The way I see it and the way I think is, if you're not going to give it your all then why bother going in the first place? There's no point in going to the gym if you're just going to potter. I know a lot of people who go because they feel they 'have to', not because they WANT to. If I don't want to go, I won't.

I am useless at self-motivation and that's why I take two classes a week and have a personal training session or two depending on how much money I have spare. Swimming is the only time I don't give it my all, I just float around in the water and listen to the muzak the club plays, lol. Otherwise, I need to be pushed by someone or I just won't bother.

What actually motivates me to go in the first place is looking at pictures of some of the horrible clothes I had to wear when I was big and thinking 'I don't want that again'. I find music's a good way to give it your all, and I tend to listen to trance or house music when I work out on the rare occasions I go on my own to the gym.

So yeah. I recommend music and getting a personal trainer that looks like Justin Timberlake.

There is a wide range between "pottering" and "giving it your all"

I only give it my all on race days and specific training days. If you actually gave it your ALL every single day you burn out and get injured. If you give it your HARD EFFORT most days you are doing good.

And because sometimes I potter around for 20 minutes before I get in to it.

And because when it comes down to it, 3 miles at a hard effort and 3 miles at an easy effort both burn about the same amount of calories.

The former just does it quicker and does more as far as making me fitter.

The latter still boosts my mood, burns calories and usually leaves me feeling more rested than laying on the couch turning into a slug

If I didnt go every time I didnt WANT to go, well, I wouldnt go very often. And certainly not as often as I am glad I went.

And everyonce in a while I DO just potter. I go to the gym at 5:15 am and I was totally burned out a couple weeks ago. I really needed a rest day. But sleeping in is a bad thing for me, makes it harder to get up the next day. So I went, did a light warmup, did some range of motion (lifting weights at about 50% of normal weight just to stretch out the muscles). Chatted with the morning gym rat crew and got caught up on everyone's life, offered myself as universal spotter so everyone else could get a better workout and went out for coffee with a couple of them after. Still felt better than staying in bed. Sometimes the routine is the important thing to maintain.

the attitude of - if i can't give it my all then there's no point- is how i got so fat to begin with! sometimes i feel like a superstar, other times i have to force myself to keep my butt on the bike for even 20 minutes. the key is- consistency. do it even when you don't want to. most of the time, you'll start to get more into it and if you don't - at least you did something which is far better then nothing!

i have a great set up music to keep me going and i also drink a 5 hour energy drink when i really want to pump it up. not the whole thing- one of those little bottles is worth about 3 work outs for me because caffeine affects me strangely.