If You Hate Exercise-Move Your Body Instead! Executive Dysfunction Diaries #1

How to get your brain to move your body and feel the difference!

I love to learn. I get super dorky around research, hard data, and anecdotal evidence from experts in their field. So as my 45ish, fibro myalgia achy body starts to yell at me more and more each morning I decided to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to like exercise- or at least tolerate it.

Sometimes I envy those who love sports. My son can’t get enough skiing. One of my sisters-in-law voluntarily joins adult sports leagues- like seriously, she wants to do it, but it’s not for a gym credit or anything… mind totally blown! I often wish that growing up in the 80s with three younger brothers I was more socialized to enjoy sports, but instead of this blog turning into an essay on the female experience, I will drag my focus back to the topic above.

If you have ADHD you may, benefit from movement for activation and “brain break” purposes.

Also true, if you have ADHD you very likely may struggle with exercise more than the average Joe or Jane, and here’s why:

1. Starting a new routine and turning it into a habit is especially difficult for those with ADHD. Sometimes it’s so overwhelming to know where to start (executive functioning skill-planning)that we avoid it entirely.

2. Starting an activity even if you WANT to do it is also incredibly difficult for those with ADHD. (Executive functioning skill- task initiation.)

3. Knowing how to approach the logistics of fitting movement/exercise in your daily life may be a challenge for those with ADHD. (Executive functioning skill-time management.)

4. Managing money can be difficult for those with ADHD- should I splurge for the new fancy gym membership, buy a peloton, pay a subscription fee for some daily exercise challenge… What if I do and waste it again… cue self-loathing and berating.

5. All-or-nothing thinking: I’ve heard lots of fitness expert sound bytes through the years- such as “workouts are meaningless if they aren’t at least 90 minutes” that fuel my habit of all-or-nothing thinking. Or I may box myself in by thinking “The only class I’ve ever liked is vinyasa yoga which is a 20-minute drive by both ways and 60 minutes” I don’t have time for that, so why bother doing anything?

6. Anxiety- If you are one of the 50% of adults estimated to have anxiety AND ADHD (see article here) your anxious brain could be stopping you with a large variety of negative self-talk including fears around getting injured, embarrassing yourself at the gym, not wanting to show your body in any sort of gym appropriate clothing and the list (and worries) go on.

Ok, now that you are reading this and nodding your head along in agreement you may temporarily feel even more hopeless! Stick with me for a moment. Now that you know why working out/exercising or simply moving your body can be so hard, I want you to do your best to give yourself some grace. Maybe you can forgive yourself for this being so dang hard. If you aren’t there yet, try this: simply accept it: “Yes, moving my body is hard for me in many ways. But, I am going to do it today anyway. I can do hard things.”

Ok, no more side stories and facts- here is the “meat” of today’s post:

My top tips for actually starting this new habit of moving your body:

1. Language matters! You may see me interchange the terms exercise, movement, moving your body, and working out. I’ve used and do use all of those terms for my own fitness journey. As a person who went on their first diet before I started middle school, I have a lot of negative feelings surrounding the idea of exercise and working out. As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, I never found an activity I enjoyed doing that incorporated movement. So when I read Intuitive Eating and their simple approach to incorporating exercise was, “Movement, feel the difference,” I knew my nerdy research-loving self would love the book AND the above quote would become a mantra of mine.

   **Remember, just as I emphasize daily in my ADHD coaching practice, my brain is not yours. This may also work for you and this may not. You may love sports, or working out or the term exercise. So- you do you! Not sure, what term will feel positive to you, try them out or make up a new one. You can call exercising “move what your Momma gave ya” time, whatever works!