What Doesn't Kill Me...

I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about and working on my level of fitness/health. I've begun working out regularly again, and this time around I don't feel like an amateur... like I'm faking it, but that in reality I'm not the working out "type". Now not only do I feel like I know what I'm doing to some extent but I feel like I am supposed to be doing it. Like my body was made to be exercised. Like I am one of "those" people.

My current problem is that I keep getting distracted by it. When I'm done working out and it's not meal time and it should be entirely out of my head, I'm thinking about the workouts I could be doing, what I want to try, where I want to be physically and I catch myself non-stop looking for motivation online... even though I am already motivated. I am already doing the work. But I can't shake the feeling like I should be doing more, just because I'm not doing it all the time, every hour of every day. And I shouldn't be. My goal is to be healthy and fit so that I can get on with other more important things. So I can live longer and at a higher standard of living, and that I can use those years to devote to what I'm passionate about.

I am not passionate about becoming a workout instructor... so why the constant urge to push myself into the excessive arena?

This isn't the first time either. I tend to go overboard with the things I have established that I can do to compensate for things don't yet feel like I am good at. Instead of checking it off my list, I go back to it over and over and over again repeating the same actions... because they are positive actions right? They do bring progress... they are healthy for me. I'm not starving myself or working out til I get sick... but I'm not allowing myself time or mental space for the other things that aren't on my list yet but should be... the things I don't feel competent at.

How do you eliminate the element of distraction from a positive habit you've created that you don't want to get rid of? It would be counterproductive for me to stop working out because I sometimes allow myself to become distracted by it. Health is still a priority for me. Excuse the cliche' but I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater here.

Any suggestions?

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