Motivation for Exercise?

LittleRaeJay1
LittleRaeJay1 Posts: 12
in Motivation and Support
How do you motivate yourself? I know that lacking in motivation is just a nice way of saying someone is being a tiny bit lazy but it's something we've all suffered with I'm sure!

I started my healthy eating lifestyle yesterday, and after the first week of just eating well I'm going to gradually introduce exercise. See, I was made redundant in January 2013 and due to feeling low and having no money I've basically just sat on my rump 24 hours a day; I barely go out of the house due to how horrible I feel.

So exercise needs to be gradual, but I am so out of habit and whatnot that I don't know how to start. Even the thought of exercising at home makes me roll my eyes.

What can I do to really give myself that PUSH to say 'woo yeah! exercise!' I used to feel that, but now I have forgotten what it's like :(

Replies

  • pollypocket3
    pollypocket3 Posts: 51 Member
    For me my motivation at the beginning if all of this was my unhappiness with myself and where I was. I used that as my motivation to get off my butt and do something about it. Money was also am issue for me but at the time I started it was warmer out and I walked around my neighborhood, bike rode.. Whatever I needed to do to get in some exercise. Now that the weather has turned colder for me, I bit the bullet and paid for a gym membership. I paid for three months upfront. I use THAT as my motivation to make sure I didn't waste my money for no reason because I can't get that money back. I also use the fact that in the 4-ish months that I've been doing this I'm just now over halfway to my goal and can see all the opportunities I'm making for myself ahead and I CANNOT WAIT to do them!

    Find what moves you.. Literally.. And hold on to it with all you've got!
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    Motivation comes and goes. Habits are what stick. Get up every day and just do something. Anything. Go online and find something you can do at home. But do it and do it every day. Once it becomes habit, it's a lot easier to keep going. Good luck.
  • LittleRaeJay1
    LittleRaeJay1 Posts: 12
    If only I was rich, I could pay someone to dangle a Ferrero Rocher in front of me whilst I ran round the local park.

    Good advice Beachlover317 -- as a writer I am always told 'never wait for motivation to write, write every day' and I do. I guess I should apply the same thought processes to exercise and eating well! :)
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    If you wait for motivation to exercise, you will wait a looong time....
    Plan it - make it an item on your daily "to-do" list, schedule a time for it and "just do it!"
    You are probably not motivated to brush your teeth, clean the toilet or take the garbage out, but you still do it, don't you?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I keep a picture of myself taken when I was at my heaviest...whenever i get off track I look at that and think I am not going back there..

    I also find that I have been working out/exercising for so long now that I actually look forward to it ...and if I do not do it then I feel like absolute crap....

    not sure if this helps, but that is my experience...

    I think you just need to work out/exercise even when you do not want to and eventually it becomes a part of your day that you do not want to miss...
  • stackhsc
    stackhsc Posts: 439 Member
    for me its my boys. i want to be fit enough to be able to play with them and be healthy for them and to have them grow up healthy.

    also now that i have started i love the way i feel and i remember how i use to feel. when i dont want to exercise i think how i used to feel and it gets me moving again.
  • egrusy
    egrusy Posts: 196 Member
    I got a Fitbit to help get me motivated, and it did help! I started doing a daily walk at lunchtime and have been slowly increasing the distance. It's become such a habit now that it would feel strange if I didn't go for that walk. Also, it's a nice bit of getaway from work during the week. That being said, I live in Southern Arizona, so I can take a walk pretty much every day year-round without much thought to the weather; obviously that is not the case for everyone :smile:

    ETA: The hard part for me when it comes to exercise is to start doing it regularly. Once I've gotten in to a habit it's not hard for me to motivate myself.
  • rmellinger17
    rmellinger17 Posts: 31 Member
    Its tough to get motivated but I started out small. I found that when I forced myself to do 20 minutes on the treadmill 6 days a week, it eventually became routine. Then I was able to increase my time until I was eventually at 45-60 minutes 6 days a week. It was so routine that It was difficult to not do it on the 7th day!

    As I increased my time on the treadmill I also added in crunches too. I started out doing 15-20 a day then I changed that to 20 crunches each day and night. After I got adjusted to that number I slowly increased the number until I was doing 1,000 crunches 6 days a week.

    Im not going to lye to you...It took great effort on some days to get going but after you fight with yourself and Just Do It, It will come naturally and you will be thankful at the new found energy you have and all the compliments that goes along with it.
  • Jkn922
    Jkn922 Posts: 74
    My motivation comes from my frustration of being unhappy with myself. It's the worst feeling when you know what you need to do but you feel so negative about it. Diving into it has helped me more than anything - I've managed to excel in my fitness/health since I started (this has been my best yet) and it's only been three weeks...anything can happen!! :)
  • Karabobarra
    Karabobarra Posts: 782 Member
    I have a few motivators. .some positive and some negative.

    When I started mfp over two years ago I weighed 249. I am st 171 currently and would like to lise another 30 or so. I do alot of personal bashing and it doesn't work for everyone but it would force me to move. the most negative motivator I have is my ex-husband for over 15 years niw saying "you will never be anything more than a fatass stupid *****" or his pet name for me "lazy lardass" ....yeah, he was a real winner...lol but I use the pet name when I feel like quitting in the middle of the workout and it makes me push through even harder.

    positive motivators are the friggen endorphins I know I will be getting, the energy level I experience, the overall health ....the fact that I know I have lost 80 pounds already and I look Damn good for my age! lol I also found it easier to turn my motivation fron working out to just getting to the gym, once I'm at the gym I fear looking like a dork and just standing around doing nothing so I work hard when I'm there. I don't want to lose what work I've already done and I still have farther to go....

    when I fall off the Wagon I promise myself to stick to it for at least two weeks solid....by then I'M usually in endorphin heaven and wondered what my problem was.

    hope this helps and btw ....the ex is about 60 pounds overweight, his wife is cheating on him, was just diagnosed with diabetes and makes less money than I do. ..I wouldn't wish diabetes on anyone, but funny how ironic life can be sometimes
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    By thinking about how good it feels after I work out. And how nice my *kitten* looks as a result.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    OP - you said you were a writer. Could you use that skill to track your progress in a journal- or a blog?

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