Hi TappingPeony
Im a little late to the conversation, but i thought i'd add my 2 pence anyway
I used to be sooo unmotivated to work out. I just hated doing it for the sake of doing it. Whats the point in running day after day? its so boring. Well, i changed that. First I set myself an outrageous goal- to run a marathon. I found one in my area in November and mentally committed myself to it. Now I am, in my mind, a marathon runner. That means i need to train! This is motivating in itself. It also gives me a mental image of what i want to look like and be in a certain time period
Then i got a small notebook and in it i wrote down what i was going to do that week. So on Monday I might plan to run. Then i write down my goal for that run. So first, i dont have a goal except to last say 45 mins running/walking. This established my base line. Then each time i run i write down a goal and my progress. So one day i run 4km. The next time i run i aim to run 4.1km. These little increments are just challenging enough to get me going but not hard enough for me to give up.
And sometimes i dont reach my goal. Im tired. I didnt have a good lunch. Ive got other things on my mind that require time and attention. Thats ok, plans are supposed to be flexible. Having that goal at least gets me doing SOMETHING other than mooching around cursing myself for not working out.
I also give myself tiny rewards every time i work out. Sometimes this is just the cold shower and mental praise i give myself (i talk to my body parts haha, so i'll say things to myself in my head like "that was a good job legs! you worked so hard! Man that was cool!" it sounds dumb, but it works. We spend enough time beating ourselves up in our heads without thinking its dumb, so why not praise yourself). Sometimes thats not enough, so i might occasionally let myself have one square of chocolate when i get home. I've just about completely given up junk food, so thats a really good reward for me
Hope that helps somewhat!
