move! It will happen!
The truth is
guys: Everyone is flippin’ exhausted. Even those people who post lml (love my
life) on facebook have a bad day, eat their feelings, or are exhausted from
lml-ing too much!
Whenever I pass a person-in-need on the street I always give
what I can (duh) but after living in Hollywood for so many years I can’t help
but laugh whenever I’m asked “Do you have any spare change?” Ummm, as in ‘spare
money??? Can’t say I do. I mean, who has “spare” money? I feel the same way
about energy. Nobody has “spare” energy. We all have to dig-deep to get stuff done that we either care
about or just have to do! Lucky for us working out, eating clean and
paying attention to self love and care fall into BOTH categories! Very rarely are we all rarin’ to go the gym
after a day of go-go-go or want to take the time to cook a clean
meal when ordering out is just so much easier. Do it anyway. Your quality of
life, your goals, your sanity, your pant-size and your happiness depend on it.
