So as of today I am at a total of 6.8 lbs and 22.5 inches lost! The last few days it has been really hard to sick to working out as hard as I would like because my son has been pretty sick, but he is starting to do better so i am going to do my best to get back on track. I have been eating okay not as well as i should but dont get to far off track like i did in the past. I can feel a big difference when i dont workout or dont workout as hard as i should. So my question to everyone how do you get up am work out or find the motivation when you dont have it?
For me, even if I don't feel like working out at that exact moment I'll still throw on my workout clothes and sneakers. After walking around with them on (a constant reminder that I need/should go) I'll eventually walk out the door and do it. And I have to remind myself that even though I had to drag my butt to the gym I'm always leaving thinking, "Why is getting this great post workout feeling such a struggle??".
Congrats on your weight and inch loss!! Awesome job!!
i put on music and go to my happy place while my body works out. im very good at that. you can try to talk to me while im dancing i wont reply im just not there lol
Charlain---I do the happy place too.and I am not there either....lol
yeah and I also tell myself just put on your workout clothes and go for five mins and then you can leave; once I am there I then psych myself out and keep increasing the five mins....I also realized that I might be going through exercise burn out so I try to switch things up so I don't get bored....
I workout at home and i have been telling myself the only way i am going to get that post workout "high" is by getting my butt up off that couch and hitting play. That gets me going most of the time but then there are days like today when i am thinking about a 100 other things and i just could not get a good workout in. I feel so bad for not working as hard as i feel i should but my motivation just went out the window today =(
@ShanIAm Thank you I am so happy
It is always a great feeling when your boy friend looks at you when you are talking and stops what he is saying to tell you that "your face is getting smaller" lol or "your losing your pumpkin face" (this is his way of being nice and being sweet) lol
I just thought of another thing. My gym has TV's on all of their cardio equipment. I make sure I get there right when a favorite show is coming on. I eventually just get into the habit of associating that show with a half hour or hour elliptical workout.
And I so relate to desiresdestiny's trick too. I will say I'll just go there and do a quick weight circuit but then I find myself "warming up" on the elliptical or treadmill for an hour.
Unless you're feeling really sick, your best bet is to just go (or in your case, just get dressed to work out). Just ignore your mind's protests and get dressed and do it. You'll argue with yourself the whole time, but you'll still wind up working out.
I have arguments in my head all the time! Before I know it though I'm already at the gym and I might as well work out when I'm there!
Set a goal. Specific to fitness, not related to the scale. With a timeline. Something hard that now seems undoable.
i.e. Run/Walk/elliptical X distance. (or time, or lift X, or whatever) or sign up for a race
Have a day on your calendar that you will go do X. Non negotiable. You will get on the machine and run X that day so if you dont prepare that day will really suck (yes that mentality works for me)
Write out a PLAN with workouts to achieve it. Then it isnt "going to the gym to workout, it is TRAINING.
I focus on how great I feel now versus how crummy I felt then. No, I'm not going to gain back the weight I've lost by not going to the gym one night or by eating one crappy meal, but sometimes it feels that way. (I also know all too well that, in the past, one crappy meal or one missed day at the gym has started a cycle of crappy meals and skipped workouts for me.) I remember how it felt to dread looking at myself in the mirror, to dread being naked around my husband, to suck in just to button pants in a size I hated wearing, to have no energy, to be unable to even run for 30 minutes my first time back at the gym, to have no love for myself. I remember those things, and I ask myself Do you want to feel even one iota of that life again? Of course, the answer is no. I get up and start moving.
Alternatively, when I was just starting out, it was the positive comments from my husband or my family members that kept me going. Even something as little as David saying, "You're smaller!" gave me enough oomph to work out that day. I wanted more of those comments. I wanted to be proud of myself again. And of course, these boards helped a lot. Anytime I'd feel discouraged, I'd come to 3FC and read the encouraging comments people left for one another. They made me feel like I could do it too.
Sometimes when I just really, really don't feel like exercising I'll tell myself that I'll just do 10 or 15 minutes then I can stop. Usually I'm like 'what's the point of stopping, I'll be done in another 20 minutes' and I get the workout in.
Also, don't think about it at all . . . when that voice says 'skip today' just say 'yeah, yeah, yeah' as you're putting on your sneakers and heading to your workout. Sometimes I just tell that voice to bugger off cause I know how much better I feel when I'm done a workout.
You'll never regret exercising when you don't feel like it but you will regret giving in to that voice and parking it on the sofa instead of working out. Don't let the voice win.
My dorm mate in college gave himself tokens. He decided he was going to do X number of workouts in a time period. For example 23 days this month. That leaves 8 days or 8 tokens. Every day he skipped a workout he lost a token. When he was out he couldnt skip any more no matter what.
It only took once of running in a blizzard to make him lie there at 5 in the morning and say "is this REALLY worth skipping, because it will likely be worse some other day" and get going.
...
Make a bet with a friend. Whoever logs the most minutes of exercise in a time period has to treat the other to a manicure or coffee or something that makes sense. Define exercise. If you are at different fitness levels you can weight the bet. I have a friend who just finished off a bet that he could run more than 2 other guys combined in December. He would have had it EASY but his wife had a baby this morning which kind of messed with his long run he had planned for today. I think he still eeked it out though (but I think the other guys were gentlemen and didnt kill it today to win)
Here's my philosophy on "motivation". It's not about being motivated. It's about being committed.
Yes! There are just some days when we don't want to work out and exercise. Do it anyway. I have a time every day when I work out. By doing this, I am putting myself first and making exercise a priority. Some days, I don't feel very motivated. that's no excuse. I exercise anyway. I use fitness dvd's. When I feel especially unmotivated, I choose a harder one and it kicks my butt and then I can't think about being unmotivated, I just keep up. When I am done, all thought of being unmotivated are gone and I am feeling strong. I realized if I am not physically challenged enough, I feel unmotivated. Then it's time to add more weights or do it longer or get a new, harder dvd.