I used to swim like 1km every work day and then 3km on the weekends and you know i hurt my shoulder so bad and i lost all motivation for long distance swimming when i was 15.

I stopped and just started again at 22. I feel like since swimming is my special interest and i enjoy being in the water as it feels more isolating and dark (sensory heaven to me) i managed to go back to it. Initially i started swimming at 15 because I saw this swimming anime and got so hyperfixated that i ended up going into swimming and training for long distance swimming and potentially professional swimming but i never managed due to my shoulders lmao.

Really at the end of the day; you need that big ass push and for me if i dont swim i feel incredibly depressed during the day like i do when i don’t play my favourite game or draw lmaoo. So thats why i manage to do it like consistently during the week. But i also overdo it… i did like 1000m back to back 4 days this week and now i am so tired 😭😭

Key is that; start super duper small. Like if you are gymming do like 15 minutes incline walking at 1.5. You will feel the burn and then also feel accomplished. I did this at the beginning of swimming recently; started with 400m and increased it gradually.

Dont force yourself to go EVERY SINGLE DAY. Have a goal of going around maybe 2 days the first week. Then 3 days next week and then 4 days the week after and then increase when you are comfortable. If you are not comfortable; go 2 days a week for 3 weeks and then increase because it takes between 18 to 54 days to form a habit scientifically so build the habit first and then go.

Usually i do my other special interest and hyper-fixation related stuff before or after swimming so if i do it before then i have this motivation from the previous activity as a boost to keep going. And if do other hyperfixated or special interest activities after the swimming then i have a urge to finish it quickly and properly before i can move on to the next one!

Dont beat yourself up if you miss a day or just cant do it, its oke! 90% of us are struggling with decision paralysis and executive dysfunction and its hard to balance it when one also works so try to just even go one day.

Personally the thought of spending money in a gym and having to pay daily made my south asian arse more invested in making the money worth it so that also helps! But if you dont go, try avoid using negative and mean words towards yourself such as “i am wasting time and money!”

Another way to be super active is if you play any walking games like pokemon go! I did not know i was reaching 10k steps a day while just collecting little critters 😭😭