What Makes You Motivated Enough To Exercise?

Find a workout you like or a person you like to do it with. Alot of my motivation is a 6 mo puppy that is much more pleasant to have around the house after a 2 mile run, but not everyone has that. walk/run/go to the gym with a buddy who is focused but also fun to talk to. Or find something you just enjoy doing yourself (nature walk or walk in the park and people watch) or join a fun sports team. Some people are good at just kicking their own butts and some aren't. I am not but the more I do exercise the more I want to exercise so maybe that is the key. I am not really sure....

Forget about the high intensity stuff for now. Start by doing things you like... Walking? Do you own a bike? Go for leisurely bike rides. You can gradually increase the intensity of your workout, but don't rush it. Good luck!

Why not try taking motivation out of it? Make it more of an automatic thing that you do. I run 3 miles every day on my lunch break. When 12:00 rolls around, every day i just put on my running clothes and GO. I don't even give it a second thought. You could try planning for excercise first thing in the morning before events of the day have a chance to get in the way.

Hi everyone,
I've been on mfp for a while now I just recreated my profile. Yes I've lost some weight but it hasn't been from exercising or calorie counting, its been from purely eating healthy & drinking water. I'm 10 Lbs away from leaving the 200's behind me and I know its seriously going to be tough to get rid of the 79 lbs in order for me to be at my ideal weight....says my doctor lol.

For the past few weeks I literally have been contemplating about exercising but I just haven't done it. I think its mainly because I'm scared. The last time I exercised it was very intense, I had incorporated squats, push ups, windmill, trunk twist combined with walking 3 - 5 miles with Leslie Sansone..(she's my best friend we haven't spoken in a while). After a while I injured myself doing too many squats so I couldn't work out for about 3 weeks. When I did go back to squatting I only did like 5 a day...literally.

So my question to my mfp loves is what motivates you to actually get up and work out? What do you say to yourself? What do you do in order to do it or if you're on a schedule? Why do you do it?

I do it every single day that its on my schedule to workout because I know if I miss one day I will end up missing another and another until finally i will stop doing them at all. I cant afford to stop. I started at 270 lbs. I wont go back there. Even when I dont want to I have to because I know I just cant stop!!

For me, I keep in mind that being fit is just like being a kid when moving around was fun not a chore. If you tire your body out, why would it want to move the next day?

for 2012 I made a new years resolution to lose weight. It was probably doomed to eventual failure but my buddy Alex got us Patriots tickets on new years day. They were in the 400 section, high up enough to touch the sky. We had to walk up ramps to get to the top of the stadium and I was so out of shape I almost didn't make it, we missed kick-off and I wanted to die from the effort.

So the next day I got serious. I was not going to let my self be held back by my lack of fitness ever again. In fact this year I ran a 10k that ended by running out of the big inflatable patriots helmet in Gillette stadium and across the 50 yard line. The best part of the race is that you had to run the ramps in the stadium and run around the top level and down before coming out of the big helmet.

I ran the #%#$ out of those ramps GRRRRRRRRRRAAAAWWWWWWLLLLLLLL!!!!!!

I have run the warrior dash, tough mudder, a LOT of 5Ks and I have my first 1/2 marathon next month. I also have a 2 year old daughter and I plan on being healthy and fit enough to keep up with her for as long as I can and then even longer then that.

At first, it was just that I hated being overweight. That wasn't enough though, because I tried a million times because of that.

Then, I made myself go, even if I didn't feel like it. It became a habit, and now I love the way I feel afterwards, and that is motivation enough. The more I work out, the stronger I get, the better I feel.

I think it is important to find stuff you like or even love to do to keep the motivation.

The feeling you have after a great work out and the motivation of always feeling fit and being active instead of overweight stressed and sedentary!

Thinking about that flat stomach that's slowly starting to develop )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))<333333

Basically what everyone else has said--I have been at this for nearly 2 years. I started w/ a Jillian Michaels DVD 3x/week, and now I'm training for my first Half Marathon. For me it was just a matter of making it part of my daily routine. It's no longer a question of "should I work out" or "do I feel like it," it's just what I do to get my day started. But in the beginning I heard some other helpful tricks: sleep in your workout shorts, put your gym bag w/ your work clothes out in your car the night before, do something you actually enjoy (regardless of what burns the MOST calories). It's not always easy, but it's a great lifestyle change to make!

#1 - My 2nd half marathon in January, I want to do way better than I did on my first (I finished in 3 hrs 37 minutes)
#2 - Workout = ice cream (I only eat it on days I workout, it's my reward lol)

I have always HATED to exercise (any at all was too much), but NEEDED to do something so I joined a gym. Now we have all the workout equipment and weights at home in the basement and have for years, but I know if I am at home I will come up with a million excuses NOT to exercise (dishes need to be done, need to clean the bathrooms, mow the lawn, etc). I started going thinking I would just walk everyday since I haven't done any sort of exercise in a couple of decades, but met with a personal trainer because it was free. He set me up doing the 30 minute circuit 3 times a week and the treadmill the other times I come in. I make myself go EVERY day because I know that if I don't I will start coming up with excuses not to more often. On the days I am really tired or just not "feeling" the gym, I still go and get on the treadmill and walk. When I started I could only do 30 minutes at 3.0 miles per hour, I have worked my way up to jogging 5.0 per hour for 20 minutes and walking 4.0 miles per hour for 40 minutes. I still have those days that I don't really want to go (less often now then before), but I still go and walk. It's something and then I don't feel quite so guilty. Just keep trying, you can do this (just don't overdo it in the beginning because then you won't want to go at all).

I should have read the other replies first, just reiterating many other peoples comments! :laugh: