Ugh! So unmotivated

95Tashey95
95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am really trying to loose the last few 10lbs but just cannot get motivated for exercise

The logging is going quite well but every night i set the alarm for 6 to go the gym feeling like I will do it this time and then when it goes off in the morning I switch it off and then get up at 8! really struggling to break this habit. Exercising in the evening is not really an option for me, it has to be morning.

I then spend the day feeling lousy about not getting myself moving when I know the exercise will make me feel better. There are a lot of things going on at home at the moment that is making for a bit of a stressful environment (we are having a house extension built) so this will continue for a long while yet but I need to get myself back into exercise.

I am assuming I cant loose these last few lbs without introducing exercise since even just losing 0.5lb a week only gives me 1400 cals to eat - I have been trying to keep between 1200-1400 cals for the last 2 weeks but am just not getting exercise in :-( feeling in a bit of despair to be honest

How do others motivate themselves? I need an alarm clock that steals my duvet off of the bed and wont give it back until that evening!

Replies

  • sadrithmora
    sadrithmora Posts: 121
    I really wish I could help with this one, but I'm in the same boat. Thinking about exercise makes my brain shut down :( If you figure something out, let me know lol. I've been trying to make myself exercise for months no with no success.
  • CharlotteAnneUK
    CharlotteAnneUK Posts: 186 Member
    DICIPLINE is just choosing between what you want NOW and want you want MOST.

    The problem with exercise is you have to be doing it to want to do it, the longer you dont do it, the harder it is to get up and get on.

    Take it in small doses, 10 minues walk becomes a 10 minute run or a 20 minute walk. Take the stairs instead of the lift, go to the loo on a different floor at work... every little leads to a whole lot more.

    Believe in yourself - make every moment count, you only get one body, you only get one life - live it!
  • leilaphoenix
    leilaphoenix Posts: 839 Member
    I would never have managed to lose 50lbs if it relied on getting up early. Some people just aren't morning people. Can you use your lunchtime or evenings?
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
    To be honest it's more of a motivation issue than a time issue. When I am 'into' exercise I will get up and go in the morning but it's as if some stresses in life are making me feel like I am trudging through at the moment.

    Even my cat has given up trying to get me up - she just sits on my chest in the mornings instead! well now its even harder to get up!
  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
    Some suggestions: 1) Put your alarm somewhere in the room where you have to physically get up to turn it off. 2) Make your alarm sound 'alarming' and not soothing.
    Good luck and hang in there:smile:
  • MoreBigginsThanWiggins
    MoreBigginsThanWiggins Posts: 2
    Hi

    I was exactly the same for weeks, even down to the times. The alarm was set to 6, but it was so easy to 'think' myself out of it, 2 button presses later, and it's a lie in till 8!

    So one day I decided not to think about it. As soon as the alarm went off I got out of bed, no time to think of excuses, no time to think 'I'll do it tomorrow'.

    It was the 'I'll do it tomorrow' that kept getting me. Then I read something about motivation on this issue that basically asked the question 'what will be different tomorrow?'. Nothing, so do it now, it just seemed to make sense at that moment.

    And that's it, I've not missed a day now for a couple of weeks and I feel so much better for it throughout the day :-)

    Don't think, just do!
  • kk_140
    kk_140 Posts: 518 Member
    You either want this or you don't.

    If you don't really want this, no amount of motivation will help. It is harsh, but true.
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member

    Don't think, just do!
    liking this advice!

    might try that with the alarm as well at the moment its a radio alarm clock so listening to music next to me is not an incentive to get up!

    it almost seems as if its one thing or the other with me - i either exercise really well but don't restrict calories OR i log and restrict cals but then cant get motivated to exercise

    I am keeping between 1200-1400 cals and have done solidlyy for the last 2 weeks which is better than i have ever done before - could it be the adjustment to this that is making me less motivated to do it as well?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,993 Member
    True motivation in someone involves commitment. Doesn't sound like you're committed yet. You're interested and have a desire, but that's not the same as being committed. So get committed.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I went through this a while ago, I would even put on my gym clothes a while before it was time to go to the gym. Then I would lie down on my bed and feel like crying. So finally I stopped going for a few weeks and last week, I woke up ready to go, got dressed and went to class. I think I was burned out or something, but now I even added a new class to my week.
  • Hopeful_
    Hopeful_ Posts: 39 Member
    I agree with the suggestions above; also if you can't workout at another time during the day, maybe asking someone such as a friend to exercise with you will keep you committed, because then someone else is depending on you too and you have to show up.
  • SrMaggalicious
    SrMaggalicious Posts: 495 Member
    To be honest it's more of a motivation issue than a time issue. When I am 'into' exercise I will get up and go in the morning but it's as if some stresses in life are making me feel like I am trudging through at the moment.

    Even my cat has given up trying to get me up - she just sits on my chest in the mornings instead! well now its even harder to get up!

