How Did You Make Yourself Like.......
 

THE GYM? I do not mind the gym once I get there, it's just getting there. How did you talk yourself into liking working out? This is the same problem that I had last time I lost. I am just naturally lazy, I guess. I want to like it, I just don't know how to convince myself. Any pointers?

If I could rub a :genie: to get the motivation, or even desire to :ebike: I would. And I would share it with all of you. Since I'm more likely to listen to the :devil: on my shoulder, instead of the :angel: I pray. I pray while driving to Curves that I won't get sidetracked at :mcd:. I pray while I'm at the gym that I won't give up. And I pray that I'll forget the pain I'm in when I'm leaving, so I can do it again the next day!

:goodluck:

This is what I do and it works pretty well.

When I really don't want to go to the gym, I just make myself put on my gym clothes. Then I put on my shoes. Then I tell myself that if I can drag myself there and do 10 measly minutes, then I can come home if I really want to. I usually just tough it out at that point.

Sometimes I just have no motviation, and that's where determination comes in and I take it one step at a time :)

yep - don't even have the argument with yourself. just GO. make it a non-negotiable, like paying your electric bill or going to the dentist. i think most of us are naturally lazy - it's probably biological - and it's too hard to try and talk myself into it every day. so i don't. i just go.

HTH!

Mine is childish. I keep a calendar by the bathroom scale. Record each day's weigh in and give myself a gold sticker star when I workout. Enough stars and I reward myself with a little something something. Usually something new to wear at the gym.

The sight of shiny star stickers filling up weeks in a row is more motivating than the little reward of a tiny shopping trip - to be honest. A blank day without a star looks so dismal!

I also make it non-negotiable. The sun rises, the weather happens and I work out.

Nice!

Why not schedule it like an appointment...when you have a hair or doctor's appointment you just go...so try scheduling it like an appointment "okay, Monday 5 p.m. go to gym - 30 min" see if that works...or find something there you really enjoy like a class or something...something to look forward to doing

I work out first thing in the morning. I carefully lay out everything the night before - clothes, coffee pot loaded, etc. Then I get up, get dressed, and drive to the gym while still asleep. By the time I wake up - I'm done!

I tell myself to go and "just do 15 minutes". I never end up "just doing fifteen minutes" - once I get there and find my "groove", I do the whole workout.

I am the exact same way. Even if I am having a great day, I am full of energy and have no excuse whatsoever...when the work day ends and it's time to go work out, I just dread it. But then when I get there and make it through the workout, I just think, now that wasn't so hard!

I think a lot of it has to do with just pushing past that moment where you are debating with yourself. Or I personally do like the '15 minute rule'. If you have worked hard for 15 minutes and you still feel like junk, then you can leave. Though truth be told, I am still struggling with this myself!

If you think of exercise as something you don't have to like, just something you have to do.. maybe it would be easier.

You might not like cleaning your bathroom, but you HAVE to because it's a part of life. You might not like going to work all the time, but you HAVE to if you want to make money. I know exercise might not seem like something you HAVE to do, but honestly... if that's what it takes to get healthy... then I would say you HAVE to do it.

I don't know. I just like it. I have no idea why or how. I did not like exercising when I was younger but now I do. And finding a gym where the people are nice helps. There is an older man at my gym (older than me I mean, probably in his mid 40's) who can run circles around me. While I was walking he ran by and told me I was doing a great job. The people who work there are really nice too. I've found in the last year or so I actually LIKE to work out. But I couldn't tell you why. Sorry. :dizzy:

I think I always had the potential to like the gym. I liked it at first because it was a new membership...first time i'd gone to a gym. Then I saw how fit I was getting and I liked it. It's hard to stay motivated but by changing things up it stays interesting...oh and also, I discovered spinning! Pure awesomeness.

It is a matter of "just do it" for me a lot of the time. Like you, once I'm there it's fine. I just started putting little stickers on the calendar too, and it helps remind me that I made a commitment to myself to work out a certain number of times each week.

I'd love to be like MBN and roll out in the morning and have it all done, but there's not much I'll get up early for, including exercise. After work is much better for me. It's a matter of turning left out of the parking lot instead of right. Once I'm headed in the direction of the gym I usually keep going. :)

Do you have to talk yourself into going to work everyday? Taking a shower and all the stuff that goes with it (make-up, hair, etc.)? Preparing your meals? Doing the dishes? Cleaning? There are things we all have to do that we don't like doing and we just do them on autopilot. Make the gym one of those things. I work out every day, period. There's no debating, arguing, or convincing myself. I just have to do it, just like I have to go to work every day.

It also helps to think of the gym as "me time." I have a special iPod playlist of favorite songs that I listen to at the gym and the only time I'm allowed to listen to those songs is at the gym. During the rest of my life, I am always doing something for someone else. Even when I'm watching TV, I'm multi-tasking (paying bills, folding laundry, etc.) At the gym, I'm zoned out in my own little world, listening to my favorite music, doing something for me and me only. No one else gets a piece of me then.

If I have time, I reward myself at the end of my workout with 10 min in the dry sauna. I :love: the dry sauna. I also reward myself with massages every two months. Maybe you can find some little reward for yourself.