
I never thought I’d write this down someday. Me, working out? With consistency and pleasure on top of that? Nah, no way.
And yet. It’s been six months since I started working out again.
I’m a 22-year-old woman. I’ve always been pretty active. In my childhood and adolescence, not a year went by without me joining a sports club.
Watch: The horoscopes working out. Post continues below.
Then I moved to Paris, and I quit. Mainly because everything was very expensive. I missed it. I realised that sport was a way out and a way not to gain (too much) weight.
But every time I decided to work out a bit at home, to sign up for the gym, or to go running, I took no pleasure in it. It was a constraint. Even a burden on my day. After a few weeks, I’d give up.
Last October, I felt like starting over.
I believe that for the first time, it was a conscious step, motivated by a quest for myself. I knew why I wanted to work out. And I also knew what I had to do, and not do, so I wouldn’t give up after a few sessions.
If I have to get out of the house to work out, it demotivates me. If it’s too hard, I give up. If someone doesn’t tell me what to do, I get bored.
Slowly but steadily
I decided to train on my mat, in my tiny apartment, 15 minutes two or three times a week, late in the afternoon, following the instructions of an app (Nike Fitness & Fitify, for those interested). It met all my criteria.
Surprisingly, it worked. I found myself enjoying it, and saw the motivation come on its own as soon as I put music on. I held onto it until February.
At this point, I felt that I had toned up a bit, but nothing extraordinary. I also felt better, more energised, and fit. I didn’t notice any real visible change on my body.
Then, quarantine began.
I was on the verge of hyperactivity. Before lockdown, I could barely spend a day at home. I needed my daily dose of moving and walking.
Suddenly, I couldn’t anymore. More than a simple well-being resolution, sport became a need.
That’s when things got serious
“I already know what giving up feels like. I want to see what happens if I don’t.” — Neila Rey
For the first two days, I did nothing.
Gradually, however, I felt the negative energy rising within me. On the third day, I put on my sportswear, I found a rug at my parents’ house where I was in lockdown, and I launched my app with loud music.