    This was me ALL WINTER LONG...I could have written this letter. Then something just clicked. I found 8 minute workouts...started SUPER SMALL. If you're picturing yourself in a gym for an hour, etc..or running 5 miles, it may be too overwhelming at first.

    Take babysteps....even 5 minutes to start!!! Just tell yourself 'only 5 minutes today'...then as time goes by, bump it up a minute or so. Before you know it, it'll be a habit. '21 DAYS MAKES A HABIT'.

    This is what worked for me. Now I wake up BEFORE my alarm...and still in shock that i do! :)
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    You reallly need to want it more than you want to stay in bed!

    Try putting the alarm clock across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. If you can get a few good days in, it will get easier, and become a habit,.

    I go almost every morning before work, and have done so for years. There are mornings when I want to stay in bed, and I ask myself....'will I be glad I got more sleep later, or will I feel like crap all day for not exercising". Most of the time, I decide to go!
  • egirlcat207
    egirlcat207 Posts: 51 Member
    Been here- kindve here now. The solution for me? Suit up. I'm doing so well when I don't think about what I'm doing. Does that make sense? Lol..when I think about it I start to expect the results instead of just allowing it to happen. I would rather
    feel the determination of doing it than the regret of not doing it.
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
    Thanks everyone for the comments.

    Feeling better sbout it and will stop thinking and make it become a habit.

    Hopefully it will get easier, just need to get over the mental hump!
  • EllaIsNotEnchanted
    EllaIsNotEnchanted Posts: 226 Member
    be persistent with discipline and then discipline becomes commitment.
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
    Why is working out at night out of the picture? If I had to workout in the mornings it would never get done either. Just not a morning person.
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
    So this morning I managed to drag my carcass out of bed refusing to think about it and just doing it - smiling at myself thinking the person who said they got in their gym gear and then sat and cried could be me right now!

    did a good session at the gym - not going to deny it felt like more of a chore than usual

    but, consequently, I am starving today! much more wanting to eat more than I have for the past 2 weeks!
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
    I guess a mind and body transplant would just make me a different person altogether :-P
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    Workout in the evening?

    I hate everything about mornings. I hate my alarm clock. I hate how I feel stiff the first hour out of bed. So I stop at the gym on my way home from work. Me and 5 pm get along really well together.
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
    I just cant do evenings -I a am normally much more motivated for mornings. I find work outs in the evenings very sluggish, I am more likely to give up and I often get stiches from having eaten in the day (even if it is a few hours later that i am at the gym). not to mention my whole evening has then gone and i have no rest time at all in the day. I have time in the morning so really should learn to use this 'free' time rather than eating into valuable time in the evening. i do sometimes go in the evening but this is on the occasion rather than a routine

    People have made me realise it is definitely a motivation issue that i have hit over the last few weeks. Cant properly commit myself to any one thing and exercise is becoming sporadic. I need to just do it rather than give myself the option of going back to bed. less thinking and more habit forming

    amazed how much more hungry i am though today! that took me by surprise. there was me thinking i was doing so well with logging and calorie control but it was the lack of exercise stopping me from being hungry lol

    xx
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
    not to mention that my gym is soooo busy in the evenings and i cannot get parked (if people suggest walking i cant, its a good few miles away on a motorway)

    but i do on the occasion go for a run in the evenings but that is weather dependent (i am a bit goldilocks with running, not too hot not too cold lol)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I was really unmotivated to do the dishes last night....but they needed doing so I did them.

    I was really unmotivated to go to work this morning...with the long weekend ahead, that's all I can think about...but here I am bringin' home the bacon.

    I'm not all too motivated to go on my ride at lunch today...but it's Thursday and I ride on Thursdays, so I will ride.

    If I just did things based on my mood, emotions and motivation, I probably wouldn't get **** done....
  • amethyst7986
    amethyst7986 Posts: 223 Member
    go to amazon.com look up Clocky.....it is an alarm clock that runs away and wont turn off until you catch it and turn it off. IT will literally roll off your nightstand.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    It sounds like you're making progress. That's good. If you haven't already done it, follow the above advice to put your alarm clock across the room so you have to get up to shut it off. And then stay up. Even if you don't exercise that day, stay up. Your body will adjust and you'll get used to the earlier time. Once you're used to being up early, the decision to work out becomes much easier.
  • 95Tashey95
    95Tashey95 Posts: 65 Member
    It sounds like you're making progress. That's good. If you haven't already done it, follow the above advice to put your alarm clock across the room so you have to get up to shut it off. And then stay up. Even if you don't exercise that day, stay up. Your body will adjust and you'll get used to the earlier time. Once you're used to being up early, the decision to work out becomes much easier.
    Great idea about get up anyway. I really like that. I am uo so may as well exercise is
    A fantastic approach. Thank you
    Clocky sounds very cute lol.

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