Motivation is hard enough when you’re movin’ and groovin’ through life being as busy as you are, Curvy Girl. You’ve got some great fitness, weight loss, and body re-shaping goals.

But what happens with the motivation to move your body or the weight loss motivation when you’re slipping into the deep dark abyss called sadness or even worse yet, depression?

I have been personally stricken with depression in the past and I sometimes get sad. The sadness I can handle because I know that in a few minutes my mood will change after watching a movie or after calling a supportive and optimistic friend.

So when it’s time to be happy again the exercise motivation is easy. I am running out the door to my favorite Spinning class.

I’m back to being a happy Curvy Girl and with the gym motivation and weight loss motivation in my Build-A-Bangin’ Body Tool Belt. I am set!

But when the sadness looms over me for too long it’s danger time and I know that I could easily fall into the hole and it’s even harder to come out of it and function as my normal happy self.

And what’s worse I have no motivation to take care of myself. I forget about who I really am. I forget that I really have a wonderful life. I forget that I can create a better one if I wanted to. The motivation is nowhere to be found.

All of these truths are thrown out the window because I have bought into the illusion that I suck, my world sucks, and my life will suck forever until the end of my days.

Yes. Depression is such a powerful monster. It will suck your motivation dry and will pull you into the illusion and will take hold of you until you force yourself to snap out of it.

I always know that I need to create an action plan to snap out of the depression. Because I know that my gym motivation, weight loss motivation, and exercise motivation are nil.

Remember motivation will not easily come to you during these times. The only motivation is the thought that I will not have much of a life if I don’t do something about this.

Since I understand that this deep sadness is an illusion and my mind and thoughts play tricks on me I must pull up my boot straps and be the Curvy Warrior that I am and go all out to climb out of the hole.

There are too many good things that I want for myself in my life to be paralyzed with being overwhelmed with sadness.
The golden nugget that I learned from experiencing depression is take action in spite of the sadness and when no motivation is in sight.

So whenever I slip into the sadness or a deeper sadness which starts to kick into a depression I take my action blueprint out and start going through the steps to help generate the exercise motivation and the weight loss motivation again.

Motivation Action Step 1

Reach out to at least one person to hold yourself accountable to the actions that you’ve promised to take.

I know that this is very difficult especially when it’s hard to do anything. When you are in a deep, deep depression the motivation is not there to even get out of bed in the morning…but you will have to.

I try to reach out to people although the motivation is not there to since I automatically want to retract and crawl into my hole with no one around. But you just need one person to be there to hold you accountable.

This is your life. The only one you’ve got and it’s time to do anything and everything for it.

Motivation Action Step 2

Work out every single day until you see a glimpse of light and feel a glimpse of hope.

So that means for about a week to 10 days I will work out every single day until I feel like I’m connected again with my body with motivation to move along with the gym motivation.

I went online to a deals website and looked for something new and fun that I’d enjoy. I chose a dance fitness center and indoor cycling. I bought a week’s unlimited pass and started scheduling classes and I placed it in my Google calendar.

I checked in with my friend to tell her the steps I took and would check back with her after I actually took the class.

Motivation Action Step 3

Get sleep. I know that this helps me with rebalancing my body because rest is restorative and while you’re sleeping you’re repairing every cell in your body. It’s crucial to normal functioning.

I knew I wasn’t getting enough sleep for the past few months. I would wake-up early for my clients and stay up after a long day of training.

I’d wake-up at 5am and work and write and respond to emails and FB questions until I went home at 10pm. That has been my life. There really wasn’t time to sleep anymore.

But now I am starting to organize my days and be more selective with my time so I could have time to sleep and renew my body and mind.

Motivation Action Step 4

Start eating right again. When I slip into the deep dark abyss there is not motivation to eat right.

All hell breaks loose with my mouth and the choices that I make when it comes to food.

Forget about feeding my body. I start feeding my desires. I start becoming impulsive and have an “I don’t care” kind of attitude with myself. And this completely supports what’s going on when I’m depressed.

“I don’t give a shit.”

“I don’t care about myself and my life.”

“I don’t care.”

I can laugh about it now and see how silly it is. But it’s not funny when you’re in it.

So I concentrate eating whole foods. And I don’t touch the processed foods. I also do not eat grains. Grains make me crazy, bloated, unhappy, obsessive and compulsive with food.

I also make sure I drink lots of tea. Jasmine tea is my favorite. I also enjoy ginger and lemon tea.

The art of climbing out of the hole is truly an art and like any other art takes practice.

Here are some tips when practicing the art.

• You need to be conscious of your thoughts.
• You need to be conscious of those feelings from those thoughts.
• You need to be proactive.
• You need to understand that you can pull yourself out of it.
• You need to believe that what you’re thinking is not what is.

Got it? GOOD Curvy Girl.

Now take care of yourself.

Motivation to move your body and take action toward your fitness and weight loss goals are difficult when you’re stricken with overwhelming sadness. You basically don’t want to do anything. An action plan for these times is vital in helping yourself climb out of the hole and start living your life again creating a healthy body and being your happy self again.

Hope the Motivation – Art of Climbing article was helpful and you’re walking away with an action plan. Until next time Curvy Goddess, Stay Strong and Stunning!