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> It had nothing to do with motivation, but making exercise a part of my day like brushing my teeth. So it isn't about discipline either, it's about habits? I

> It had nothing to do with motivation, but making exercise a part of my day like brushing my teeth. So it isn't about discipline either, it's about habits? I'm like you. Routine exercise for the last 25 years or so. I feel neither particularly disciplined nor particularly motivated. It is either just a habit I've formed or I happen to have the correct physiological temperament for exercise to be easy.

Balooga 29d ago
Out of interest, how long did it take for you to form the habit for regular exercise? I took a solid 6 months of forcing myself to ignore my mind's constant excuses to not work out, to the point of my mind realizing that the excuses just weren't going to work and stop.
- nathan_compton 28d ago
  I don't know. It happened in college when I got involved in an organized, highly athletic, sport. Never stopped. I guess six months wouldn't be a bad number to put on it. Exercise feels good to me. I think it felt good immediately when I started? I like the feeling of pushing myself and I kind of like discomfort/pain I can control.
  - Balooga 28d ago
    I don't like running, but I continue to run a 10km course a few times a week. Some years ago I felt the transition from someone who just runs for exercise to being a runner. And runners run. So I run.
matwood 29d ago
You could say that. Discipline is how the habit is created and kept. The first thing I tell people is that exercise isn't easy. It's not supposed to be. Outside of all the health benefits, one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. EDIT I'll also add that most people who are disciplined don't really think about it that way. They just do what they need to do.
- tbrownaw 29d ago
  ... And motivation is what lets you stay disciplined when random life things try to get in the way.
- Ntrails 29d ago
  > one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. I claim the same about hunger (within bounds of moderation etc etc). It's simply uncomfortable, but it's a discomfort that you can adapt to and live with. My general view is that both hunger and exercise work as ways to moderate weight but they rely on the exact same capacity for discomfort (and enduring that requires either necessity or motivation/discipline etc)

Balooga 29d ago

Out of interest, how long did it take for you to form the habit for regular exercise? I took a solid 6 months of forcing myself to ignore my mind's constant excuses to not work out, to the point of my mind realizing that the excuses just weren't going to work and stop.

nathan_compton 28d ago
I don't know. It happened in college when I got involved in an organized, highly athletic, sport. Never stopped. I guess six months wouldn't be a bad number to put on it. Exercise feels good to me. I think it felt good immediately when I started? I like the feeling of pushing myself and I kind of like discomfort/pain I can control.
- Balooga 28d ago
  I don't like running, but I continue to run a 10km course a few times a week. Some years ago I felt the transition from someone who just runs for exercise to being a runner. And runners run. So I run.

matwood 29d ago

You could say that. Discipline is how the habit is created and kept. The first thing I tell people is that exercise isn't easy. It's not supposed to be. Outside of all the health benefits, one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. EDIT I'll also add that most people who are disciplined don't really think about it that way. They just do what they need to do.

tbrownaw 29d ago
... And motivation is what lets you stay disciplined when random life things try to get in the way.
Ntrails 29d ago
> one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. I claim the same about hunger (within bounds of moderation etc etc). It's simply uncomfortable, but it's a discomfort that you can adapt to and live with. My general view is that both hunger and exercise work as ways to moderate weight but they rely on the exact same capacity for discomfort (and enduring that requires either necessity or motivation/discipline etc)