Willpower and Exercise.

[Gaiseric]

Alright guys, I've been having a problem this past year.

Text Wall Inbound!...3...2...1...ENGAGE!

3 years back, I found out that I had high blood pressure when I was getting my eyes checked to see if I needed to update my prescription. It was high enough that the Optometrist came back with a wavier saying that he told me to see a doctor ASAP. I went to the doctor found out I weighed 310 pounds(hadn't weighed myself in a few years) and had to start taking blood pressure meds. I went out and bought an exercise bike and over time added more time, intensity, started going on long walks, lifting weights, and in the last couple months jogging. Lost 55 pounds in two years and went down a few pant sizes.

But this last year I've only lost 10 pounds. I need to lose 25 more. My doc says if I lose another 10 I can get of the medication and if I lose another 15 I can join the military. The main problem I have is that my willpower is running on fumes. Lately, I get a strong urge to just quit in the middle of my workout. Half the time I give into it and stop. I've tried varying my workout, watching TV(when on the bike), podcasts, videogames, and music to keep myself distracted or pumped. They don't work anymore. It's become a big problem especially during my run where I feel like stopping when I'm only half done. It isn't that I can't physically do it - it doesn't hurt, doesn't leave me sore, I'm not pushing myself too hard, and I know I can do it and have done it many times before.

I don't think it is a problem of motivation b/c I got a lot of reasons to keep going, but none of them feel like enough anymore. I'm already lighter than I was in high school, stronger, faster, wear smaller clothes, and just all around healthier. I want to get out of the house, join the military, get off the meds, be fit for the first time in my life, have a reason to feel good about myself, and just get my life going the way I want. Any of you have a problem like this? Anyone got any advice? I could use some help.

SHORT VERSION
Need to keep exercising, but feel burnt out(mentally) and having difficulty keeping myself going during exercise(physically I can do it, but I feel urge to quit during). Need help and/or advice.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

Before I give you my advice, I want to ask what branch you want to join, and what spec you would be looking at when you get there?

 

[Gaiseric]

Marines, I figure if I'm going in I might go for the branch that will demand the most of me(Highest physical standards I think). Besides my grandpa was in the Corps during Korea. Thinking Engineer, but I'm not a 100 percent. So far I've meet with the recruiters and taken the practice ASVAB. They say the 25 pounds and meds will be the only thing holding me back. Been working on getting my run time up, push ups, and pull ups.

edit: I need to get in shape anyway so when I get myself to where I'm off the meds and got myself closer to the requirements, I'll go and take the real test and talk some more to figure out what my MOS should be.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

Good for you. I'm in the proccess of earning my commission in the beloved Corps. I'm working towards getting picked up by the Force Recon in MARSOC, and hope to get the opportunity to attend the Scout Sniper School. (Their requirements for officers are insane when compared to those of the enlisted men. I can go into more detail about that if you would like, but I don't think that's really what you're looking to hear about right now.)

Most recruiting centers run a group PT for prospects that you could possibly join. If not, I would suggest finding someone you can work out with who shares your goals. A buddy of mine is a DI at Paris Island, and I do my early-morning PT with him when we're both home. If he's not avaliable, I have another buddy who is a Scout Sniper, and we do exercises together.

If you can't find a buddy, then I would suggest doing your first PT early in the morning (I do mine around five or so). It's harder to make excuses when you got your ass out of bed for exactally that purpose.

Other than that, you've just gotta adopt that Marine attitude of never quit while you can still move. I sometimes feel like quitting or walking after mile eight, but I just say to myself, "Don't quit now you sorry piece of shit!" And, I keep going. Sing a cadence, or imagine there's a DI next to you if you have to. At the end of the day, it's all about that mental toughness.

 

[Gaiseric]

My center does have PT on Thursdays at 4 PM. The problem is that when I went there was nobody anywhere close to my level. Made me a little gunshy about going back. That's one of the reasons I'm trying to work out more so I can go back and not get completely smoked.

I do my workout at about 4-4:30 AM when it's still cool out. I'll keep the Marine attitude in mind when I go out tomorrow. Only one guy I know is willing to run with me and I don't really know how serious he is about it.

Feel free to go into more detail on the requirements. I've heard different things and wouldn't mind knowing what I need to do from someone who has done it. An example being the running. I've heard the basic test is for 2 miles, 1.5 miles, or 3 miles. I've heard the time requirement varying from 12 min to 18 for the two mile and the 18 sounds too slow to me.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

The fitness test is comprised of a three-mile run, pull-ups, and crunches. The minimum for the run is twenty-eight minutes, and a perfect score is eighteen minutes. The minimum for pull-ups is three successful pull-ups, and twenty successful pull-ups is a perfect score. The minimum for the crunches is fifty crunches in less than two minutes, and a perfect score is 100 crunches in under two minutes. If you want more specifics about the PFT, you can look it up online, or you can ask your recruiter about it.

