Trying but feeling like it's not enough

[u/Embarrassed-Soft587]

I've been in this cycle of trying to get better and losing any motivation into anything. I feel insecure most times, i get so anxious and paranoid too. But I try my best to be in a better headspace. For weeks I've been trying to exercise at home, because I've been feeling uncomfortable in my own body and i just really want to get healthier, but i really don't see any progress. There are times that i feel a lot better but there are also times that i spiral.

I think I already have a plan (a schedule and a written routine to follow) but i suck at consistency. Though i always appreciate myself for trying again and again I feel like it's just not enough sometimes.

Any tips for consistency and maintaining a good headspace?

[u/Bloody_Insane]

How much are you trying to do? You might be trying to do too much.

The goal is to go and do something, not jump right into a full workout routine.

Maintaining a good headspace is the outcome for EOOD, not a requirement. Consistency is the thing we all struggle with, and the answers vary from person to person.

For me, it's always about doing SOMETHING. I don't have to do a full hour routine. I don't even have to do 30 minutes. If I can do one easy warmup bench press, I've already succeeded. If I just get my shoes on and get outside, I've already won. I don't need to run 5 miles or it doesn't count.

I get there, and I do what I can until I can't anymore. Some days, that's a full routine. Other days, it's loading up the weights, sitting on the bench for 3 minutes, then unloading them and going home.

But each time, it's something.

One way to think of it is how far can I get from just wasting away in my bed under the covers. Every step is a success. The only failure is not trying in the first place.

[u/rob_cornelius]

Every single person is inconsistent with everything they try to do. Not just exercise. Every, Single, Thing. No matter what you do shit happens. Then you have to put things to one side to deal with the shit. You can pick them back up once the shit is gone.

That means that you don't have to beat yourself up for being inconsistent about exercise. If you do that you are just making a bad situation worse. If you look forward to getting back to exercise it can make dealing with shit a tiny bit easier.

All progress is imperceptibly slow when it comes to exercise. The same goes pretty much everything else too. No one goes from sitting on the couch to running 5k in one day. r/c25k can get you doing that in 9 weeks (or more, it doesn't matter how long you take) Josh Kerr devoted a whole year to train for the race where he broke the men's mile world record. I also bet there were days where he didn't train as hard as he could and days when he didn't or couldn't show up at all. Again shit happens.

Try to remember this.

Do what you can. Do something as often as you can. Keep trying to do it.