Article 23: I also lost some weight.

I also lost some weight.

Besides reasons like lack of time or being too tired, another important reason why people can't stick to exercising is that they find exercise too boring and uninteresting.

Why do we find exercise boring and tedious? It's not necessarily a problem with exercise itself, but rather depends on what other options we have besides exercise. If other options are more interesting than exercise, then naturally we won't want to exercise. Imagine this: you've had a busy day at work, and you don't get home until after 6 pm. After that, you still have to cook, clean, and shower. By the time you can finally relax, it's already past 8 pm. At that point, would you rather go downstairs for a brisk walk for an hour, or would you rather lie in bed, watch a movie, play games, or browse your phone? When faced with physical fatigue and various temptations, it's easy to be conquered by our laziness, putting exercise aside, and perhaps comforting ourselves: "It's okay, I'll just rest for one night and exercise tomorrow."

This isn't just a problem with sports; activities that are beneficial in the long run are generally tedious and uninteresting in the short term. Take learning, for example. Many people want to learn new skills or get certified in their spare time, but such learning requires a lot of time and energy. Compared to playing games or looking at their phones, learning is truly the most boring thing. So, although we know that learning can bring more opportunities and growth, we often lose self-control when making choices, attracted by immediate pleasure and forgetting our long-term plans.

Giving up long-term goals in favor of short-term gratification is an inherent human weakness. Choosing to do things that are more fun in the moment brings immediate happiness. But consistently choosing long-term goals without immediately experiencing any noticeable benefits makes us prone to procrastination. Should we exercise or go to the movies? Exercising once won't make us lose weight instantly, skipping a workout doesn't seem to have much impact, and exercising more doesn't seem to show much effect either. But if we miss the movie, we might never see it again. Our exercise plans thus repeatedly give way to other things.

However, not everyone prioritizes short-term gratification over long-term goals. There's a famous psychological experiment you've probably heard of: the marshmallow experiment. Psychologists from Stanford University invited over 600 children aged 4-6 to their lab. At the start of the experiment, they gave each child a marshmallow and told them that if they could resist eating it for 15 minutes, they would receive another marshmallow as a reward. The result was easy to predict: most children couldn't resist, and as soon as the researchers turned and walked away, they ate their marshmallows. However, some children managed to resist and control their desires. Researchers found that 20 to 30 years later, children who could resist immediate temptations were more successful in all aspects of life than those who could not, and even had a healthier weight.

How did these children manage to control themselves? Is self-control innate? Psychologists have discovered that these children weren't just sitting idly in front of the marshmallow; they were able to control their desires because they employed various techniques to resist temptation. For example, some children blindfolded themselves, while others pretended the marshmallow was an animal and played with it for 15 minutes. This shows that self-control can be learned. When faced with too many temptations and finding exercise boring, we need to learn from these children and find some techniques to make exercise more appealing.

The first method is to connect exercise with social interaction. Exercise can be divided into two categories: one is exercise that is done alone, such as long-distance running, swimming, and fitness; the other is social exercise that requires cooperation among multiple people, such as ball sports-basketball, football, badminton, and even walking, outdoor hiking, and rock climbing, which are themselves social activities.

Social sports have two advantages. First, because you have to arrange the time and place with others, it's harder to cancel at the last minute. For example, I've arranged to play badminton twice a week with some good friends. We need to book the court and time in advance. Even if I feel lazy and don't want to go, I think it would be too rude to cancel at the last minute, so I end up going anyway. Second, because playing sports is a social activity, it's entertaining. Everyone chats and laughs while playing, so you don't feel tired at all. You might even feel like you haven't had enough fun afterward and look forward to the next get-together. If we regularly engage in social exercise, our brains will associate the potentially uninteresting activity of exercise with the more engaging activity of socializing. This way, we unconsciously develop a habit of regular exercise, and in the process, we can meet new friends or reconnect with old ones – a win-win situation. This exercise pattern is then much easier to maintain long-term.

The second method is to link exercise with positive sensory stimulation. That is, to create more pleasurable sensory experiences while exercising. This method is more suitable for exercising alone. For example, if you find brisk walking or running boring, you can listen to your favorite music or download some audiobooks while exercising. If you're using a treadmill, you can also download some shows you enjoy. Because listening to music and watching shows are things that make you feel happy, after repeating this a few times, this feeling of happiness will extend to running. We can fully utilize our creativity in this regard; there are countless methods we can use.

If you dislike monotony and crave novelty, try choosing a different route each time you go for a run. This way, you might discover new things each time, and curiosity will drive you to look forward to the next run. If you want to relax, choose a scenic spot close to nature to exercise in, allowing you to enjoy the scenery while exercising. If you subconsciously feel that exercise is a bit of a waste of time, but you have to exercise for health or weight loss, you can try practicing mindfulness during your workout. Focus on feeling the sensations in the part of your body you're working, try talking to it, experiencing the changes in your muscles, and feeling the joy of being present and expressing love to yourself. I believe you will definitely be able to find a method that suits you. If you can use these methods well, you will gradually find that you enjoy exercising more and more, not exercising for the sake of losing weight, but losing weight while exercising.

Homework

1. In the coming week, try to participate in and organize more social sports activities. You can also increase sensory stimulation during exercise to make yourself more enjoyable.

2. Make full use of your exercise records to plan social and sensory-enhancing activities in advance.