Getting motivated to exercise

pattycakes10117 · February 2013

What is Fitbit One? How does it work?

pattycakes10117 · February 2013

This week I have committed to exercise in some fashion every night. I am in 4 days now and still doing something.
Riding my recumbant bike......stretch bands. I used weights as I bike and watch tv. My daughter go me a "Ride O Vision" DVD for Christmas last year and I just opened it a week ago. It is beautful scenery of Washington State and the parks there. The music and speed are as if I am riding on the road. Filmed while someone was driving or riding bike I guess. Very nice.
I enjoy looking all around as the rider goes and I ride in place. I see birds and cute houses...things a person does not see when they are actually riding to be safe. So that is another means I have. She bought it from Amazon.com.

kathygingras5 · February 2013

You have to make time for you. We get caught up in work, family and everything else but ourselves. Say to yourself everyday I will make time for me to exercise. Even if you start with 20mins a day and increase it as you go along. Often we jump straight in and want to work out 60 mins or more from the start. You will grow to love exercise and realize you will crave it.

fstender · February 2013

Try the 30 day shred by Jillian Micheals....it is an awesome workout and only takes 30 minutes.....so easy to do! ...well after you get over that feeling your going to die! haha!

jodybarrett · February 2013

Bump

trudijoy · February 2013

find excercise you enjoy. I have netball, the gym, swimming, walking, dancing and stationery cycling, mostly. But if you asked me to run I would throw things at you. You have to be able to enjoy it or it's too hard to do it. Why not try different gym classes, sub in on friends social sports teams occasionally, learn dances off youtube etc?

michellekicks · February 2013

My advice is to sign up for something you've not done before or haven't done for years... join a recreational league for a team sport, join a dance class, join a martial arts club, take up a learn-to-run club... join a bowling league, find a hiking club... do something outside of normal. You never know what you might find! You could become one of the lucky ones who just falls in love with a sport instead of having to grind it out in a gym day in and day out.

sparklelioness · February 2013

For me, I've come to realize its nothing to do with motivation-i mean i exercise because i want to lose weight, but what gets me out there isn't "motivation". Sometimes I look forward to working out, its true. Most of the time I don't. Often i enjoy it once I've started. But what makes me start? What makes me put on my exercise clothes and go out the door when its 6 pm and freezing out?

Well, what makes you go to work everyday?

What makes you shower everyday, even days when that extra hour of sleep sounds like heaven?

You do it because it needs to be done. When i started looking at exercise as something that needed to be done if i wanted a better life (to lose weight, be healthier & happier, ect), it became a lot easier.

Don't think about it. I dont sit there and debate going out for my daily hour. Very brisk walk. I dont think about it at all-this is one of the few instances in life where thinking is dangerous! If you let yourself think about it you'll find a way to make yourself feel ok about not doing it.

Just get up and do it.

Do you get up everyday and debate going to work? No, for most of us we just do it, because it needs to be done.

This isnt to say i dont like exercise. As i said, once I'm out there, it often feels good. Sometimes it doesn't.

But it ALWAYS feels good when i come in and log it on MFP, and hop in the shower.

Don't think about it. Just do it.

jelr · February 2013

When i know i am in the mood to skip my workout that day i get on youtube and watch other peoples transformation slideshows. Usually in about thirty minutes i am ready to get off my toosh and workout so that one day I can have my own transformation .

jeanmoreno · February 2013

beware what you wish,its very addictive! the firsts steps are the harder but then after................:-)

lwoodroff · February 2013

Motivation is a myth, but there is determination. Create a habit 'it's 6pm on Monday, therefore I'm [insert exercise here]'. Like others have said, you may not 'feel' like exercising, but I've never regretted it afterwards... and the days I've slobbed on the sofa instead I have regretted it.

I'm no fan of sweat, but if I'm going to get sweaty I'll be the sweatiest, reddest faced person at the gym - gotta make your investment worth it!

Make a plan, allow yourself to be 'selfish' in keeping it, and you'll soon notice a difference - which will definitely be motivating! I'd have goals which are fitness rather than scale related too, to give yourself something to push towards

jfarnden · February 2013

I haven't read the rest of the suggestions, but i thought i'd share something i found.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger fitness blog are big fans of "1% workouts", that's a workout that only takes 1% of your day or around 15-20 minutes.
Here's the suggested one i was reading:
http://www.schwarzenegger.com/fitness/post/adding-mayhem-to-the-method-a-1-percent-workout-for-your-carb-back-loading

