Use shades of gray. If you usually exercise for 45 minutes, and something interferes or you just get tired, give yourself credit for exercising the 20 minutes you did manage. You don't have to give one hundred percent each and every time. If you miss a day at the gym, it's not the end of the world. Discounting the positive This distortion crops up when you tell yourself that your positive experiences, achievements or qualities really don't count.
Goal setting is important in exercising.
Set goals that are moderately challenging and when you achieve them, be happy for yourself and celebrate. This distortion arises when you mistakenly believe something to be true because you feel it so strongly. But, as you can easily see when you stop to consider, the two parts of that sentence have nothing whatever to do with one another. The key to conquering this distortion is to separate thoughts from feelings. It's possible to feel fat, but know that you really aren't and that your temporary feeling has nothing at all to do with your ability to reach your goals.