MENTAL BARRIERS

Common exercise barriers for women include:

• lack of time
• lack of motivation
• parenting demands
• lack of energy
• health conditions
• lack of money
• don’t feel good about yourself

Regular exercise is more likely if you plan ahead. Suggestions include:

Schedule exercise as you would schedule an important appointment. 

Set realistic expectations. 

Identify your barriers, such as lack of money or motivation. Think about a range of possible solutions.

 ·         Consider the personal beliefs that may be holding you back, such as guilt about taking time out. Challenge those beliefs. Help your family realize your needs are as important as theirs.

 ·         Find a support group – perhaps your partner, extended family, friends or paid childcare.

 Find something you like to do. You’re more likely to stick with it if you choose an activity you enjoy, than if you do it because it’s ‘good for you’.

·         Set achievable goals. Don’t fall victim to the ‘all or nothing’ mentality. If you can only find the time for one or two exercise sessions per week at the moment, congratulate yourself on this achievement. Every little bit helps and some exercise is significantly better than no exercise at all.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a trait reflecting a person's disposition toward "setting excessively high standards of performance in conjunction with a tendency to make overly critical self-evaluations"