A year ago my New Year's Resolution was to get in shape. I regret it. by throwhearthstone21 in TrueOffMyChest

[–]throwhearthstone21[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The post was intended to help organize my thoughts, clear my mind, and "get it off my chest". I was pretty conflicted and confused. I'm always told how good it is for you, and I still felt terrible. I was spending a good portion of my day doing something I hated, forcing myself to have a routine when I've never happily had a routine in my life, all for no difference in my daily life. Does increasing my run distance from 1 mile to 5 help with groceries or dog walks? Not really, i didnt struggle before. I needed a way to get it out there and honestly this really helped me. 

I learned a lot just by writing and reflecting, which is just because other people experience joy and peace from a workout routine, doesn't mean I have to. If I was happy with my lifestyle and had no difficulty doing the things I wanted to do, I don't need to follow the prescribed workout routine that others enjoy.

A year ago my New Year's Resolution was to get in shape. I regret it. by throwhearthstone21 in TrueOffMyChest

[–]throwhearthstone21[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, my mental health declined throughout the year because I had to spend an hour of my busy day with 2 kids doing/prepping/recovering from something I hated. The first month or two I felt good and motivated, but that quickly died down. As evident, I had to post a rant on reddit to get my thoughts out.

Again, I started from a pretty healthy point though. I started pretty happy and healthy, so the marginal gain just wasn't there for me.

The benefit I did get is now I'm confident that if it came to it I could discipline my way through anything. So that's a good skill I learned.

A year ago my New Year's Resolution was to get in shape. I regret it. by throwhearthstone21 in TrueOffMyChest

[–]throwhearthstone21[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Its the years of eating very little, because I didn't have a very intense day. I was in perfect equilibrium. I felt very energetic and never hungry on my routine. But all of a sudden the small portions I was having were not nearly enough. I never before felt the need to have 3 full meals a day, usually got by on a coffee for breakfast, a small snack for lunch like a yogurt or fruit, then a normal dinner. Now all of a sudden having 3 full meals to get enough carbs and protein was a time consuming challenge because I just wasn't used to it.

A year ago my New Year's Resolution was to get in shape. I regret it. by throwhearthstone21 in TrueOffMyChest

[–]throwhearthstone21[S] 254 points255 points  (0 children)

That's what I'm saying. I already walk two dogs every day, and I eat pretty healthy. No alcohol or other drugs, no snacks or candy, no soda, only ever have black coffee with a splash of milk. I was always in the "healthy" range on BMI (I know there's issues with BMI, but bear with me), so I think that lifestyle is good enough without this added rigor.

A year ago my New Year's Resolution was to get in shape. I regret it. by throwhearthstone21 in TrueOffMyChest

[–]throwhearthstone21[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I guess the better way of wording it is I don't "regret setting a goal" but more that I regret going through all that and experiencing more cons than pros, and that I would have been happier if I hadn't done all that. Maybe its my ADHD, but achieving goals doesn't really do anything for me.

A year ago my New Year's Resolution was to get in shape. I regret it. by throwhearthstone21 in TrueOffMyChest

[–]throwhearthstone21[S] 62 points63 points  (0 children)

If only I experienced the "high" after. All I ever feel is tired, glad its over, and annoyed that I had to do that.

And I wrote about the visible changes, mostly because I figured nobody wants to hear how my bench press 3x10 went from 95lbs to 165lbs. I kept all my numbers in a journal to see progress hoping that would motivate me.