What motivates you to get off your butt?

2

Replies

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,688 Member
    I enjoy being active.

    The only times I don't feel enthusiastic about being active are when I'm really not feeling very well and need the rest more than the exercise.
  • Madwife2009
    Madwife2009 Posts: 1,369 Member
    My motivations to get moving:
    • Wanting to finish the "job" (being fitter and healthier) I've started
    • Pleasure - I now get a real buzz from exercising and feel good all day after it, especially cycling. Feeling the wind through your hair is a feeling like no other :smile:
    • If I don't exercise, I feel cheated for the day
    • My children - my son loves cycling as well so we go together (at 6am!) and try to meet new challenges every ride. My children also go on long walks with me so they benefit as well.
  • lzap27
    lzap27 Posts: 31 Member
    Since rebooting myself in February I figured out that the one thing missing in my weight loss journey was exercise. I never consistently did that part and now that I am, I am doing so much better. I go three times a week and sometimes I go at 8 pm. It's so hard to leave your family and house at that time. But I tell myself I have to do it, because it has to be different this time. And i try to remember how accomplished I felt the last time I left my house to go to the gym in the rain, cold, etc when I just wanted to stay home. It's really hard but I don't want to be in the 200's anymore.
  • mystgrl28
    mystgrl28 Posts: 43 Member
    My exercise calories. Lol! I set my activity level to sedentary even though i have an active job so the more i move and exercise, the more i can eat for the day. I love my food so this gives me the motivation i need. So far it's working. I figured if i stop losing weight then it's time to find another motivational thought, probably clothes! Hahahaha.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Having specific goals I want to meet, planning ahead (when am I going to work out), treating it like an essential part of my day, not a "I'll do it if I get to it," and if I really don't want to that day deciding that I will do at least a little something and then stop after 15 minutes if I really want to (never, ever have--once starting you get into it).
  • tippiturtle13
    tippiturtle13 Posts: 1 Member
    My dogs! They know which days of the week are my morning trail running days and power walking nights. Their excitement keeps me going.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    kquick316 wrote: »
    Do y'all plan your workouts ahead of time?

    Most fit individuals follow a schedule.

    As to your OP...I enjoy being physically fit and looking good. Find something you enjoy doing and do it...it's not such a chore when you're actually doing something enjoyable. I like riding my bike, so I primarily cycle for my cardiovascular fitness, and I enjoy lifting weights so I hit the weight room three nights per week for about an hour.

  • fattothinmum
    fattothinmum Posts: 218 Member
    Not growing old gracefully. I want to grow old as mutton dressed as lamb, well not quite, but I don't want to stay frumpy before I need to be.
  • jorjon57
    jorjon57 Posts: 2 Member
    Buying new workout clothes always motivates me to get over a hump
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
    Goals goals goals. This is what motivates me. If I have something I'm striving to achieve (certain number of miles run, amount of weight to lift, etc.) then I have a reason to get up and work out.
  • skinbeauty2005
    skinbeauty2005 Posts: 24 Member
    Vanity motivates me, I suppose. As I've gotten older, I've realized I can't just eat what I want and do nothing, and keep that awesome bod, I have to work for it. So I go to the gym and bust my *kitten* in the squat rack, etc, so I can maintain the body that I want. Seeing the progress keeps me motivated to continue!
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    Mexico is coming in a month!

    Lots of weddings/reunions this year that I want to look great for. I want to look my best for myself. I want to feel good too!
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Another thing that motivates me is that number on my food diary telling me that I have 1117 calories remaining today. If I don't do my exercise, that number is in the 600's and I just like bigger numbers. I'm Texan, it's natural.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    chonji4ever wrote: »
    I'm single, so I want to be attractive.

    Don't say that to the ladies you date! What happens when you aren't single?


    I guess my butt motivates me to get off my butt. It disappears if I do not work out. And I am motivated to stay lean and strong as i get older, don't want a sharp decline, and (warning, disturbing vanity) I like looking better than many women my age simply because I am lean and in shape. It pleases me that effort pays off in this - not something I was born with, or given, but something I earned.

    I also set smaller goals, like this year:

    I'm learning to do handstands :)

  • mom3over40
    mom3over40 Posts: 253 Member
    - Sign myself up for a half-marathon
    - Dream about a goal time
    - Dream about a longer goal distance
    - Dream about being able to do an unassisted pull-up
    - Dream about being able to do more push up than my son
    - Dream about becoming the inspiration
    - Dream about a better waistline
    - The fear of an expanding waistline/just going back to how it used to be
    - Remind myself how much worse I felt during those days I skipped (yes, it still happens)
    - Remind myself I didn't get 30 mins more work done when I skipped the 30 mins run
    - Running sucks after skipping a few days.

