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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPart 2: The Hardest Part about Getting Back in Shape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In all those years failing in my attempts to get back in shape, there was one big mistake I kept making again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem was my very narrow definition of fitness: when I imagined myself being fit again, I only did so in terms of what I had done before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example: \u201crun a 3:10 marathon and bench press 235 pounds, at a weight of 155 pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had done these things at different points, but never at the same time. So I thought being in shape enough to do all of them would be really cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here was the trouble with that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Baggage<\/strong>: It came with lots of comparison to my former self. Even months into a running and strength program, I\u2019d still be very far from what I used to be able to do.<\/li>
- Boredom<\/strong>: Neither running nor going to the gym held any excitement for me. I had done them for so many years that I was bored with them.<\/li>
- Conflict<\/strong>: I knew that building the amount of muscle I associated with \u201cfitness\u201d required me to eat an amount of food that wasn\u2019t healthy. So even if I achieved it, I knew it wouldn\u2019t be sustainable or compatible with real health.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
I was semi-conscious of all these issues. And yet, I stubbornly still wanted \u201cfitness\u201d as I had defined it, and wondered why I could never seem to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wasn\u2019t able to get in shape again until I let go of all of that. And once I did, honestly, it was easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first action I took as a result of my new mindset was to buy a kettlebell and a book (Kettlebell Simple & Sinister<\/em>, by Pavel Tsatsouline). I was clicking around on Amazon searching for something else, and must have seen it as a related suggestion or something like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it spoke to me, and the best thing I did was to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a whole new type of training. New lifts with a new apparatus, but more importantly, a new philosophy: no more training to failure, just two exercises every day, and a focus on building strength instead of mass (which I didn\u2019t even realize was possible before; I thought they were one and the same).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, a certain \u201cbadass\u201d factor that made it feel like a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, these ingredients made all the difference. This didn\u2019t feel like drudgery; it was actually exciting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t have any personal kettlebell benchmarks to measure progress against, only two strength standards (one simple, one sinister) laid out in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it all fit with my newly formed picture of fitness for the next decade: functional strength and endurance, rather than building muscle for the sake of looking good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My point here isn\u2019t to convince you to get into kettlebells or buy into Pavel\u2019s philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, it\u2019s to convince you of this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your definition of fitness has left you out of shape, then you need to change that definition.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you used to be strong, fast, and fit, and you\u2019re not anymore, then I bet \u201cfitness\u201d in your mind now comes with some kind of baggage, boredom, or conflict that makes it incompatible with true wellness, just like it did for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if that\u2019s the case, you need to change your definition, or you\u2019ll never be able to make your attempts to get fit again last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just like I couldn\u2019t until I changed mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(And by the way, I\u2019m not saying you can\u2019t ever do those things you used to love. Once I got back in shape, I found myself interested in running races again. It\u2019s just that that I don\u2019t think they\u2019re your best path back to fitness.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you change your definition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, I don\u2019t think you should try to engineer it. Instead, forget all those old rules and what you\u2019ve accomplished in the past, and once you have, notice what speaks to you instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then trust your gut enough to start something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If it doesn\u2019t last and it\u2019s just not for you, that\u2019s okay: you\u2019ll gain some fitness and some knowledge in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(I actually had a false start myself: I bought a TRX suspension system about a month before I started with kettlebells, and only used it a few times. Even though it didn\u2019t last for me, it got me moving again and thinking outside of my typical fitness box, and that was a huge step.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part 3: How to Make Your Fitness Habit Automatic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people like to imagine that the way we make changes is just like how we turn lights on or off.
That there\u2019s a switch inside our heads, and if we can summon enough motivation or inspiration to flip that switch, then our habits will be forever changed \u2014 and it\u2019ll be easy after that.
This is, unfortunately, a Hollywood myth.
For the vast majority of people who try this \u201covernight\u201d approach to change \u2014 whether the goal is to go plant-based, to become a runner, or to give up chocolate \u2014 everything seems great for a few days, only to blow up all at once shortly thereafter.
What happens is that their willpower, on which they rely too heavily (almost exclusively), runs out.
And when the illusion of perfection evaporates, they give up completely.
But even though the switch-flipping approach is flawed, good habits don’t have to be hard.
By applying just a few principles of habit change, we can dramatically increase our chances of successfully making changes.