Officers have much higher minimums on all of the PFT tests, because they are held to a higher standard of fitness than the enlisted marines. I myself have a run time of 17:33, a twenty-seven pull-up record, and do over two-hundred crunches in two minutes. Force Recon also requires more out of their officers than their enlisted men, and the enlisted men have insane requirements.

 

[Gaiseric]

Cool. Now I got definite goals to work towards.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

Glad to be of service. (Get it?) Semper fi! Oorah!

 

[SiskoBlue]

The gold rule I learned was that there is no such thing as "will power". At least not in the sense most people thing of it.

What motivates people do a particular behaviour (exercise, give up smoking, eat better) is the reward (get fit, be free of smoking, get healthier). That's fairly obvious, but it only works when a few things are in place.

1. You really have to want the reward. If the reward isn't looking so appealling any more that could lead to a reduction in the behaviour. What made you commit to getting fit in the first place? Do you remember the feeling that made you get up and doing exercise? Do you still really want to be fit, join the marine corps? Only you know how much you want these things but it might help to re-focus on what you want and try to resurrect those feelings again.

2. Belief that the behaviour will really lead to the reward. If you feel the exercise isn't going to get you there then the motivation to exercise will go out the window. Maybe you felt that you'd be there by now, maybe the reward of feeling healthy isn't meeting the expectations you had? You've tried different exercise regimes which is good but it sounds like you still haven't found something that has become just a normal part of your routine. Maybe you need to set some exercise goals. When you do your run do you time yourself? Are you breaking that record every day? Maybe you need to add an extra reward system. For example, you could say "If I meet my exercise plan this week/break my times I'll get myself X as a reward, or I'll go get a massage" Just anything that you really enjoy will do.

Good luck.

 

[Hop-along Nussbaum]

As someone who is retired military, I can tell you that exercise is 90% mental and 10% physical. Trust me, your mind can push your body to do things you can't imagine.

Some advice:

First, start small. Don't try to kill yourself every workout. If you're running, run for X miles for 3 days or so. Then, increase the distance by a few hundred yards, and run that for several days. And so on.

Second, watch what you eat. Exercise doesn't do any good when you're whoofing down an entire pizza or footlong sub.

Third, be ready for relapses. They happen. You don't want to get out of bed to run. You can't motivate yourself. Whatever. You have to get back on the horse.

Fourth, don't concentrate on how much the workout hurts DURING the workout. Think about how good you feel when you cross the finish line and you're winded, and your body is on fire. Then think about how good it feels to get a steam, and a hot shower.

Focus on the positives, and not the negatives. And be ready for the LONG haul. If you're doing this to try to lose weight to get into the military, once you're in the military you will do this at least 3-5 times per week. So, if you're not commited to that kind of life, just be honest with yourself.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

I just remembered something else, the weight loss you have achieved is healthy weight loss. Slow and steady his how you take it off and keep it off. I've read many things on the subject, and if you cut weight too quickly, you will gain it back just as quickly because your body thinks it is starving. Also, you will reach a certain point where you may stop losing weight and start to gain it again. Do not be alarmed. This just means you are gaining muscle mass.

 

[Gaiseric]

@The Man With the Soap: I see what you did their. I approve. Yeah I've had that happen when I stopped losing. I know it is the muscle, but it doesn't stop it from being frustrating. I remember, during my brief time in college, my nutrition professor saying that not to try and lose weight too quickly or there is a good chance to gain it back and then some.

@SiskoBlue: The exercise bike was something I used almost everyday(not Sunday) for a long time, but when I tried to work out with some other Marine hopefulls it became clear that I needed to start running. Trying to get into the habit of using the bike again to warm up and burn some extra calories, then go for the run. I do time myself every time I run and I mostly beat my previous time at least by a couple seconds. I'll have to try the reward thing see how that goes. I do think I need to get my head straight. Thanks for the advice.

@Hop-along Nussbaum: The mental game is something I've been neglecting. I think I've been focusing on the negatives way too much. Tomorrow morning I'll focus on the positives. My whole attitude has been getting pretty negative lately. Gotta fix that. Thanks man.

 

[dmase]

Hey I'v seen your threads around I respect your doing the best you can and i've been there. I have the exact opposite problem of you. I'm skinny as fuck and have to work myself to death lifting weights to keep my weight up. The most i've ever weighed was 150 and I had to run 5 miles every other day and lift weight up to 2 hours to keep that. Now i've changed it up to the point where I only need to lift a little over an hour a day. That wall will only get worse if you don't find a solution or a way to recommit yourself.

