How do you get the motivation to exercise?

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  • mkladyjmm
    mkladyjmm Posts: 25 Member
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    I am never motivated to exercise. However, I am motivated to get healthy, lose weight, get off high blood pressure medicine, buy smaller clothes, breathe easier, look better, etc. Exercise is just a small part of an overall lifestyle change to get healthy.

    Right now I am walking. I started in the winter with Walk Away the Pounds video, and just 5 minutes at a time because I got so out of breath. Once spring hit I began walking outside and I enjoy the fresh air and nature. I can go a good 50 minutes at a time now. Sometimes when I feel antsy or nervous a walk keeps me out of the refrigerator and clears my head.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,669 Member
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    Exercise is for fitness and health. I do it because I like to still be able to physically play sports and participate in physical challenges that my peers (50 year old men) can't do.

    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
  • mitchiejo
    mitchiejo Posts: 179 Member
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    My motivation is how great I feel about myself and I love watching my body change as I get stronger.
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
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    My motivation comes from the results I get by working out.
  • rollng_thundr
    rollng_thundr Posts: 634 Member
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    Truth?

    The image of what I wish to be vs. the image I currently have.

    I want to be healthy, fit and built. 1 out of 3 right now. Until I hit the trifecta.. it's nose to the grind stone. Period. Just like anything you do, you gotta put in the work. Nothing worth a damn ever comes easy. No pill, no surgery etc. can give you the results and satisfaction that hard work ever will.
  • tracydr
    tracydr Posts: 528 Member
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    Could you walk at lunch? Anybody that can be your exercise bud? I walk with my husband and the dogs twice a day. Although we walk less as it gets really hot in Phoenix this time of year.
    I have a hard time motivating to get to the gym but I'm starting to do resistance bands and yoga off You Tube which is pretty nice.
    I try to go to the pool at least twice a week but don't always make it.
    When I start my new job in August, I'll have a gym nearby and pretty normal hours. I'll be able to swim/lift at lunch.
    I also have a water rower, which I love, but it's been in storage while we pack out the house to sell. I'll be really glad to have that again, although I do row on the Concept 2 rower at the gym.
    I really like lunch or late afternoon but do find, if I can get started, that mornings do work the best. Plus, I tend to have insomnia, and it's worse when I'm working out in the late afternoon.
  • alpacapunch1989
    alpacapunch1989 Posts: 24
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    My motivation actually came from a random picture I came across online! It simply said "Don't think. Put on your shoes and go." What better advice is there? I could sit here all day and think of things to do rather than exercise, so if I find myself just sitting around not doing anything and trying to think what I should do, I go to the gym! :)
  • aekaya
    aekaya Posts: 163 Member
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    Start slowly with something like walking. I was having a hard time getting motivated to work out too, so now I find a show I want to watch and watch it from the treadmill instead of from my couch. I get 4-5 miles a day doing this (watching the world cup now lol). When I don't even have the motivation to do that, I like to do pop pilates...they're free pilates exercise videos on youtube that usually range from 5-10 minutes. It's a good workout, short and sweet, and you can just do your workout on the floor! I find that when I'm not motivated to exercise, part of the issue is that I don't want to change into gym clothes and get sweaty, so then I just do pilates because you can just work out at home, on the carpet, and you don't even have to get changed, or get too sweaty to get a decent work out in :p
  • angrykitty13
    angrykitty13 Posts: 64 Member
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    Someone else suggested walking at work, which is the same thing I was going to say. You don't have to see exercise as being something major. For your first step, maybe just try getting yourself moving for twenty minutes.

    Over time you can add simple exercises to your walking (ab exercises, Yoga videos on Youtube, etc). Once you feel like you have a handle on this you can see about amping things up. Maybe see if there's a workout class at a local community college (some have evening classes or other times). Or maybe see if your local Parks & Rec department has drop-in classes or a reasonably priced gym. My local community center sells drop-in punch cards for certain workout classes, swimming, and a gym.

    For me, working out is less about weight and more about sanity. Missing my workout time drives me crazy.

