When you are depressed, you may struggle with getting out of bed each day. It’s difficult to want to stay active even though it’s necessary in order to remain healthy. Fortunately, you aren’t alone. Many other people do struggle with depression and their desire to stay active. Here are seven tips to help you stay active when you’re depressed.
Get Moving Even When You Aren’t Motivated
If you wait until you are motivated, you will probably not be very active. This is why it’s important to get moving even when you aren’t motivated. Take a walk, go for a bike ride, or swim in your pool. You may not feel like being active at first, but you will probably probably be happy you did it once you are finished. Sometimes all it takes is to start moving in order to get the motivation to be physically active.
Set Small Goals
Many people fail at being active because they become discouraged. They strive for goals that are just too lofty. These goals can be difficult to achieve even for individuals that aren’t dealing with depression.
It’s important that you only set small goals for being active when you are depressed. This will help you feel good about yourself, and you won’t feel like a failure. You should easily be able to achieve these goals to stay active. If you do find that your goals are too easy, you can always make them more difficult. Just make sure that your goals are attainable even on your very low days.
Remove Barriers
You will never be able to stay active if there are barriers in your way. Make sure that you have comfortable clothing to wear during workouts. Drink safe and clean water using a reliable water filter from this website to stay hydrated. Have an easily accessible place to be active. By doing all of these things before you exercise, you will ensure that you don’t give up before you even start. Barriers are a common reason why individuals aren’t active. They see things in their way, and it just becomes too hard for them to want to try to be active. Removing barriers will make it that much easier to reach your goals.
Be Consistent
It will be easier for you to stay active if you are consistent. Try to be active every single day. It will actually be easier for you to remain active if you don’t take a day off. If being active becomes part of your daily routine, you will have an easier time doing it even on days to where you are really struggling with your depression. It will be hard at first. However, it will eventually become easier as it will become part of your daily routines.
Celebrate Small Achievements
There may be days where you are really struggling with your depression. If you find yourself in this situation, you really need to make sure that you celebrate small achievements. This will help you be active without feeling overwhelmed. You will feel good about the little accomplishments that you achieve, and you won’t beat yourself up because you didn’t hit any big fitness goals. Be positive about all of your achievements no matter how small they are.
Reward Yourself
It’s important that you reward yourself every now and then. This will help you remain motivated to stay active. It can be something as simple as having a special treat or even more elaborate like splurging on an electronic item that you’ve been eyeing. Whatever the case may be, the reward should be great enough that you want to earn it for staying active. These rewards may be the motivation that you need to stay active when you are having a difficult time with daily activities because of your depression.
Have Someone Hold You Accountable
We all need to have people in our lives to hold us accountable. You may find an accountability partner especially beneficial if you have been really having a difficult time trying to stay physically fit and healthy. Make sure your accountability partner is someone that can motivate you. They should understand how your depression makes it difficult to do things sometimes. They should also be able to offer you an encouraging word when you are feeling down.
You don’t have to let your depression keep you down even when your symptoms are spiraling out of control. You can stay active by following the seven tips mentioned above. It may be difficult at times, but it may alleviate some of the symptoms that you are dealing with.