For me, successful habit change boils down to two main keys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n- Make only one change at a time.<\/li>
- For the first month or so (until the habit has time to take hold), make your new habit as easy and as pleasant as possible, ramping up the intensity only gradually.
<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\nLater in this series, I\u2019ll talk about how my kettlebell practice eventually led to a diet change, a return to running, and lots more.
But for now, the important thing to know is that those all came later, and they came naturally. I didn\u2019t force them.
If I had tried to change all those things at once, it would have been too much, and I would have given up.
So at first, I only focused on one change (the kettlebell practice). That\u2019s key number one.
But the second key is much more interesting.
For the first month of my kettlebell practice<\/a>, I followed the author\u2019s wise instructions not to begin the actual program.
Instead, for several weeks, my only goal each day was to spend 10 or 20 minutes with the kettlebell, working on my form and paying attention to the smallest of details. (And often I didn\u2019t even use a kettlebell \u2014 I safely trained the Turkish get-up form by balancing a shoe on my fist.)
The important thing is that during those initial weeks, I didn\u2019t let myself get winded or sore or anything like that. While those things certainly can lead to fitness gains, the goal at first shouldn\u2019t be to improve your fitness \u2014 it\u2019s to build the habit.
I found myself looking forward to my 20-minute kettlebell sessions each day \u2014 it was my chance to focus on just one thing, almost like a meditation.
But just as importantly, I was building a skill and enjoying a sense of progress.
There was an element of the practice that was interesting, that left me energized by the end of a session and excited to come back the next day and improve even more.
Plus, without really trying to do so, I memorized the warmup and parts of the workout itself, as I gradually incorporated small parts into my daily routine.
The result was that I never felt the difficulty of that first day in the gym that we\u2019ve all experienced \u2014 that stressful day where you\u2019re trying to learn the structure of the workout and the form of several exercises all at once, not to mention dealing with the severe fatigue and resulting soreness.
And all the while I was building some strength, so that when I actually did start the program, it was no great shock to my body \u2014 and required very little willpower to keep it going.
Of course, this \u201clearning\u201d phase, where you\u2019re building your mental muscles more than your physical ones, can\u2019t last forever.
If it did, that would still be a lot better than doing nothing. It\u2019s just not the fastest way to progress, once the habit is formed.
So what do you do after you\u2019ve built the habit?<\/p>\n\n\n\nStep 4: Make Your Fitness Routine Addictive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What to do after the habit is formed \u2014 after the first month or so \u2014 is less certain, and it depends a lot on your personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trick is to engineer your fitness habit so that it\u2019s addictive. You want it to fulfill you on multiple levels, so that it becomes an activity you never want to miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the difference between fitness being a chore, and it becoming something you do for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve coached people who had major breakthroughs when they finally took the time to really think hard about what fulfills them, and then built it into their fitness routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Some people love the community and competitive nature of Crossfit, and it becomes something much bigger in their lives than just exercise.<\/li>
- Others love data, so they use wearables and apps that make their progress more visible and satisfying (and shareable).<\/li>
- My kettlebell routine has lasted for almost a year, which is a pretty long time for me. Why? I think it\u2019s because it\u2019s build around specific milestones, or standards, which I can expect to hit every six months to a year, and a steady progression towards those goals. (Not unlike training for running races, which provides progress towards milestones at about the same frequency.)<\/li>
- My wife (who is running her first 50K this instant, as I write this from the car) always calls her mom during her long runs. On others, she and a friend who lives far away \u201crun together\u201d by talking on the phone while they both do their separate runs.<\/li>
- I go through periods where I\u2019m not at all excited about running. But I\u2019m almost always excited about language learning. And so I\u2019ve started using audio-based language programs that require you to speak as you do them. Easy runs are the perfect time to do these programs, since (a) I\u2019m by myself, which doesn\u2019t happen much, and (b) the speaking requires me to run at a conversational pace\u2026 something that\u2019s otherwise excruciatingly boring for me.<\/li>
- During a lot of my kettlebell workouts (the ones with generous rest periods, not the more intense sessions), I put on reruns of The Office in the background. I rarely watch TV otherwise, so when work gets stressful I actually crave a workout and the chance to relax and listen to something funny while I\u2019m recovering between sets.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