But since i found this i have also found several other websites with 1% workout plans so you can choose one that suits you.
I find if you make a certain time and set it aside for exercise its easier to keep up with, and make sure to have a "break day" that you can relax on to help stick to the plan. Our exercise plan at home has gap days on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday when we only do really active things if we feel like it on those days, the other days we have a set routine thats reasonably intensive for our fitness levels. I seem to sort of guilt my way into it because its in the day planner so it's something i "have to" do. I realized that lots of people do this with TV - my mother "Had to" be home at 6 to watch the news so she was always home and geared up before the news started.
I also use rewards, if i finish my workout i have something yummy food wise on hand.

seamstressless · February 2013

I also struggle to commit to exercising... one of the things I did was to start by doing everything with a bit more 'gusto'... use the stairs, walk a bit faster etc. Also, drinking plenty of water seems to make me feel less sluggish and more likely to move about. As others have said, as soon as you start feeling the benefit you'll feel more motivated!

fresh_start59 · February 2013

I wish I could find the motivation to just jump up and exercise, preferably with a smile on my face.

I am so out of shape that I really have to push to get in 6,000 steps a day (which falls way short of the 10,000 recommended steps).

What I really hate is that it takes me longer to lace up my shoes, change into my sports bra and attach my HRM than it does for me to work myself to exhaustion. But that's because I'm really out of shape ... and because I'm so out of shape, I must exercise or die ... so I guess not dying is my current motivation. :-)

samanthawardle31 · February 2013

As a former couch potato I am fairly new to exercise. My dog really helped because while I would happily sit on the sofa all day I couldnt deprive him of a walk! I started walking briskly at first rather than strolling. Then I tried some classes at the gym. Some I didnt like but there were people of all fitness levels there so I didnt feel self concious. I have discovered I enjoy spin and combat - both high impact which suprised me! It is getting to the point where I dont feel as good if I dont exercise. Its only 1 hour - and I think well what I would do with that hour instead? Watch TV? I work full time so it isnt always easy but its always worth it! Log the calories youve burned on MFP and you will soon want to do more.

fresh_start59 · February 2013

And while I'm here, I'd like to shamelessly promote my "exercise" group:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10234-exercise-phobia-face-the-fear

It is for those of us who are out of shape and out of breath, worried that walking up a flight of stairs will cause a heart attack or just plain afraid to work out in a gym. You know, those of us who don't quite (at least not yet) fit in with the heavy lifters, runners, or those insane insanity and PX90 folks.

I've not posted there yet this week, but my plan is to post at least weekly (preferably daily) about my exercise or lack of it. I hope you'll join me and we can motivate one another to do a little more next week than you did last week.

brwnsuga6 · February 2013

I know this may sound shallow, but if it helps then it's worth sharing. I think Beyonce is the sexiest woman alive; her body, her dancing, I love her. So when I exercise, even if it's just walking, I think in my head WWBD? (What would Beyonce do?). All things that are sexy are my motivation so when I work out I like to do sexy routines like Zumba and anything that has dancing in it. Find your motivation (nature, music) and figure a way to incorporate it into your exercise regiment.

sbdoolin · February 2013

For me, I've come to realize its nothing to do with motivation-i mean i exercise because i want to lose weight, but what gets me out there isn't "motivation". Sometimes I look forward to working out, its true. Most of the time I don't. Often i enjoy it once I've started. But what makes me start? What makes me put on my exercise clothes and go out the door when its 6 pm and freezing out?

Well, what makes you go to work everyday?

What makes you shower everyday, even days when that extra hour of sleep sounds like heaven?

You do it because it needs to be done. When i started looking at exercise as something that needed to be done if i wanted a better life (to lose weight, be healthier & happier, ect), it became a lot easier.

Don't think about it. I dont sit there and debate going out for my daily hour. Very brisk walk. I dont think about it at all-this is one of the few instances in life where thinking is dangerous! If you let yourself think about it you'll find a way to make yourself feel ok about not doing it.

Just get up and do it.

Do you get up everyday and debate going to work? No, for most of us we just do it, because it needs to be done.

This isnt to say i dont like exercise. As i said, once I'm out there, it often feels good. Sometimes it doesn't.

But it ALWAYS feels good when i come in and log it on MFP, and hop in the shower.

Don't think about it. Just do it.

sbdoolin · February 2013

I was trying to quote this other response:

"Just get up and do it.

Do you get up everyday and debate going to work? No, for most of us we just do it, because it needs to be done."

For me, what works is getting that workout in first thing in the morning, before I'm awake enough to start making excuses about why I don't have time to work out. By the time my brain really starts firing, I'm halfway done and there's no point in quitting then.

workoutchick · February 2013

I have a calendar and at the begininng of the month i put my goals on there and write on it all of the exercises i want to do and my rest days. So before i go to bed every night I look to see what I have to do in the morning. I also give myself a dollar every time I do what is on my calendar.

Getting motivated to exercise

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