‘
I
wasa size8 inmyteens,a 10inmy
20sand30s,andI amundoubtedly
nowa 12.WhenI graduatedfrom
size 10 to12,it alsoshiftedmy
attitudetoexercise,turningup
a surprisingrevelation.Upuntilthen,I’d
never exercisedinordertoloseweight.
I enjoyedexercising.It wasn’ta chore.
I didn’tstruggletomotivatemyself.Now,
suddenlyI wasexercisingfora different
reason,andfoundthatworkingoutbecame
an entirelydifferentanimal.Mostnotably,
I was exercisingless.I hadtodragmyself
out for runs,ratherthanbouncingoutfor
them. Mystifying.Andfrustrating.’
CARE LESS,
EXERCISE MORE
‘I turnedto thebrilliantDrMichelleSegar,a
motivationscientistfromtheUniversityof Michigan,
US, andauthorofNoSweat:howthesimple
science ofmotivationcanbringyoua lifetimeof
fitness (Amacom,£13.99).DrSegarandher
colleaguesundertooka studyto findouthowour
motivationsforexerciseaffectourengagementin it.
Ofthosewhoparticipated, 75 percentexercisedfor
weightloss(orbetterhealth),while 25 percent
exercisedto enhancewellbeing.
‘Theythenfollowedtheexercisepatternsof
bothgroupsoverthenextyear.Thefirstgroup- thosewhowerelacinguptheirtrainersin order
to loseweight– spenttheleastamountof time
exercising.Thosewhoexercisedfortheirmental
healthaloneexercised 32 percentmore.
‘Thisis echoedin manyotherstudies.In more
researchthatDrSegarcites,exerciserswere
definedas“body-shapers”or“nonbody-shapers”.
The“nonbody-shapers”exercised 40 percent
more.Basically,exercisingforweightlossslays
yourbuzz.“If youfindthatexercisefeelslikea
chore,thenit’sbecauseyoufeelyoushould,rather
thanyouwantto,”saysDrSegar.“Framinga
behaviouraswork(anobligation)makesthe
experienceof thebehaviourmoredepleting,when
comparedwiththosewhosawthebehaviouras
fun,”sheexplains.What’smore,thosewhodrag
Exercise for your
brain rather than
our bum
Stop worrying about your weight and see your
workout motivation soar, says Catherine Gray
author of The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary‘As soon as I stopped caring about my size,
I started enjoying exercise again’