I'm doing ok with the diet part but not once have I been motivated to exersize!!!!
So for those of you that do how did you get motivated in the beginning???
I'm always making excuses like I chase 4 kids all day{9-7-5-and 3 months} but apperently thats not enough lol any advice would be appreciated!!!
thanks...

Shannon

Hi Shannon!

This is going to sound weird, but at the beginning, I didn't "get motivated" at all -- I just DID it. I knew I had to exercise, but I really didn't want to. And I knew that if I just sort of sat around waiting to get motivated, it wasn't ever going to happen -- like you said, excuses are easy to find! So, I joined a gym and set up actual appointment times with a personal trainer. Having three specific times written down on the calendar every single week MADE me stick to the exercise. I knew I had to be at the gym at X time on Y day, and that was it. I had to literally schedule in the exercise in order for it to get done. The actual "motivation" to do it developed later..and now it's more of a habit than anything else.

I don't know if that was quite the answer you were hoping for , but that's how I got started.

It's tough getting into the habit, I know, but you can do it!

How did I get motivated?

I looked in the full-length mirror...NAKED! Yeah, that will do it for ya! LOL

Seriously, I did! Time passes no matter what you are doing. You can either not do anything towards improving your health (exercise wise), or, you can do at least something, every day. It took me a week or two of going to that mirror before I decided to knuckle down and actually DO something. The first time, I thought, you know, a week has already passed and I didn't do anything yet. I could be that much farther along than I was. The next week, the same thing. I finally decided I needed to do something. Plus, I was tired of being tired all the time, and hurting from lack of exercise.

I started out with just walking a 1/2 mile a day. Then I re-joined Curves, thinking, once again, if I had stayed with it before, I would probably look better already than I do now. I was tired of wasting time. I try to attend Curves at least 3 times a week.

Finally, my son and husband joined Tae Kwon Do about 6 weeks ago. I was going with them to every class, but sitting in the audience watching. Yeah, lots of exercise doing that, right? So, I last Saturday, after 5 weeks of watching them (and wondering where I'd be if I had joined when they did) I bit the bullet and joined in. I have had 4 classes this week and wow, do I feel it! My muscles feel tighter and firmer, I feel smaller (it may be an illusion, but it's a GOOD one!). I feel like I am already in better shape. A few days ago, I got on ebay and found the Billy Blanks Tae Bo INSTRUCTIONAL dvd with also the basic, advanced and 8 minute stuff on it. I also bought a tae bo children's dvd (which is harder than it sounds like it would be!). I figured I will start with the easy stuff (don't worry, it's a good workout) and go from there. I want to do tae bo, along with the other stuff I do. From what I have read and seen, it's a great exercise to do at home. I also have Leslie Sansone Walk away the pounds dvd's which are good, but the tae bo REALLY gives you a workout and burns the calories. Even if you can't go to a gym, Curves, etc. there are dvd's that are FUN (tae bo) that you can do at home. Even if you start small and only do 10 minutes at a time you gotta do something and start somewhere. It gets addictive after awhile. I absolutely LOVE tae kwon do, and will probably feel the same about tae bo too. My dvd's only came in yesterday, so I did 10 minutes of the kid's one to start cause I was short on time, but I at least did SOMETHING! I also had tae kwon do class last night and now I have one this morning. We joined leadership, so we can go as much as we want. I plan on doing tae kwon do 5-7 times a week! Plus everything else. I want to BLAST this weight off me.

One thing I really noticed, my metabolism must be changing cause I am HUNGRY alot more now.

Good luck!
Kathy B.
Merritt Island, FL

Hi (again) Shannon,

I wanted to add something else...On the days when I just don't want to exercise, I say THIS out loud to myself:

"The only way to burn body fat is to exercise."

Period.

So if I (or you) want to burn it off, that's the only way it's going to get done. Eating right is the key to not GAINING any more weight (and to an overall healthier body) but to actually remove the fat that is already being stored, I (or you) need to move, move, move.

And Kathy B. -- TELL ME ABOUT IT with the metabolism/hunger thing!! Every 12 - 16 weeks or so, things start to "shift" a bit somewhere inside me and I start feeling like I could eat an entire ham all by myself!! It's tough, because just when I feel like I've got my eating plan all figured out, my metabolism starts begging for more food!!!!

It's a good thing, tho.

Well thank you ladies that helps a bit{espessially the look at myself naked thing lol}
I made a plan to exesize at least a little bit after I put my older three on the bus in the morning when the baby usually takes his nap..I mean I know theres time like when im surfing the web..I could be doing something active..It's just I feel so blah like I have no energy.I'll let you know how it goes.

Well, that's the GOOD thing about exercise. The more you do, the more energy you have. I have seen a huge surge in the amount of energy I have, especially in the afternoons. You may be sore for a few days, but work through it, and then you will be glad you did. I have waaaaaay more energy and I feel more alert and can think better now that I have been exercising.

Good luck!
Kathy B

hi Shannon,

Just my 2 cents worth:

first : Don't wait for motivation... JUST DO IT.

It seems that getting into a habit only takes 3 weeks...So stick to having some excercise for 3 weeks. You have to get the mindset that excercise in non-negotiable.

Second: after I have finished my excercise, I go on 3FC and log this in the excercise accountability thread.

