The Connection Runners

Mind Games

Today marks the day that I am two thirds of the way through with wearing this air cast. Which in my mind means I have completed the majority of my unfortunate break from running. These last couple of weeks should fly by... right? :) Well, maybe not but looking at it that way certainly helps me keep a positive frame of mind. It got me thinking about how these "mind games" have helped me along my journey and I thought I would share.

Mind games while trying to lose weight:

I played the same silly mind games last year when I was trying to lose weight. I started out by telling myself "just 21 days". I made a pact with myself that I would eat right and exercise every single day for 21 days. After those 3 weeks if I wasn't happy with my results then I would give myself permission to quit. And guess what? I kept going, I was thrilled with the results and the rest is history.

Even though I'm no longer trying to lose weight, I still use that trick. If I suddenly get the desire to run into the kitchen and eat peanut butter out of the jar I tell myself, "Just drink a bottle of water and wait an hour, if you still want it then you can have it." And 9 times out of 10 the urge leaves in that hour.

Mind games while running:

I have a shocking confession. When I first started running, I didn't enjoy it. I enjoyed how accomplished I felt afterwards, but the actual act was not enjoyable. Ok, so that's not actually that shocking. Turns out, a lot of people are that way and that's why they quit trying. Well, I wanted to run so I'd tell myself, "Just run to the end of the block, if you have to stop after that then stop" and then when I'd reach that point I would assign a new point to run to. Before I knew it I had ran my first mile and after that the miles just kept adding on.

Even when I started loving running there are days when I just don't want to, but I always tell myself to just get out there for 15 minutes. Once I complete those 15 if I still don't want to run then I can head home. And guess what? I've never quit.

We all play them, little mind games that make things easier or better.

What kind of mind games do you play?

Also, I mentioned this in Tuesdays post, but if you have any questions you want to ask me (about weight loss/running/ME/whatever) I'm putting together a few post where I answer YOUR questions.

Don't forget to enter my Running Skirts giveaway. (CLICK HERE)