Motivation and Leveling Up

[Shirley]

Is it better to stretch before or after a workout? I find it easier to do a light cardio of running in place, jumping jacks, high knees, arm circles before starting my workout. Since I typically workout all week for an hour, I often rest for the first twenty minutes and stretch in between workouts and after the whole workout, i do some yoga and stretches. I mostly go with heavy weights to light. I often play music to motivate myself. Does anyone have ideas on motivation and to stop unhealthy food cravings and also negative thoughts of self-doubt? I've been busy with ap class midterm and finals studying so it can be hard to mediate at times.  I have a question: How do I level up on this site and how do I get points? 

[fitnessgurl]

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/48899-recruit-guidebook/

This should help.

[Briniel]

stretching: I've read that the general consesus is that doing dynamic stretches before working out and static stretches after the workout is best (so pretty much what you've been doing)

 

I find that motivation comes and goes for me and I need to get into the mindset of doing things despite not being motivated. Which is another form of motivation, I guess? Anyways, what helps me is tracking things so I see where I've come from and where I'm going, making lists to check of and writing in the forum so others will hold me accountable. The tracking might also help with self-doubts since you can see your progress much better and realize you're definitely improving and moving forward, but it's hard to give ideas without background knowledge on what kind of negative thoughts you have and I don't know if you want to share.

 

Unhealthy food-cravings can be countered with having no unhealthy food in the house and having healthy options ready. Try to make it easier for you to make healthy decisions and harder to make bad decisions. You could, for example, have veggies and a dip in the fridge at all times or even prepare it in advance so you just have to get it out and eat it, when you get hungry. I've also heard a lot of people (me included) say that it's sometimes hindering to think "I can't have this" and better to think "I don't want this right now"... so you can have the unhealthy stuff on the weekend or next month or next year or whatever time frame you chose. On the one hand, this kind of takes the harshness our of it and makes it easier to stomach (haha), but it also often happens that when you don't give in to your cravings right away, they disappear all on their own.

 

Stick with the meditation anyway. I don't meditate myself, but afaik the important part isn't getting it "right" every time, but making the effort over and over again. Just trying to get into a calm state of mind is worth the while, whether you feel like you succeed or not.