Motivation to exercise?

How do you find the motivation? What do you tell yourself when you don't feel like working out? Any tips?

Nike advice: Just do it.

This. My ticker says it and my phone wallpaper is it too. Also, I use to be like you. I use to be super, super lazy and I still can be but once you fall in love or start falling in love with a form of exercise or exercise in general you'll be overexcited to do you next session or goal!

Like some of the other people have said, I schedule it like an appointment. After moving to another country for work and becoming a full time single parent, I lost ALL motivation to go to the gym. I just recently defined a goal and started scheduling my workouts. I wouldn't miss a medical appointment and now I won't miss my gym "appointment."

Like others have said- you just do it. And once you push yourself to do it, and do it regularly, you get into a routine. And then you start looking forward to it, because it feels good.

I used to hate working out- I particularly hated cardio. I only liked activities such as skiing(downhill), swimming or hiking, because it didn't really feel like a workout. I wasn't doing it to work out.

Things changed when I started going to the gym during my 2nd pregnancy. I did it mostly because I didn't want to gain 60lbs like I did with my first pregnancy. Despite being pregnant and taking it relatively easy, I could feel myself getting stronger and in better shape. Now, 7 months post-partum, I really look forward to working out. I'm still very heavy, but for the first time in my life, I ENJOY cardio. I enjoy strength training. I love the energy boost, I love how strong I feel, I love the "runners high" I get from it. At this juncture, I work out not so much to lose weight, but because I love how I feel during and after. Just start doing it, keep doing it, and you'll get there.

Find a goal....work towards that goal.

2011, I just wanted to lose weight, I was 225lbs....so I ran, and worked out and I lost weight and ran a half-marathon in 6-7 months time, and dropped to 190

2012, Major Major life changes were happening, but still, I ran to keep up, and dropped to 175

2013, Major Major life changes were still happening, but I wanted to run a marathon, so I trained for one...and I did in September.

2014, I gained 15lbs back after the marathon and a surgery. I didn't want to buy new clothes, so I set a goal to do Insanity....I've got two weeks left and am down to 184, and lost about 5% body fat so far....I know this will end, but I've set goals to finish Insanity: Asylum with a start date of around April 1st

These goals have cut all the excuses, had me push through some pain and injuries, and watch my food.....even when I don't want to, knowing what's ahead keeps me going.

I'm an incredibly lazy person, like, really really lazy and I usually dread working out and find an excuse not to do it. How do you find the motivation? What do you tell yourself when you don't feel like working out? Any tips?

I go to a gym, this helps because it's like the gym is there, waiting for me. I almost *never* want to go. But I'm *always* glad I went. This makes me keep going. I don't find the motivation, sometimes I think the idea of "motivation" is actually detrimental because it gives you the idea that you have to 'want' to do something first, or have the energy to do something first. You don't! You'll never begin if you wait until conditions are perfect, because they never will be. To get the ball rolling, well, you have to start rolling the ball.

Remember that showing up is half the battle. Just manage to get yourself there (or outside, in workout clothes, or start the video, etc). Once that is done, the rest will be easier. I used to be an incredibly lazy person. I am not an incredibly lazy person now. It took a couple years to really start enjoying working out. I used to make a lot of excuses and they worked, but eventually I stopped listening to myself -- it takes awhile but it's so very, very worth it. Plus I avoid that guilty/negative self-talk of "you totally could have gone to the gym today but you didn't because you're lazy."

If you say you want to do something, want to commit to something, and then don't do it, you create this negative reinforcement for yourself to just keep doing nothing even though you say you want to do something. Stop that!

Having an accountability partner made a big difference for me. Sometimes I really disliked this person for calling me out on my laziness, but they were right! After a while I realized I don't need calling out by someone else because I do it myself. It *is* hard work, but it's totally worth it. Good luck. :happy:

I motivate my self by wanting to finish the movie I was watching the day before while I was on my Treadmill, also I have 2 pairs of jeans in my workout room hanging on the wall, one is a size that I used to be and one is the smaller size I'm now. That helps me. Good luck :-)

This is cool!

boy, some days I have quite the argument with myself before I get my *kitten* in gear and get my walking done. right now I go to the school to do my walking. it's either 5:30 in the morning before the kids get there or 3:00 in the afternoon after school. I prefer the morning, but some days, I just can't get up. But I DO win everyday and go. I can't wait until the weather gets decent and I can take the dog and go outside again. but my motivation is: I set my goal at 10% of current body weight as my goal. and as I lose a pound or two at a time, I get closer to that goal and it's easier all the time to get going. so far I've made 3 goals and have 3 to go. and each is less and less. that feels pretty darn good.