You can see how, depending on your personality, any of these could give you another reason to want to do your workout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your workout represents your chance to hang out with certain friends, or to make progress on a language-learning app, then even when you don\u2019t feel like training on a certain day, you\u2019ll do it because you don\u2019t want to miss what comes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the flip side, make sure that the difficulty level of your workouts also matches what you find enjoyable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people love the exhaustion (and sometimes, the pain) of HIIT training, and how it makes them feel afterward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019re really goal-oriented, sometimes really hard workouts are part of the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But pain isn\u2019t necessary for a workout to be effective. The \u201cno pain, no gain\u201d misconception has kept a lot of people from working out, simply because they believe that what they find enjoyable must not be doing them any good since it doesn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(For a good counterexample, look at the Blue Zones, the pockets of the world where people live the longest, and you\u2019ll see that rarely does their exercise cause them pain. It\u2019s enjoyable and built into their daily lives, like walking on hilly terrain or gardening.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve found my \u201cjust right\u201d difficulty with my kettlebell program. The program never has me training to failure, which helps me stay healthy and keeps me wanting to come back. But once I week I push hard and race the clock to complete all my sets within an allotted time, and from that I get the rush and satisfaction that comes from meeting a challenge head-on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what should you do to make your fitness routine addictive? I can\u2019t tell you exactly what it will be for you; it\u2019s up to you to figure that one out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if right now you associate working out with pain, boredom, or anything else negative, then spend some time thinking about what would make it the opposite for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then do some research or brainstorming to come up with a plan that checks all the boxes, and go for it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part 5: How to Support Your Fitness Change with What You Eat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In the 10+ years since I\u2019ve been vegan, last year was the worst I\u2019ve eaten.
And the first eleven months of this year have probably been the best.
I made the change with next to no effort.
How?
It was easy. Instead of struggling to eat better, I first built a rock-solid fitness habit.
And once that became a big part of my life \u2014 and I made the obvious connection that my diet can either multiply or squash the results I get from training \u2014 I was motivated to change.
I\u2019ll get into the specifics of the diet changes I\u2019ve made, but if you stop reading now, make sure you get the most important point:
If you\u2019re having trouble making a change \u2014 whether to diet or fitness or something else \u2014 ask yourself what you could change first that would make the harder change dramatically easier.<\/strong>
It could also work the other way around from how I did it:
If you find diet changes pretty easy to make, but have no motivation to exercise… could you start eating ultra-clean first (or intermittent fasting, perhaps) \u2014 and then let the changes you see in the mirror motivate you to multiply those results with exercise?
To step back even another level, when someone tells me they\u2019re totally stuck with diet AND fitness, I tell them to start by carving out 30 minutes a day to do some other habit that would absolutely light them up.
Maybe it\u2019s playing the guitar, or reading, or going for a walk; it doesn’t have to relate to food or fitness. But the freedom and positivity that come from that habit (not to mention the trust you rebuild in your ability to make commitments to yourself and keep them) makes the \u201charder\u201d habits easier to change.
Anyway, back to diet. \ud83d\ude42
The changes I\u2019ve made this year are mostly specific to my own fitness situation, so won\u2019t apply to everyone.
As I wrote about briefly earlier, I used to associate lifting weights with gaining muscle mass. To me, strength and size were the same thing.
And because I was a \u201chard-gainer,\u201d as they say (not to mention that I eat a plant-based diet, which tends to be lower in calories), I found that I had to eat a tremendous amount of food to support muscle growth.
In other words, being strong was expensive.
Financially, sure. More importantly, when it comes to longevity.
One of the surest, scientifically supported ways to live longer and age more slowly is to eat fewer calories and ask less of your body\u2019s metabolic system \u2014 so although it felt good to look big and feel strong, I knew that eating as much as I had to to support lots of muscle was, in some sense, killing me.
But now I understand that strength is different from muscle growth \u2014 or rather, that there are two kinds of muscle growth: look up “myofibrillar hypertrophy vs sarcoplasmic hypertrophy” if you’re interested.
The former builds smaller but harder and denser muscles that are actually better at contracting and generating tension. In other words, stronger.
The latter is the result of increased fluid in your muscle cells, which makes muscles look bigger but doesn\u2019t make you much stronger.
And so with this understanding I was able to separate \u201cgetting strong\u201d from \u201cgetting big.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nSuddenly, it was okay to train hard (with low reps and generous rest periods) and NOT have to eat like it was going out of style.
As a result, I\u2019ve increased my Turkish get-up weight this year from 35 pounds to 80 pounds this year, without gaining much weight \u2014 just a few pounds that help me look stronger and more athletic than I did before, but not \u201cbig.\u201d
And that\u2019s just fine with me, since I no longer have to make peace with the conflict between strength and longevity.
