People will do ANYTHING to stay in their comfort zone. A comfort zone is the place where things feel easy, safe, and comfortable. Things don't necessarily feel like work or feel hard in the comfort zone. There is no risk involved.
Visualize your comfort zone at the gym or wherever you normally exercise: Are you safely and comfortably riding the exercise bike or elliptical? Are you even sweating? Walking to nowhere on the treadmill for an hour? Are you tucked in a corner doing a million crunches on the floor? Are you bored?
I'll be blunt: if it seems easy or even boring, you probably aren't going to change your body. To make your body change, you have to make it do what it's not used to. Our bodies are smart- they adapt quickly to what we do routinely. If you do the same level and speed on the elliptical every single workout, your body will know exactly what to expect the minute you step on it. You will end up burning less calories because you are already so efficient at this workout.
One of my favorite fitness sayings is "If you do what you've always done, you're going to get what you've always gotten." Think about it. It makes sense. Get out of your same old rut by trying these things:
1) Whatever you do should feel challenging. Sweat and breathe hard. Change the speed or intensity of your favorite activity. Try doing intervals of work vs. rest. (This is personally my favorite way of doing cardio.)
2) Shake things up and try something you haven't done before. Need ideas? Look online or watch others around you during your workout. If you are outdoorsy, take a new hike route with a weighted backpack or walk a local trail and throw in some squats or lunges every so often.
3) Don't worry about looking "different." Who cares??!! If you want to stay in the comfort zone, look around you at the other people on those same machines in the same comfort zone and tell me if ANY of them have the body that you want. Stay focused on how new challenging things can change your body or at least get you out of your workout rut.
4) Change your workouts every 4-6 weeks. Especially when you lift weights.
There aren't too many things that are outside of my comfort zone at the gym. People look at me like I'm crazy all the time, but I'm over it. Maybe I am inspiring them to try something new. Trust me, the more you get out of your comfort zone, the less aftraid you'll be. Hey, YOU might inspire others to do the same!