    You can tell, I need a lot of motivations :)
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
    I typically don't have problems getting motivated to go because I've been doing it so long it's become a habit. But if I need some additional motivation, I check out pics or videos on youtube of fitness guys and girls and that gets me going. I guess I just do some personal shaming.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    wilsoncl6 wrote: »
    I typically don't have problems getting motivated to go because I've been doing it so long it's become a habit. But if I need some additional motivation, I check out pics or videos on youtube of fitness guys and girls and that gets me going. I guess I just do some personal shaming.

    This is what my guy does too. Sometimes I come back from a run (I have to work earlier) and he's in bed with the laptop......watching workouts on youtube, LOL. Getting geared up to work out.

  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    i love to work out. find something you love doing and you'll want to do it. there are so many things that will increase your breathing and work your muscles!

    a few ideas include walking, walking up and down hills, using an exercise bike, bicycling in the real world. how about starting a program like cize? it looks like fun to me. you could do classes at the local gym (dance, thai boxing), or maybe using an eliptical would appeal. and don't forget lifting weights with or without a program or using machines at the gym, with or without a trainer.

    that's just for starters.
  • svinson319
    svinson319 Posts: 20 Member
    raymax4 wrote: »
    I have found activities that seem like play.
    Who doesn't want to play?
    Some times I don't want to go to work but my employer would frown upon me if I did not go to work. I don't spend time deciding wether I will go to work or any of the other inevitabilities of life.

    I love this idea of play! I teach tap dance and absolutely love it! I highly recommend taking a dance class. By the end of class we're sweaty and laughing and burned 300-400 calories! I also recently discovered spinning, my newest passion!! I think loud music with a great beat is a recurring theme here...

  • asmalworld
    asmalworld Posts: 19 Member
    The feeling of Oooo yes another run i did it gets me out and running :)
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,282 Member
    "It's just 'what I do'" is my new mantra. I used to tell myself that I wouldn't let 2 non workout days go by, or that I'd workout M, W, F, and one day on the weekend. Too much negotiation. Time to shut up or put up. Now, I just go. And my body feels it if I don't. I realized that when I go on the days that it sounds good, it ends up being a good deal. And on the days when I too, think my butt isn't that bad and I *could* take a day off, I go anyway, and it ends up being a good deal. It's ALL of the days that add up and give me results, not just the days when motivation is high. I already know what that other "plan" looks like: fat, inactive, making excuses me.

    Go. Whether you feel like it or not isn't in the equation. "Feeling" and "doing" are two different things. And only Doing will get you the results you're after.
  • saramarie495
    saramarie495 Posts: 48 Member
    My motivation for getting off my butt is thinking about how awesome I'll feel after I've dominated that workout
  • peggymenard
    peggymenard Posts: 246 Member
    My motivation is age and condition of my body. I will be 80 in Dec and a weight heavy body is not conducive to good health. I don't worry so much how I look, I worry about how I feel and if weight loss makes me look better then that is another reward. I workout M,W & F plus I do all my gardening except lawn. My work out consists of
    2 sets of 25 for lunge, push ups (not extended, but from the knees), squats and some exercises to strengthen my back. I can lift 10# weights with ease but I am not at the moment into weight lifting. Each of these exercises have to be done in 45 sec, a total of 10mins of exercise. Then a 30 min rest. My goal is to strengthen muscles in my legs and arms which seems to be working. My endurance is better but if I can't get through 2 sets of 25, I do 10 or 20 and don't beat on myself. I am losing my stomach and really am beginning to feel better. I say, don't set your goals too high at first. If you don't want to go to the gym, do the exercises at home...whatever works for you.
    P.O. I do count calories and eat pretty healthy.
  • dudergroob
    dudergroob Posts: 7 Member
    Whenever I don't want to workout but know that I should, I tell myself "okay I'll just do one set of something and that's it", so I do 1 set of push-ups or Squats or Pull-Ups etc.

    The thing is, this always leads to a few more sets and before I know it, I just had a workout. Sometimes thinking of all the work involved is enough to be discouraging but by just doing it, I remember that I enjoy it!
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Being able to get off my butt inspires to get off my butt and go. 2 years ago getting off my butt was a major undertaking. Don't want to go back there. Ever. Get going!
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  • holliebevineau
    holliebevineau Posts: 441 Member
    Fitbit challenges. Because I am competitive and I win!
  • ObsidianMist
    ObsidianMist Posts: 519 Member
    the fact that I'm paying for a gym membership. also, since I'm doing a progressive lifting program, the knowledge that if I didn't work out for a while, I'd lose strength and likely have to deload when I went back, which would be discouraging and make me angry at myself.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    I get to eat more food and drink more beer when I exercise.
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