    One other thing that might help: schedule your workouts like a meeting you can't miss.
  • hotbikermama40
    hotbikermama40 Posts: 10
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    I, too just started working out after an approximate 20 year slump. My motivation? I noticed that I had "muffin top". Somehoe, I'd learned to live with the beginnings of cottage cheese and saddlebags on my thighs....but that spare tire woke me up! Somewhere inside you is your motivation. I mentioned this two some coworkers who introduced me to MFP and that seemed to be my 'missing ingredient' to get my butt up and a'movin'!!!! I think it has to do with being accountable to someone(s) outside of yourself, and of course their returned support. With MFP you have the support to kick start that oompspa! Just do something...even if it's only for 15 minutes and build on that. Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • FatOldManMN
    FatOldManMN Posts: 1,116 Member
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    Look in the mirror..
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I can understand where you're coming from. I have a very hard time sometimes making myself work out when I'm working and in school, but I just love the way I feel when I'm done working out and I'm walking around high on endorphins. It's my stress relief
  • Sarahsteve7kids
    Sarahsteve7kids Posts: 146 Member
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    For me I love the walks I take with my husband and I also enjoy how my muscles feel after using weights! Don't sweat it, any movement is OK! Most of us became fat by over eating, not under exercising!
  • jmv7117
    jmv7117 Posts: 891 Member
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    I need some advice. When it comes to my eating I'm in general pretty good. I do binge more than I'd like but I've cut back on that a lot and I plan on tracking my food more on MFP and making better choices. Today I had watermelon instead of the chips I wanted. Baby steps right?

    Anyway, how do you get the motivation to exercise? I know its' a dumb question and I just need to do it but I can't seem to. I work two jobs and more often than not I work 12 days around 5 days a week, so when I get home, the LAST thing I want to do is exercise. I know I'd feel much better and probably kick up my weight loss more if I did do it. My goal this year was to run a 5k this summer and I don't know if that's happening.

    I just don't have the motivation right now or any day, how do I change this? Any advice at all is appreciated. I just need something to get my *kitten* moving.

    My main motivator for exercising is pain relief; my secondary motivator is stress relief. Both are why my fitness goal began because I was searching for drug free alternatives. Find one good reason to exercise. It can be something simple like getting a bit of fresh air or meeting other folks or something or just the way it makes you feel afterwards. At any rate, exercise is for fitness not weight loss so just put one step in front of the other and get moving!
  • angiez93
    angiez93 Posts: 63
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    - remembering how amazing I always feel afterwards
    - my dogs, they need exercise too, and my responsibility for them is motivating
    - looking at self in mirror naked
    - remembering how guilty I always feel when I don't workout
    - asking your MFP friends to ride your *kitten* if you don't exercise regularly :)

    Good luck!!
  • Michaelg235
    Michaelg235 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    I look at old images of myself and girls that said "AHHAHAHA never in a million years"

    I use the people that made me feel like there was nothing to look forward to in my life ..


    Use what people said for fuel

    that was my motivation
  • megaen29
    megaen29 Posts: 95 Member
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    It bothers me when people say you don't need to exercise to lose weight. Why are you trying to lose weight? To get healthy most likely. Just eating better is not going to make a very big dent in that. Exercise has given me more energy and I feel a thousand times better than I use to. It will reduce the risk of so many diseases etc.

    Now to your question. You need to find something that you look forward to doing every day. For me its running. I love running. I know for many people, running is not enjoyable so stay away from it unless you feel ambitious that day. Do you like to swim, walk, bike etc? Figure out what you like to do and the motivation will come much more easily.
  • Sarahsteve7kids
    Sarahsteve7kids Posts: 146 Member
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    It bothers me when people say you don't need to exercise to lose weight. Why are you trying to lose weight? To get healthy most likely. Just eating better is not going to make a very big dent in that. Exercise has given me more energy and I feel a thousand times better than I use to. It will reduce the risk of so many diseases etc.

    Now to your question. You need to find something that you look forward to doing every day. For me its running. I love running. I know for many people, running is not enjoyable so stay away from it unless you feel ambitious that day. Do you like to swim, walk, bike etc? Figure out what you like to do and the motivation will come much more easily.

    Being physically active IS important but most of us gain weight from over eating!!! I would rather see someone spend the needed time adjusting their diet then worry about an hour of exercise per day,
  • RECowgill
    RECowgill Posts: 881 Member
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    You have to have goals that go beyond the grind of your day to day jobs. They shouldn't even matter, this goes beyond all that.

    You have to be motivated.

    You have to want it for yourself.

    If you can't find that somewhere within you, you're going to give up. Or you'll quit before you even start.

    Find your drive to achieve something beyond the here and now.
  • Fsunami
    Fsunami Posts: 241 Member
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    I was battling this until recently.

    I decided that since this was a lifestyle change so that I could feel better & be able to do more, I had to embrace all of it - not just the parts that suit me well (like logging).

    From most of the reading Ive done and advice I'm getting, it takes about 3 weeks for you to break an old habit & replace it with a new one.

    I'm about 6 weeks in & have been able to modify my calorie intake so that its consistently where I want it to be (or close)

    I decided late this week to apply the same logic to exercise. I figure if I can push myself for the next three weeks (whether I want to or not), the desire to do it will be ingrained soon. Plus it has too many other benefits for me to avoid what is essentially a free way to improve the quality of my life, which is my ultimate goad.

    Exercise and eating right are a thing you DO, not a definition of who you ARE. Take any emotion out of it and make it a part of your routine, like brushing your teeth.

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