Last: I find it motivational to set myself a target of a certain amount of minutes every week. Try getting 30 minutes a day for a start, and you can work up from there. Again, I post on the accountability thread if I have reached my target.

Good luck,
rabbit

I think I fall into the same category as many others here - I don't think about it, I just do it because I have to. When I don't exercise, I don't feel good. It is just something I have to do - falls into the category of bathing, brushing and flossing my teeth and other daily tasks - a necessary evil to keep my body healthy and well.

I have trouble with the term motivated ... I just can't get my head around what it is or what it does of where we expect it to come from.
I also have trouble with the BIG PICTURE. I can't let myself think "Susan, you are going to have to exercise almost everyday for the rest of your life". I'd fall into a heap and start crying or something.
All I can do right now ... is do what is right ... right now. I sat down to lunch and did what was right for that moment. I'm going walking now because it's the right thing right now.
At any given moment just do what's right for your health plan, right at that moment.

I guess it's like the baby steps some people talk about or the old adage ... How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

I just do it. I tell myself I can either spend an hour or so a day doing some exercise or I can spend 24 hours a day carrying round excess fat. Plus I get the option to take a day off exercising from time to time, there isn't that option to get rid of the weight for just a while, is there.

The other thing I did was to sign up for a couple of races. I wanted to start running and I knew that the only reason I'd keep it up would be if I knew I had to for fear of embarassment. So I signed up for a 5k at a point when 10 minutes at a time was a challenge, and when I'd done that I signed up for a 10k. I did that today, and I've already got another 10k planned to make sure that I don't start slacking off. If you know what you're aiming for it can be easier to keep yourself going to make sure you get there!

Look in a mirror. Works for me. Or look at someone who is at a healthier weight, and think hey if I worked out I could be healthy too.

I had to keep trying different things until I hit on the motivation. My biggest motivation, since I never developed a real taste to exercise just for the exercise, is the way I feel after I exercise. So even though I'm tired, I know that if I exercise, I won't be. I'll have energy again and be able to do so much more.

At first I tried walking. But I'm not much into long boring and repetitive exercise. So I wanted to work into running...more distance in less time. But mornings weren't cutting it. So I had to go straight to the gym after work. That worked for me. Didn't allow me time to get sidetracked at home and back out of getting back out to the gym later.

When I started getting bored with the routine, I changed the routine. I bought a bike and rode to work or just took a ride around the neighborhood in the evening. I buy various exercise videos from time-to-time. I got a speed jump rope. When I start getting bored, I just change the routine and/or change the time that I try and exercise, to mix it up and make it interesting again.

Wow, great answer girls!!

In the beginning, honestly truly, I don't think anyone WANTS to do it... but we DO IT anyways... then the after effects of exercise, the sweat, the energy, and the best of all the weightloss, is all worth it. Eventually it is a habit and a wonderful one to have like brushing your teeth, do we even ''think'' about how good brushing our teeth is? NO, we just DO IT!.

I don't give excuses now, I just say ''When today will I exercise?'' not ''Will I exercise today?''... EVERYBODY and their dog is busy these days so excuses are easy to find. You also don't have to do an hour and a half straight you know, it can be in increments of a 10-15mins morning, noon and night/evening walk... Bring the kids for gosh sakes, after supper before homework leave the dishes there, my moto is that if you're not home no one will visit and see the mess anyways :lol... The kids too will sleep better and benefit of the walk and fresh air.

Speaking of exercise I gotta go run!

Hi All
I am new to this site and my big motivator is my Pedometer. I try to walk 10,000 steps a day and when I hit my goal I feel great. Toward evening I look to see how I am doing and with that I know how far I need to walk to make my goal for the day. Now I look forward to walking every day. Now I just need the motivation to pick up the weights and do some exercises. I made a goal for myself "Loose 20 lbs. by x-mas" so far I have lost 2 1/2 lbs. and I started September 16th. I walk 3 times a day with my little dog and sometimes I wonder who walks who. I look at my sweet little 3 year old granddaughter and that by itself gets me motivated to get healthy.
Rose

Hi,

I agree with everybody - there is no such thing as getting motivated. For me exercise though started it all, as I saw myself on video tape and did not recognize myself! The same day i was walking down from supermarket and saw new sign "Gym open house today" and that just did it. Paying gym membership was my motivation - since we are short on money I must use it! later on I figured that I have to eat clean to see results.

Now however it is a habit like brushing your teeth. Like if I do not exercise in the morning, I do it during lunch. If I can not do lunch - well late at night. Weekends are gardening and hiking or biking. If weather is bad - yoga during one of my kids sports activities. Also, I figured out that you have to have your "stuff" handy just in case you can squeeze exercise in! Like I have complete workout attire in the change room at work, I also ALWAYS have yoga mat in my car - just in case I have time to exercise "on site" when my kids swim or do gymnastics. Like be prepared and no excuses for "I forgot my stuff today"!

Looking in the mirror is also my motivation and reward. I love to look at myself in the mirror every morning - I can see muscles. Another thing which made it also for me - is expensive black shorts and shirt - I looked slimmer in it - after about 1 month I promised myself I buy shorts, after 10 pounds of weight it was shirt, etc. I looked so much better in them, I could see my body better. But I had to earn it. Now after almost 4 years I still use the same short and shirt - they are not as "cute" anymore, however they are earned with sweat!

Good luck!