(Summary: Make it harder to do the thing you tend to do and make it easier to do the thing you want to. And plan ahead and setup systems and cues to make that easier.)
I am 29 and recently got diagnosed with ADHD and started on meds and trying to tweak my life around a little. I inherited a few medical conditions like asthma and I developed the rest due to bad lifestyle in childhood and/or being poor. So I have ADHD, asthma, PCOS and kidney stones. I was also really bad at sports during childhood and I have a lot of associated PTSD with sports and I am so uncoordinated and bad at everything, I always feel like a piece of shit whenever I try to play a sport. I am trying to do gym/cardio/running but these experiences are also unpleasant due to asthma and I simply cannot bring myself to do it everyday coz it's like the polar opposite of a dopamine hit. I dunno how to swim, tried to learn last year but struggled with breathing and coordination again.
Are there anyone out there like me who is really struggling to find a way to set up am exercise habit? Does anyone have suggestions?
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shnamb
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I think James Clear's advice, although not specifically focused on people with ADHD, is the best I have found. jamesclear.com/exercise-habit 1. Develop a ritual to make starting easier.
2. Start with an exercise that is ridiculously small
3. Focus on the habit first and the results later.
Personally, I love to run but often get too out of shape to do so, but my large rear can still walk, and so I try to do that. Just walking a couple minutes before or after a meal helps to get started. I also like pull ups although I can't do any at the moment, I have several pull up bars around my house and I try to hang on them when I walk by.
• in reply to
One approach. Possible cue: eating. System: do one excercise before you eat anything (Choose: lunge, squat, pushup, situp, or mix and match, or anything else). Possible cue 2: sleep. System 2: count number of exercises completed in a day.)
I manage to do it regularly.... For me, it was just about picking a time free of disturbances, since I'm a night bird, I chose 10 pm. Sticking to it though was a lot about accepting that I don't really enjoy it and it's ok....i allow myself to complain and hate it, but never to skip it. I still end up skipping it a few times, but its rare. And the good mood it brings throughout the next day is a huge motivator. Exercise is one of those things that seem to work in reverse....you don't get excited about doing it, the excitement and happiness is the reward you get for doing something that's great for your body
I don’t know if you have a Fitbit or anything similar but I’m most familiar with the Fitbit (I did try the Apple Watch but prefer Fitbit) you can set movement reminders like a certain amount of steps per certain hours then you can adjust but I believe mine will tell me 15 minutes before the hour is up if I haven’t gotten my 250 steps for that hour, then I can stop scrolling through Instagram, Pinterest, etc and get up just to at least make the steps for that hour. Then if you have 8 “active” hours in a row you get congratulated basically. The thing I have found really helpful is through Facebook or whatever in some of the groups I’m in someone may post they have a Fitbit and share their Fitbit user name/number and you can do challenges with people all over the world. You can have just you doing a challenge or you can have multiple people and you do a weekend, weekday or a 5 day week there’s even bingo games you win with the most steps etc. but you can see your say 200 steps behind the person who’s leading you, it makes you want to go get some steps in (at least it does me) as long as I can actually go for a walk. Right now it’s too cold which stinks cause it makes it even harder for me to get outside and want to go for a walk. Challenges though are helpful for me.
I shut down my competitive side since childhood, I have an Apple watch and a bunch of type a friends who workout regularly and added me to their fitness app. After a point, the "x finished a workout" notification just gets annoying and I mute them or become desensitized to it.
I don't yet have a healthy mindset about competition.
Yeah so true! I started following what one person here suggested on start building a habit. I try to do 30 min of walking/running and do it completely within my comfort limits without pushing myself too much. I run a bit and walk once I don't feel like running anymore. And keeping the whole thing under 2 mi. I will try to do just this for a few weeks and see.
I've recently found a system that seems to work for me:
- I use a physical habit tracker where I have 3 activity habits (exercise for 30m, stretch, hit step goal) and I try to accomplish 2/3 each day. I have all sorts of other mundane habits on there and I color in a square for each one met. This accomplishes two things for me: a simple, visible reminder of what I'm trying to do each day and a small, but effective, dopamine hit when I can color in a square.
- I have a Fitbit and use Fitbit Premium. Premium has a "Readiness" feature which takes into account stamina, sleep, activity, etc to give me a score each day and suggested amount of Active Minutes I should aim for that day. Sometimes it's only 5m! It's been working great for me because on days I don't feel like working out, I just go for a long walk until I hit my goal and call it a day. I've also come to learn that sometimes my regular, daily activities get me Active Minutes (intense vacuuming session, anyone?!) so I'm getting a workout without "working out."
- I'm focusing on building the habit of simply moving to help me feel good, not so much the results of exercise. My goal is to wake up each morning and do SOMETHING even if it's just an intense stretching session.
- Some things that help me enjoy moving:
-- watching a TV show on my phone while on the treadmill
-- using the Cross Training option on the treadmill so it speeds up and slows me down in a manageable way - I HATE running and have started to enjoy it this way! It only has me running a maximum of 1m before it has me walk, and does all the work to figure out how to warm me up in pace before the running starts. Biggest barrier to exercising for me has been the planning, so I do best with activities that just tell me what to do.
-- dancing! I put on a playlist that makes me want to bop around and the rule I use is that I simply have to move the entire time. Sometimes I run around the house dancing like a crazy person, other times I stay in place dancing and moving; anything goes if you're moving and having fun. It's a real dopamine hit and you'd be surprised how much it gets your heart rate up!
-- weights! I use an app called Sweat and so the at-home or at-gym weight sessions. They're on-demand, super clear instructions, customizable, and tell me exactly what to do. Always gets my heart rate up, but not in a way that makes me too out of breath or uncomfortable. I find that I have to feel like I can actually accomplish an activity without feeling awful in order to enjoy doing it.
I hope some of these things help you figure out a good system for you!
I have made it a rule that I can not read the news unless I am exercising on my stationary bike. I love reading the news, so got to ride my bike in order to read it! Self rules, rock!
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