I had never
been able to stick to an exercise routine for longer than 3 days. However, in
the last 9 months I have been able to make some major breakthroughs and even my
friends can't believe that this is the new me! I exercise almost every day now
and cannot imagine ever stopping.
There are a
number of things that have motivated me, and so I thought I would share them
with you in the hopes that perhaps they might motivate you too.
So here we
go, these are the things that have motivated me to exercise and eat clean in no
particular, random order:
An upcoming
occasion that I want to look and feel my best for such as a wedding, a reunion,
or a beach vacation. This has proved to be one of my biggest motivators.
However, the challenge is that once the reason for the motivation has passed,
it is easy to return to my previous bad habits. I try to keep looking for or
planning occasions for which I feel motivated to look my best.
Great Dance Music
I have had a
great time putting together playlists of all my favorite songs that make me
just feel like getting up and dancing. This really has helped me to get up and
‘move’, whether it’s dancing or jogging on the spot in my living room or
walking/running outdoors with my iPod. It is absolutely amazing how motivating
music can be.
A Goal of ‘Steps’
I bought a
pedometer and set myself the goal of 10,000 steps a day. It can be fun finding
ways to incorporate extra steps into my day. I park in a spot far from my
destination and enjoy the fact that my steps are adding up.
I take a
couple of laps around the grocery store before I get to my actual shopping.
Taking the stairs, instead of the elevator or escalator. Walking on the spot in
my living room while watching TV!
Pure Pain
When I am
not exercising or stretching, I start to feel pain in my neck, back and hip.
When I am active, within a few days or weeks this pain goes away. I have
started an in-depth study of where and how my body is out of alignment, and
what parts of the body I need to strengthen or stretch in order to achieve
greater balance and better posture.
Extra Pennies
Where I live
there is a very good recycling program that pays 5 and 10 cents for plastic
bottles and aluminum cans. When the weather is nice, I sometimes take a garbage
bag and walk along the ditch, picking up the cans and bottles. I find it
enjoyable and motivating to know that I am making extra cash, cleaning up the
earth, and recycling while getting my exercise all at the same time.
Reality of Aging
It occurred to me that I can’t expect to get
any more agile or flexible, stronger or leaner, without moving and flexing my
body. It’s just not going to happen by magic. I thought about how many people
complain of pain (in the knees, back, hips, etc.) and how many of these people
are overweight.
I thought
about how many people have diabetes and how many of these people are
overweight. I thought about how bones tend to become more brittle as we age and
as we become less flexible, injuries are more common.
Of course,
not all of these conditions are caused by being overweight, but it sure doesn’t
help. I realized that if I don’t regularly take my joints through their range
of motion, and work to increase their range of motion, how could I expect my
body to remain pliable and flexible as the years progress?
And then I
realized, is there anything that exercise is not good for?
Irony
If I had a dog, I would be sure to take it out
for a walk each day, because everyone knows that dogs need exercise. Well,
isn’t my life and health worth as least as much as a dogs? Why shouldn’t I
‘take’ myself for a walk each day then?
Momentum
I have found
that if I just manage to ‘get the ball rolling’ with some sort of exercise,
anything at all. The little bit of extra energy and motivation it provides give
me the extra momentum and desire to do it again, and again and again until
after a few days or weeks, exercising comes to feel like such a part of my day
and life that when I miss a day I feel like I really feel I missed out on
something good.
Using Motivating Speech Patterns
There are certain words that in their very
nature stifle energy and illicit negative emotional responses when it comes to
exercising and eating well. Personally, I find these words act that way for me:
- Should
- Shouldn’t
- Don’t
- Can’t
- Have to
If I say
things to myself things like, “I should exercise”, or “I shouldn’t be eating
this”, or “I don’t feel like exercising”, or “I can’t lose weight”, or “I have
to exercise” I do NOT feel energized or motivated and I end up feeling worse
with my willpower sapped.
However, if
I use words like:
- Becoming
- Striving
- Seeking
- Can
- Will
- Towards
… I feel
more energized and empowered.
So for
example, I might say to myself, “What can/will I do to become a
stronger/healthier/more agile person today?” Another example: “How will I move
towards healthy eating today?”
I find that
by thinking this way, especially when it comes to food, it really helps me to
make better and more healthy choices.
Patience
I never used to be able to stick with any kind
of exercise routine because my focus was purely on the numbers on the scale and
when I didn’t see a quick reduction, I would get discouraged and give up. Now,
I am finally learning patience with myself and realizing that it is the small
changes each day that add up to big changes over time.
The
illustration that helps me to think this way is as follows:
Imagine that
each day you pick up a brick on your way to work and toss it into a pile. At
first, you wouldn’t have much of a pile, but as the days and weeks and months
go by, eventually you would end up with a great big heap of bricks! Then, if
you stopped each day on your way home from work to set one brick upright, and
then the next day another, and the next day another, eventually, you would have
built yourself a wall.
This
illustration that has helped me to break through my habit of impatience and to
realize that whatever I can do each day in the form of exercise, it is like
throwing a brick onto my pile, and over time, it will add up to something
great.
Busting Boredom by Experimenting with Different Types of Exercise
I have found it helpful to go to my local
library and borrow many of the different kinds of exercise programs that they
have available. I have been able to try Pilates, Yoga, Tae Bo, Dancersize,
Belly Dancing, Hip Hop, and an endless variety of other forms of exercise using
the free services provided.
Just having
3 – 6 different DVDs sitting there on my TV has been a source of motivation for
me as I ask myself the question, “Which one will I try today?” Some of the
programs I was glad I hadn’t paid for, but others opened up new styles and
methods of exercise for me and so I went ahead and purchased similar programs
online or from local stores.
Having Specific Work-out Clothing and Shoes
I find that
if I put on my work-out gear, even if I don’t feel like working out, it helps
get my mind and intentions heading toward that direction! Just changing into an
exercise ‘outfit’ (it could be as simple as a T-shirt and shorts for you, but
make it a T-shirt and shorts that you don’t use for any other purpose other than
for your workout) will start to train your mind and prepare it for activity.
Just as
actors find it much easier to portray a certain character once they are in full
costume, consider your work-out gear your ‘healthy’ costume, and once you are
in it, it will be much easier to assume the ‘character’ of a motivated, healthy
person.
Working out in the Morning
When I work out in the morning, I find it
easier to make healthy eating decisions all day long. When I’ve worked my butt
off to burn those few hundred calories, it really makes me think twice before
scoffing down a couple of cookies worth 300 calories!! Exercising in the
morning, before breakfast, I find also revs up my metabolism for the entire
day.
