How do you avoid skipping exercises and workout plans?
CheesyPurritoCat
Posts: 7 Member
How do you motivate yourselves to keep going and not skip workouts??? It's very hard for me to keep up with my workout schedule as I follow it for 3 days then stop 
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Replies
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Well, when the thought enters my head to skip, I consider several things. What would I do instead? Usually sit on my *kitten* and watch TV. Which I can do later anyhow. I also tell myself that by skipping, I'm cheating myself and I'll never accomplish my goals. Plus a lot of what I do is about 30 minutes. 30 minutes is nothing time-wise. And then I think about how my clothes used to fit when I started 2 months ago and don't want to get back there. I have a lot of motivation when I really think about it. At the end of the day, I'm in this for the long haul and if I can't figure out a way to make these things part of my life and not hate it, then I'll continue to be unhappy, hate the way I look in the mirror, and feel like crap. After considering all that, it's become rather easy for me to keep going. I hope you find your reason(s). Best of luck.8
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I started counting a streak. Every time I missed one, it reset. After a while of getting to 5 or 6 days, I got tired of resetting. And now the number is so high that I CAN'T miss!
It also had to be a workout I enjoyed and that I wanted to get better at. It had its own reward built in. I do it 3 days a week, cross-train 3 days, rest 1.2 -
Calorie restricting sucks. Exercising makes it seem like it sucks for a good cause.8
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I also made a counting streak....
And it's the first thing I do when I roll outa bed every day....even weekends. If I don't.....3 kids demand all my time after that & it doesn't get done. Plus I work full time, & im dead in the afternoon....
Friends on here also help....make a deal with someone....buddy up. They help keep you motivated, & accountable....1 -
I heard something somewhere about forming habits and how doing something for a certain amount of time makes it a habit. I know there are books out there about this, but I found that I didn't need one.
I simply set it in my mind, when I first started, that I was all about forming a habit, so I committed to exercising on a schedule for a month. It worked. By the end of that month, it was a habit, and I felt weird not doing it after that point. I had never regularly exercised in my life and now, over two years later, I still have the habit.4 -
This may sound really weird, but I only allow myself to shower after a workout. I workout every other day, then shower. If I'm feeling too lazy for a workout, then I just think of how gross I'd feel the next day before my workout then shower. I've missed a few days and I do feel pretty gross on day 3. Its worked for me for a few years! I think people shower too much anyways, I might be a bit of a hippie...
I also think of how great I feel after HIIT or a kettlebell workout, or Insanity...energized and more alert.4 -
How badly do you honestly want to change? Think about why the reason why you wanted to lose weight in the first place and write that out somewhere where you can see it. If you know your why you can endure anything.But you need to have a plan that's actually manageable and realistic for you. I do gym every other day no excuses.
What is your workout plan now? Pick exercises or join classes that you actually enjoy.5 -
On days I don't feel like it, I make myself get up and go. I tell myself I'll just do it for 15 minutes. Then I usually complete my workout. I also give myself a couple of rest days.
Also if you don't like your routine you may want to find something you like better.2 -
Exercise gives me more food to eat. I like to eat food.7
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i try to make it as easy as possible for myself, and remove any 'barriers' to not going. Meaning, pack my bag the night before and put it in the car.
I also do the ClassPass workout app, that if you cancel a class with less than 12 hours notice, you get charged for it anyways, and I hate wasting money, so that's a good motivator not to bail :-)0 -
Take preworkout or caffeine2
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I do it first thing in the morning and take a pre-workout. Once I'm up and energized, it's way more difficult to talk myself out of it.1
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obsession.2
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Find something you actually like doing for your exercise. You'll probably be likely to not skip it, if you like it.3
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When I started going to the gym almost 5 years ago, I was conscious from Day 1 of only allowing myself to build up positive associations with the whole gym experience. I took note of every little thing that felt good, and reminded myself of all those things a gazillion times. [Initially I balked at working up a sweat ("Oh no, I'm getting all yucky!"), but I found the good in that, feeling-wise, as well - when I finish a session on the elliptical, it seems to me that having gotten the blood flowing has hugely benefitted my mind and spirit as well as my body. Also, It doesn't take long, working with resistance machines, to start feeling STRONG, and it's a kick for a former couch potato to revel in feeling strong.]. Anyway, I heartily agree with those who have talked about making it a habit, and those who enjoy the fact that it increases their calorie limits! All the best to you!6
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CheesyPurritoCat wrote: »How do you motivate yourselves to keep going and not skip workouts??? It's very hard for me to keep up with my workout schedule as I follow it for 3 days then stop
I keep a spreadsheet of weekly minutes. That way if I do half a workout (short on time, whatever)......I get the rest of the week to make it up.
Mark your workouts on a calendar.....put in in a public place. Whatever you choose, find a way to make yourself accountable.
