Motivation...to exercise!?!

This post is long overdue. Please accept my apologies.




So, it is August 9th. We are in the dog days of summer. Forecast calls for 90’s all week, most likely no matter where you live. The heat is on! I love Glenn Fry. : ) How is your weight loss journey? Is it hot and sweaty like the temps on the mercury? Or is it cool and closed off like the air conditioned house you live in? If it’s cool and closed off, it’s time to get it cranked up as the mercury rises! Last time we discussed change. Today, let’s discuss motivation and exercise. And just to be fun, let’s talk about them together!



Not motivated to exercise? How many times have we said that we just can’t find the drive or desire to work out? If we had a nickel for each time, we’d all be rich! We could afford the surgeries to get us the body we don’t want to work to get. How sad is that? I bet most of us have thought about plastic surgery as a viable option to working out and sweating our way down in inches and pounds. Okay, maybe I’m the only one. Motivation is hard to achieve in the weight loss journey, let alone in developing an exercise regime. When we think of all we need to do to be healthy and at our goal weights, we get overwhelmed. We need to: eat less, exercise more, drink plenty of water, take a daily vitamin, eat enough fruits and veggies, get in enough fiber, get in our healthy oils (fats), watch our protein consumption, cut back on salt…the list goes on and on and on. And for many of us, this is a huge shift in our psyche and daily lives. You have had some time to digest the change discussion of last month. You know that change is constant and that we all go through it. You know it can be hard, and bruising, but that you are better for going through it! So, how can knowing this help you muster motivation?



Here is a link I re-discovered with weight loss motivation ideas: http://www.weight-loss-motivation-program.com/weight-loss-motivation-tips1.html



Now, on to exercise motivation. What keeps you from working out? What is it you don’t like about it? What will it take for you to do it regularly?



Here is an article with 7 good tips on exercise motivation. You even get a couple bonus tips. http://top7business.com/?id=460



Here is a great article on starting a regime: http://zenhabits.net/4-simple-steps-to-start-the-exercise-habit/



And the follow-up to this article: http://zenhabits.net/31-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-exercise/


While your motivation to exercise may be weak and puny right now, it can grow into a mighty and strong aspect of your daily life. And the good news, so will you be mighty and strong. Set small goals for yourself, but keep an overall big goal in mind. Post your goals where you will see them every day. Maybe post a goal a week on your bathroom mirror or closet door. One great tip I heard a while back is to put goals on the inside of kitchen cabinets. Maybe post a special and truly meaningful quote on the cabinet that keeps all the junk that tempts you the most. You will think twice about eating it, I promise! Track your progress like the above article references. Seeing your number go down and having written proof is a huge motivator. Seeing your exercise minutes go up is a huge motivator to keep going. If you can only do 5 minutes the first time, by the 10th, you will be to 15 or even more or more.


Last Tuesday, I went to my gym. I did the ‘mill and I did some intervals with some jogging. The treadmills were noisy, so I didn’t do much jogging. I was mortified at first because the noise meant I was so heavy. But, I switched mills and the other was noisy too. I realized that the front plastic covers were loose and just jostling too much. I know it wasn’t me. I tried the rowing machine next on a recommendation from a message board friend. The exercise physiologist helped me get started. By 5 minutes, I was done. It was so much work. I kept going. He walked by around 9 mins and 30 secs. I asked him if 10 minutes was good the first time and he nodded. I asked myself, what would Maiden Do? She’s the derby girl that loaned me her skates so I could attempt tryouts, and a huge motivation for me in my journey to becoming a derby girl. That question gave me the answer. I kept going. I finished at 20 minutes! I was so proud of myself.



You never know what you are capable of doing. To some, 20 minutes on the rowing machine may not seem like much. But, for my first time, it was like climbing Everest. Okay, maybe that comparison is slightly exaggerated, but you get the point.



We all have to tap into our inner reserves of strength, power, and confidence. We have to find the person we have always been capable of becoming. We have to try, or we will always fail. To try is to succeed. Which do you want, failure or success?