Just message me if you need some advice or anything i'm not sure how I can help but i'll try. And before you start speeding up your run increase your distance and go all out as long as your not gonna hurt yourself. Jogging a consistent 3 miles is what you should aim for and from there increase your speed or run twice a day. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. Thats is the only real dietary advice I can give you, Your only supposed to get a couple calories from what you drink every day and still be allowed to eat a good meal but remember protein is a necessity for working out. I don't suggest the waye protein supplements because there are negative effects to high protein diets but that will give you the protein i've been trying to throw into my body with out all the fat, sugar, and calories. None of those things are bad given the right amounts and right types but like I said i'm not good at dietary advice and your not my body type.

Also if you can do 50 pushups in a row its time for you to move up to weights. And if you can't do 50 push ups in a row you need to increase the amount of push ups you do or the amount of sets you do. Either way very soon you should move up to free weights. So my best advice is increase distance in running not speed(thought that helps) and start using weights after you improve the amount you can do.

Take a picture of yourself every three weeks from now on. Keep track of your max lifting for different exercises. Keep track of your weight as well but if you can lift sufficiently and are a good weight and consider yourself in good shape then the military is not as important, you should definitely give 110% into getting there but if you can't you can still be an engineer and have a successful rewarding life.

One thing i need to know is how much do you exercise now and where do you work?

Second, i am quitting smoking and while kind of in shape I can't run as much as I did when I played soccer and I hope to sort of achieve that level. If you want a running buddy to compare don't worry I will run you hard but make you feel better about yourself. Given i'm an asthmatic who smoked and feel like he's developed a slight case of emphysema from his stupidity I think I can give you a run for your money and make you feel better about yourself. Ask anything of me its anonymous and I'm willing to help best I can.

Edit: also If you're an engineer I can help you as best i can. Obviously not the same weay the military expects you but I've been through two years of community college which does very general stuff so I can help there as well.

 

[Gaiseric]

Thanks guys. Lots of good advice and tips. Now I just need to put it into practice.

 

[Erana]

I also assume you're listening to music when you exercise. Try creating an entirely new playlist- that always makes me work harder.

 

[Gaiseric]

Yes I do. New playlist couldn't hurt.

 

[Goofguy]

Here are two things I find are good for working out:

1. A training partner. There's an amazing thing that tends to happen when neither you nor your partner want to go work out that day, you still do it. It's a lot easier to motivate yourself when there's someone else there giving you a kick in the butt. Plus, try making it competitive at times, you'll find you might just be working that little bit harder.

2. Try new workouts. And I don't mean the way you workout (like changing your music or location) but the actual exercises you do. Been doing sit-ups for your abs? Try some crunches instead, throw in some Supermans and kettlebell swings for the lower back part of your core. Been doing some spinning and running for cardio? Try doing some rowing or some interval training to mix it up. Maybe even look at trying some sports. It doesn't have to be a league or a big team thing; try some tennis or squash, both are great workouts and you only need one other person to make it worthwhile.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

Here are two things I find are good for working out:

1. A training partner. There's an amazing thing that tends to happen when neither you nor your partner want to go work out that day, you still do it. It's a lot easier to motivate yourself when there's someone else there giving you a kick in the butt. Plus, try making it competitive at times, you'll find you might just be working that little bit harder.

2. Try new workouts. And I don't mean the way you workout (like changing your music or location) but the actual exercises you do. Been doing sit-ups for your abs? Try some crunches instead, throw in some Supermans and kettlebell swings for the lower back part of your core. Been doing some spinning and running for cardio? Try doing some rowing or some interval training to mix it up. Maybe even look at trying some sports. It doesn't have to be a league or a big team thing; try some tennis or squash, both are great workouts and you only need one other person to make it worthwhile.

Try some Aztec push-ups. Those'll kick your ass.

 

[Gaiseric]

1. A training partner. There's an amazing thing that tends to happen when neither you nor your partner want to go work out that day, you still do it. It's a lot easier to motivate yourself when there's someone else there giving you a kick in the butt. Plus, try making it competitive at times, you'll find you might just be working that little bit harder.

I know having someone train with you helps a tonne. Problem I have is that there is only one guy who would be willing to train with me except he's flaky and wouldn't want to do it often.

Right now I'm trying to get myself to a point where I can train with some other guys at a recruitment center.

Going to see if some friends will be up to hike some this summer. So at least I can do something with somebody.

 

[Gaiseric]

Should I take water with me on my run?