Recognizing your body's signals: does my body need to rest or to workout?
I am pretty new to the FBfamily but I read threads on here every day and feel like this is a safe space to share personal struggles. Trigger warning: ED-talk.
I am on the road of learning how to make working out a part of my lifestyle. I suffered from anorexia in my adolescence and I've always had the all or nothing-mentality. Hence, I've been working out super intensive for periods of time, until I burn out and completely stop working out for a period of time. This went on and on for years. The past year I've been using my ED as an excuse not to work out. It was like I had accepted that since I was extremely triggered by working out and that I always ended up getting down the ED road again, it just was not appropriate for me to work out. I am not a person that is able to workout with a healthy mindset (I thougth). However, this year I realised just how much I let the eating disorder control me (still!). I missed sweating and feeling my heart pump! I realised that I needed to reprogram my mind. So this is what I am trying to do now.
I am currently doing the FBfit round 1 program and I am on week five. Today I feel so sore from yesterdays workout and my mind feels mushy after a long day at uni. I just don't feel like working out, and I've decided that I will listen to my body and let it rest today. This however triggers some old destructive thoughts. I feel guilty (although I know that listening to my body and mind is a victory itself) for not following the program and I am also afraid that just because I rest for one day, I won't start up again. This thought is due to the fact that I've always forced myself to workout regardless of how I feel, and whenever I stopped working out I stopped for good (all or nothing-mentality). Someone in the FBfamily once wrote something like "I adpated working out to my life, not the other way around". This is something I always try to keep in mind nowadays, because I know that if I would force myself to workout even if my body would tell me no, this would not be a lifestyle. Soon I'd end up down the ED-road and be forced to stop working out completely again.
I have rational responses to these destructive thoughts, which I am grateful for and proud of. I can't help what thoughts come to my mind, I can however decide how I respond to them.
What I am really struggling with now is how to think on these days. There is such a fine line between truly feeling like your body needs to rest, and your body feeling tired and in need of a workout to feel more energized. You know what I mean? Like how do I really know what my body needs? Because to be honest with you, most days I feel tired when I get home and I view the workout as a chore I have to get done. I seldom feel pumped to do exercising (with the exception for the times I've gone 2-3 days of not working out).
I guess this was partly getting things off my chest, and partly asking you for some advice. Have you felt or experienced something similar? How do you know what your body wants and how do you recognize your body's signals? Thank you for reading.
Recognizing your body's signals: does my body need to rest or to workout?
I am pretty new to the FBfamily but I read threads on here every day and feel like this is a safe space to share personal struggles. Trigger warning: ED-talk.
I am on the road of learning how to make working out a part of my lifestyle. I suffered from anorexia in my adolescence and I've always had the all or nothing-mentality. Hence, I've been working out super intensive for periods of time, until I burn out and completely stop working out for a period of time. This went on and on for years. The past year I've been using my ED as an excuse not to work out. It was like I had accepted that since I was extremely triggered by working out and that I always ended up getting down the ED road again, it just was not appropriate for me to work out. I am not a person that is able to workout with a healthy mindset (I thougth). However, this year I realised just how much I let the eating disorder control me (still!). I missed sweating and feeling my heart pump! I realised that I needed to reprogram my mind. So this is what I am trying to do now.
I am currently doing the FBfit round 1 program and I am on week five. Today I feel so sore from yesterdays workout and my mind feels mushy after a long day at uni. I just don't feel like working out, and I've decided that I will listen to my body and let it rest today. This however triggers some old destructive thoughts. I feel guilty (although I know that listening to my body and mind is a victory itself) for not following the program and I am also afraid that just because I rest for one day, I won't start up again. This thought is due to the fact that I've always forced myself to workout regardless of how I feel, and whenever I stopped working out I stopped for good (all or nothing-mentality). Someone in the FBfamily once wrote something like "I adpated working out to my life, not the other way around". This is something I always try to keep in mind nowadays, because I know that if I would force myself to workout even if my body would tell me no, this would not be a lifestyle. Soon I'd end up down the ED-road and be forced to stop working out completely again.
I have rational responses to these destructive thoughts, which I am grateful for and proud of. I can't help what thoughts come to my mind, I can however decide how I respond to them.
What I am really struggling with now is how to think on these days. There is such a fine line between truly feeling like your body needs to rest, and your body feeling tired and in need of a workout to feel more energized. You know what I mean? Like how do I really know what my body needs? Because to be honest with you, most days I feel tired when I get home and I view the workout as a chore I have to get done. I seldom feel pumped to do exercising (with the exception for the times I've gone 2-3 days of not working out).
I guess this was partly getting things off my chest, and partly asking you for some advice. Have you felt or experienced something similar? How do you know what your body wants and how do you recognize your body's signals? Thank you for reading.
Best regards, Hilda