An All-or-nothing Mindset Could Be Hurting Your Exercise and Health Goals

By now, a hefty percentage of us have given up on our latest exercise resolutions, and may be berating ourselves and wondering why. Why didn’t we stick with those workouts, when we sincerely meant to, planned to, wanted to?

An important new study of exercise motivation offers some potential answers and gentle reassurance. Published in BMC Public Health, the research found that a common mindset about exercise, known as “all-or-nothing thinking,” often undermines our best efforts to be active.

The study, the first to systematically examine all-or-nothing thinking in relation to exercise, “may help people understand” why we so frequently abandon our New Year’s exercise resolutions, said lead author Michelle Segar, a behavioral scientist at the University of Michigan.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.