How are you staying motivated?

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jezingmark05
jezingmark05 Posts: 26 Member
in Motivation and Support
During this time of self quarantine it can be hard to stay motivated. What are you guys doing?

I started weighing myself everyday - something I used to only do once a week.

I also started writing down the time/day whenever I procrastinate working out. It can be so easy to justify doing other things and time can get away so quickly.

If I am losing my focus, at least I know pretty quick vs. if I wait a week and have gained too much or lost too much weight.

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    My June marathon got cancelled, but I've committed to doing the virtual option. Knowing I'll be running a marathon without any support in just a couple months is a powerful motivator to keep in my "racing weight" sweet zone and not skip any planned runs.
  • Samand303
    Samand303 Posts: 123 Member
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    My response is similar to Showgirlbody. I have changed my goals during this lockdown:
    Take extra long dog walks - I have the time
    Find / Choose healthy snack items - looking for new recipes on MFP blog
    Weigh once a week
    Don’t gain weight. - if I get thru these months without undoing my losses, I’ll be very happy! Stress eating and baking have been my downfall in the past. Thanks for asking!
    ~ Samand
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    I'm not motivated at all, but I keep doing it anyway because I've built the habits to carry me though.

    Walking laps through the living/dining/kitchen with headphones and a podcast. Banded strength training program. Yoga off YouTube. Sticking to my normal menu. Nothing has changed too much, except location.
  • jbyers877
    jbyers877 Posts: 21 Member
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    I am glad i'm not the only one struggling. I was training for a half marathon that is postponed until fall and seem to have lost all momentum. Our weather is nice one day and rainy and 45 the next so we've embarked on some home remodeling projects in the meantime. Our upcoming weather is looking really good so I'm hopeful that will inspire the change we need.
  • JenObRN
    JenObRN Posts: 102 Member
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    I just get up and do it. I know myself, and if I wasn’t working out every day, I’d be laying in bed feeling sorry for myself and then it would be downhill from there.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I have shortened hours at work but am committed to keeping the same early morning workout doing a Pelaton spinning class. I got the bike because I was worried the Chinese factories would shut down and I wouldn’t be able to get a bike. Little did I ever think the US would shut down!

    They have strength classes on Pelaton so since my gym is closed I’ve started doing two of those a week. That’s much harder because I can’t fit it in before work so am left trying to create a new habit. As we all know new habits can take awhile to stick. I’m reading the book “Atomic Habits” and am trying to better understand how habits work, and what stops us. To me, as a small business owner, it’s a very stressful time and difficult to focus on new exercise habits. Sigh.

    And I log the good, the bad, and the ugly in an effort to just maintain. Log log log.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,579 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    I'm not motivated at all, but I keep doing it anyway because I've built the habits to carry me though.

    Walking laps through the living/dining/kitchen with headphones and a podcast. Banded strength training program. Yoga off YouTube. Sticking to my normal menu. Nothing has changed too much, except location.

    This is how I feel/am doing as well. I've structured everything so my basic routine is similar each day, it's not motivation but 16 months of working out just about every day. As much as I gain physically from it I gain even more mentally. I'm walking in place/dancing while online listening to music and drinking coffee in the morning, using the equipment I have to do You Tube videos, sticking to my diet as well as I can despite not having all my usual produce, trying new recipes, etc. I feel like keeping a rein on my habits is keeping me sane right now.
  • Dorchi22
    Dorchi22 Posts: 57 Member
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    I had a slight meltdown after not being able to fit into a dress that I've sewn for myself, so that's my current motivation, to sculpt some areas of my body and rock any type of dresses that I fancy.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,116 Member
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    The only thing that comes close to motivation is seeing my step count increase and seeing my calorie goal increase as I exercise more. Otherwise it's just habit keeping me going.

    Most of my steps used to come from walking to the train station and back. Now I'm doing laps around the living room while surfing the web, while watching TV,... I'm actually more active now than before the lockdown (after a week of adaptation when I was struggling). On average 14000 steps a day, treadmill 3 or 4 times a week, walking outside on the weekend, occasional indoor rowing. (I'm lucky to have a home gym)

    Being active also helps keep my stress levels down.
  • Samand303
    Samand303 Posts: 123 Member
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    Many of you seem to have long term habits in place. So that’s encouraging to me. I’ve only been at it a couple months, so nothing really solid to fall back on.
  • fostersu
    fostersu Posts: 327 Member
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    With my “don’t have time” excuse gone I’ve taken up jogging again. It’s been good to get out and in the fresh air and gives me something to improving incrementally. Honestly I think the only thing keeping my food in check is being low carb - I stay full and much less erratic hunger - otherwise I think the chip/cereal/cookie/anything binge cravings would overwhelm me during all this stress.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    Samand303 wrote: »
    Many of you seem to have long term habits in place. So that’s encouraging to me. I’ve only been at it a couple months, so nothing really solid to fall back on.

    I have 2 years so my habits are also long term but my habit formed by treating my daily process as my main goal. There is no tomorrow and no yesterday. I only need to accomplish a tiny bit today to forward my progress. If I do not for some reason tomorrow is the next chance I get. If I do accomplish it great, tomorrow is still the next chance I get. As long as most of my days end successfully I will make great strides forward.

    I find that if I am not overwhelmed by a goal I do not need a lot of motivation or willpower.

    It is also easier to move forward without a lot of additional motivation if moving forward is not a continual hardship fueled by over-restriction and/or aggressive weight loss. Living life as normally as you can and trying to be happy-ish today helps. I am not accusing you of anything. I am just throwing it out there. Being kind and generous with yourself helps tremendously. It took me a long time to learn that lesson.
  • Samand303
    Samand303 Posts: 123 Member
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    NovusDies thank you for your kind words. Just what I needed this morning. I will keep the focus on today. 😊
  • cesse47
    cesse47 Posts: 947 Member
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    I've joined two groups and two specific threads here in MFP. In different ways, each has a focus on setting goals for today and reporting on how you did. A nice amount of interaction with others in the threads. A good amount of support without being "preachy". So far, that's working well for me

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