So my eating this year has mostly been focused on eating less, not more.
I\u2019ve spent many months experimenting with intermittent fasting, where I typically don\u2019t eat until noon each day, and then only begin with vegetable juice (I bought a Breville Juice Fountain Cold Plus, and I\u2019ve been very happy with it).
When you replace the natural panic we feel around hunger with the knowledge that your body is actually designed to be hungry sometimes, it gets a lot easier to enjoy the feeling of skipping a snack between meals, or working through lunch every now and then.
The second big dietary win of my year has been replacing refined flour (even whole-wheat flour) pastas and pizza crusts with the wonderful substitutes based on chickpeas and cauliflower that are now available (try Banza pasta if you haven\u2019t yet).
I have a soft spot for traditional Italian dishes and handmade pasta, so I still make those things with semolina or whole wheat flour, but I generally reserve them for Sundays.
And that\u2019s the same with eating big breakfasts and drinking alcohol \u2014 I try to save them for the weekends. Not in any kind of strict sense, but I\u2019ve fallen into a rhythm that, on balance, adds up to a lot of healthy choices.
In the past, such a loose approach wouldn\u2019t have worked for me. I thrived when it was all or nothing, with no wiggle room.
The difference now, oddly enough, is activity tracking and a focus on calories. Not obsessive tracking, just monitoring closely enough so that I stay connected with the consequences of my food and fitness choices. It has brought with it a whole host of benefits\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\nPart 6: Let’s Get Trackin’!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For years I resisted the activity tracker \/ quantified self movement.
I thought these devices were, at best, an entertaining distraction that put too much focus on numbers.
But then I borrowed an Oura ring (from my mom) to diagnose a sleep issue.
At first, I hated it.
I got so addicted to checking my sleep score each morning that it started to impact my sleep\u2026 which then made me depressed to see a worsening score, which in turn made my sleep worse.
And so on.
But then I gave it another chance, and eventually came to see that it has immense value as a fitness tool.
Why?
Because a key part of any habit is accountability \u2014 and ultimately, accountability to yourself.
The simplest form of accountability is asking yourself every day:
Did I do what I was supposed to do today?<\/em><\/strong>
Missing a habit once or twice or ten times in a row doesn\u2019t destroy the habit.
When we stop asking this question, though \u2014 when we forget the habit entirely, and stop trying \u2014 that\u2019s when it dies.
And what activity trackers do is make it a lot harder to forget.
Let\u2019s say we decide to start running each day…
It goes well for the first week, when we never miss. But then family comes to town or work gets busy, our routine gets thrown off, and we miss two days in a row.
Usually, that\u2019s the end.
We might think about our habit a few more times, but each day we don’t do it, it gets easier NOT to think about it, and soon enough, we\u2019re right back where we started.
But if you\u2019re wearing a band or a ring and checking in on the app each day, now it’s hard not to notice the gaping hole in your streak.
Or you see your \u201cdaily steps\u201d and \u201ccalories burned\u201d numbers plummet.
If it\u2019s connected to a social platform, now your friends see it too. Maybe they ask what\u2019s up, is everything okay?
It\u2019s possible that you still won\u2019t start running again. That you\u2019ll stop opening the app, and no longer feel the accountability.
But you\u2019re still wearing the tracker, right? (Most of them these days stay on 24 hours.)
And so you\u2019ll keeping seeing the actual tracker \u2014 and probably notifications from the app \u2014 and you\u2019ll be reminded (again and again) of your habit.
None of this is a guarantee that you\u2019ll keep doing your habit. But you can see what a difference there is between having all of these little accountability tugs, and having none of them \u2014 being able to forget about your habit after just a few days of missing.
This works when your habit is well-established, too.
When you\u2019re doing really well \u2014 when you\u2019ve built up months of trend data you can look at proudly \u2014 things are still going to come up in your life that make it harder to find time to train.
And the same forces will serve to first give you the visible feedback that you took a few days off… and then keep reminding you to come back.
It\u2019s even better if your habit tracker integrates activity level with sleep and overall readiness or recovery.
Then even if you get away from fitness for a while, but you\u2019re still paying attention to your sleep each night, you\u2019re constantly reminded of how your activity level affects your sleep and overall wellness. One more reason to start doing it again.
