How to get motivated!

stephsbuns

I have been trying to lose weight I found out a month ago I'm pre diabetic. I'm having issues getting motivated to work out and do more than walk. How do y'all get motivated?

mom22dogs

I guess you have to decide that you want to be healthy more than you want to have diabetes. My mom got diabetes and does nothing to fix it. Claims she watches her diet, but she doesn't, and does absolutely nothing for exercise. She has now had 3 strokes because she didn't do something about the diabetes before it was too late. I do not want to be like her. That was my motivation.

cwolfman13

My bad blood work was more than enough to get me going...I just decided that I wanted to be healthy, not sick and in an early grave. I have two kids to take care of and a beautiful wife that I would like to spend my later years traveling with rather than laid up in a hospital or something.

After that, it was just dedication and habit. Motivation only gets you so far...it's an emotion...ultimately you have to take the emotion out of it and just do it.

Also, walking is great...I spent my first few months not doing much more than walking. I added stuff in as my fitness improved and I started dropping weight.

cnbbnc

Well...you really don't have to workout. You can lose weight simply by watching your calories. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with just walking if that's what you're willing to do exercise-wise. It's great low impact activity that anyone can do and everyone can benefit from.

If all this is new to you and you're having to look at making some changes to your lifestyle, you could always just start with working on getting your daily calories figured out...getting that ball rolling...and then look at some different activities you may be interested in.

Sometimes I think making too many changes at once leads to people becoming discouraged.

fireytiger

Motivation is something that has to come from within, or else you're never gonna stick with it. You have to *want* to change. I live in perpetual fear of getting diabetes. Literally everyone on my dad's side of the family has it, and my grandfather died from complications in his early 50s, before I was even born. I don't want to live like that.

As far as the exercise goes, if you're *really* serious about making a change, start small. Make a goal to go out and do at least a 15 minute walk 5 days a week. Just 15 minutes, and as you feel like you can manage it, increase the time. Every wellness coach, dietitian, doctor, etc. has told me over and over, ANYTHING is better than nothing, and every little bit helps. If you can't motivate yourself to do a lot right now, at least do a little. You can do more strenuous exercise as you feel ready for it, but if you try to jump into something too fast, you're gonna burn out and it won't stick.

cnbbnc

As far as the walking goes, sometimes I get some daily movement in by driving to a shopping center...parking a little further away, and then walking around stores/strip malls/or the actual mall. It seems to make something mundane a little more fun because I can people watch and window shop. Just a thought....

Or what about a gym? You could do some treadmill walking there. Sometimes just getting out and being around other people who are doing it too can help you with motivation.

srecupid

You don't really need to exercise at all for weight loss. It's all about a calorie deficit which you can achieve solely through diet. Walking isn't a bad form of exercise. I lost about 80 pounds solely through eating right and walking. I did do some cardio on a stationary bike I bought for the winter months but, I have an overactive mind and walking helps center me.