I agree with @TR0berts......maybe you don't like your current exercise. Keep trying new things.2 -
For me it was about creating the habit of course, but slowly introducing exercise into my everyday. For most people if you start out hard going to the gym for 1h+ a day you'll burn out fast, that's what I always found used to happen to me. I started out just doing something little a couple of times a week, usually some sort of 30 min workout, either yoga, body weight or running. I didn't have a program just did something a couple of times a week. I increased the days as I began to enjoy how I was feeling, and now I actually follow a training program! Lots of baby steps and you end up with huge changes you don't even realize happened2
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Maybe this might come across as discouraging... From the day I decided enough was enough and I signed up a gym membership ( my first cardio workout lasted 12 minutes) to when I felt bad about missing a workout it was almost 5 years...starts and stops... medical issues...and every excuse to skip a workout, then it hit me... exercise.. unless you earn a living doing manual labour of some kind (which I done in my youth) is as necessary as eating, drinking (water) and breathing, BY NOT exercising on a regular basis you are creating physical and emotional difficulties later in life.
I see it this way... WE as a species developed over many millennia a need to hunt and forage and later farm in order to "live" As first world inhabitants we have robbed ourselves of that (those) task(s). and by not engaging in those tasks our bodies have begun to deteriorate far quicker than they ought to. bad knees, hips, backs, cancers, fatigue, depression, anxiety... ALL this can be fixed or at the least controlled with increased meaningful physical activity... I exercise because I want to be happy... I exercise because I want to have energy, because My life is a better place with me in it... I want to be a participant... I want to look in the mirror and like who I see smiling back... THAT only happens when I have hit the gym and walked out with a sense that I did my best...
YOU want to create the positive habits... be your best... and wake up every morning telling yourself you will do your best... then day by day... workout by workout... you will begin to move the needle towards that goal... exercise is as important as eating, drinking, and breathing... begin to understand thatand you will create the good habits that will see you striving to be the best version of you.2 -
For me… I don’t avoid it and I don’t make excuses.
I enjoy the activities I do enough to keep it fun, interesting and challenging. If I didn’t like what I did or found it any of them to be a chore, I’d find something else to do in their place.
The “why” is the payoff from doing it. I feel better overall as a middle-aged guy. I recall how it feels to NOT do it. To NOT exercise and eat right. That in and of itself is highly motivating and eliminates my need to “avoid” my plan.
Part of the plan though is taking a break which helps to provide balance.2 -
I set aside a fixed block of time every day. This is my workout time. It's on my personal/business calendars so nobody gets that time. Generally works....
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I tell myself to change and do 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes, I still don't want to be there, at least I did 10 minutes. Sometimes, I only do 10 minutes, other times, I stay longer. Also, I allow myself 1 cheat day to "not exercise" and go for a walk, or "just" do some very embarrassing dancing in front of the mirror (this isn't my rest day)... I usually don't take it but have if I'm really not feeling changing, driving to the gym, or running.2
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I primarily cycle...I love to cycle...it's not really an issue. Do something you enjoy doing.3
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Just do it.
If you are going to let yourself skip then you are letting your lack of discipline help you rationalize and make poor choices.
In many people that is the reason they are unfit in the first place.
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A little background first. I spend two weeks out of the month working out of town and the other two weeks of the month working at my company's home office.
That said, I've made it a point to make exercise and movement a part of my "work" day. What I mean by that is: on the two weeks I'm out of town working, as soon as I get home, I immediately put on my work out clothes and walk to the gym. Then, on the two weeks I'm working from the home office, I exercise during my lunch break. Additionally, I'm sure to plan and grocery shop for a week's worth of meals. One some days, dinner is prepped and just needs to be popped into the oven (while I take a shower). On others, I'm eating those leftovers. Finally, for lunch I typically have a nutrient-dense shake filled with hearty greens, fruit, flax, and protein as well as a small (200-300 calorie) protein, carb, and piece of fruit snack around 3:30 or 4:00p.
Planning, planning, planning. The more thought you put into a schedule (that works for you!), the more the complexity is taken out of your routine, and as such, it becomes simple. Simplicity = success.0 -
As I get back into exercising, it is replacing food to relieve stress (I have been a stress eater forever). So, the only time I have excuses is when I literally am not around to do an actual workout or I am too sick. However, when I am not around to do an actual workout b/c of my schedule, I still make sure I do exercises at my desk at work and walk around the office a bunch.0
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Mine is quite simple, I just have a no excuses attitude. I don't ask myself if I want to workout because the answer is usually no. I just do it!3
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I schedule my workouts like it is somewhere I have to be. Do you go to work for three days then stop?2
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I'm all over the suggestion of moving your body in a way that you enjoy. It took me two years of running with my then-boyfriend to realize I actually don't enjoy running (even though I was pretty decent). But I DO love being outside. So I do lots of "functional exercise"...if I have to pick up something from the grocery store, I make that my exercise...4km there and back with great "Rock My Run" playlists spurring me on. Or shovelling snow. Or going on a long-distance snow shoe trek or cross-country ski. None of those activities seem like "going to the gym". Of course I have to occasionally step it up and do some strength training...but I try and do that at home and go to the gym for yoga! 0
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I write mine down on a wall calendar and cross of the days as I go so I have a visual reminder of my progress and I don't want to look at the calendar and see any blank days. I also like following a workout plan made by someone else (currently doing Insanity) so it feels official and I have a coach pushing me every day.0
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I wrote down WHAT I wanted. After that I wrote a list of WHY I wanted what I wanted. When I don't feel like going and working out, I read over the list and ask myself if I still want those things. The answer is yes. Well, to get those things I know I have to move it, so that helps me get in the right mindset and helps me get up and go.0
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