But there’s more.
A final benefit, for me, has been that tracking my activity helps me make better food choices (without tracking calorie intake \u2014 something I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever be ready for).
When I see that 30 minutes of running burns about 300 calories \u2014 or that my total active calorie burn in a day is, say, 450 calories \u2014 that makes it a lot easier to skip that 200-calorie, after-dinner beer I might otherwise want to drink.
I\u2019m not saying I obsess over calories in and out, or that you should. And for some people trying to build muscle mass, it will work the other way around.
My point is that an activity tracker helps you be aware of the impact of your choices, and even more importantly, serves to keep reminding you of the habits you want to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPart 7: The Critical Component of Missing from Most Fitness Programs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A few years ago I started doing Muay Thai, a form of kickboxing from Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was super fun, really hard, and basically just made me feel awesome (in a “bruised ribs” kind of way).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I couldn\u2019t kick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not \u201cI couldn\u2019t kick hard.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I couldn\u2019t kick, period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the instructor told us to kick a bag hanging at about waist height, everyone else in the class (including the other beginners) could do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I tried, it felt like someone was stabbing a knife into my IT band. On both legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The instructor told me I had a mobility issue and gave me a modified version of the drill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went home and started getting my affairs in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was officially old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After some reflection and research, I realized it wasn\u2019t quite so bad as it seemed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My adult life since college had comprised 15 years of running followed by 5 years of sitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No wonder my hips were locked up, and side-to-side movement of my legs was out of the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the wake-up call had served me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being strong and having decent endurance weren’t enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly I saw the vicious cycle unfolding in front of me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lack of mobility would stop me from doing things I’ve loved and cause injuries. Which would lead to less activity, even worse mobility, and more injuries. And so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until it all ended with a Life Alert \u201cI\u2019ve fallen and I can\u2019t get up\u201d moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wasn\u2019t old yet, but THAT path would sure make me age a whole lot faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there was some good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If my behavior (the running and the sitting, rather than just getting older) had caused this lack of mobility, maybe some different behavior could reverse it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that’s how I discovered Dr. Kelly Starrett and his book, Becoming a Supple Leopard<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Truthfully, I didn\u2019t really dive into mobility work the way I should have back then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took a few more years, a pandemic, and the \u201cHoly crap, I\u2019m almost 40\u201d moment to get me started with my current kettlebell routine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was that kettlebell program \u2014 with my obsessive focus on form, along with the bumps and bruises that come with new training \u2014 that prompted me to pull Dr. Starrett\u2019s beast of a book off my shelf and really get into it earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, my living room is strewn with a growing collection of mobility balls, tension bands, foam rollers, and voodoo floss (don\u2019t ask).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mobility has become an essential part of both my fitness routine, and my wife’s as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I would have never said this a couple years ago, but if I had to choose just one of strength, endurance, and mobility to have for the next 50 years, I\u2019d choose mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a heartbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because without it \u2014 and an understanding of proper biomechanics that you\u2019ll get from resources like Supple Leopard<\/em> \u2014 the other two will only inevitably lead to injury as you place more demands on your body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, I\u2019m not nearly expert enough on mobility to give you advice about how to do it. I’m new at this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mainly, I wanted to open your eyes to this often-overlooked component of fitness \u2014 one that\u2019s undoubtedly beneficial to all athletes, but especially important as we age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope you’ll check out Kelly Starrett\u2019s work<\/a>, Jill Miller’s resources<\/a>, NMA Radio guest Aaron Alexander\u2019s site and podcast<\/a>, and this NMA blog post by Luke Jones<\/a> as some great places to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(And a bonus resource, which I haven\u2019t read yet but is high on my list: Ready to Run<\/em><\/a>, Starrett\u2019s book on mobility for runners.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And with that, our Rediscover Your Fitness series comes to a close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coincidentally, we\u2019re headed into my favorite month for inspiration and habit change (plus all the holiday stuff that makes December so much fun). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I hope you\u2019ll take advantage of this wonderful time to make something happen \u2014 even if \u201csomething\u201d is only the plans to come bursting out the gate on January 1st, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks so much for reading,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS. Finally, a reminder that Complement has sponsored this series \u2014 and that today is the very last day for Complement\u2019s epic Black Friday sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Boredom<\/strong>: Neither running nor going to the gym held any excitement for me. I had done them for so many years that I was bored with them.<\/li>