How do you stay on the wagon of fitness?

Two biggest factors for me:
Enjoyment of the exercise itself.
Challenge (I'm very competitive and self-competitive).

Enjoyment of the results of my exercise also gets me through those days / workouts when sometimes I'm pushed for time, feeling lazy, not really in the mood.....
The feeling of living in a healthy / fit / strong body is priceless and well worth the "sacrifice" of sometimes having to force yourself.

For the fun exercise my only strategy is making sure I plan and allocate the time.
For the not so fun exercise regarding it as "training" not exercise gets me though.
(Training has a definite purpose, goal and outcome.)

It takes time to form lasting habits. It takes at least 3 weeks I've read to form new habits - pick an activity you most enjoy and commit to doing it every day for at least 3 weeks. You'll feel so good about yourself you'll want to continue to keep doing it. At least that's what I found when I started working out in the mornings back in 2013 - I still workout every single week day morning without fail. Just do it

It really is about finding something you love, right now for me it is boxing. There are days where it's hard to get started, but then I remember the feeling of how good I feel and the satisfaction after having done it. I like feeling stronger, more fit, having energy etc. I know each time I do it brings me closer to my goal of a leaner, fitter me. I do a variety of exercise as well so I don't get stuck in a rut. Some days you may go lighter, as long as your moving your body you are benefiting. I normally alternate boxing with strength training days and the other day I wasn't in the mood for either, so I just went for a long walk and enjoyed the sun/scenery. Next day I was right back at it.

If I may confess, I also periodically google success stories showing weight loss/improved muscular definition. It reminds me that my goal is achievable. They all did it, it challenges me to get there as well. Yes, it's a marathon, not a sprint," and when I get there I want to stay there.

Regardless, if we are trying to lose weight or gain lean muscular definition, what we are doing isn't temporary. It's a healthy lifestyle change that we have to maintain "for life." It's not just about appearance, but overall quality of life (bone density, strong core/posture, lean muscle, etc.). Every year we get older. If you look at some of the elderly around you, some living life/vibrant and some not so much (walker, bent over etc.) Which would you rather? Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a tangent. It's just the most important thing that keeps me going because it really does come down to the future "quality of life" for me.

You can also find a fitness buddy/buddies, the ones you can depend on to drag you and vice versa. If you are competitive like me, they will help you be consistent. You'll want to keep up with them, achieve what they have and surpass them. Find your motivation and keep finding it, whatever it takes. You are so worth it.

Most of my fitness activities are recreational activities that I just enjoy doing. I cycle quite a bit...I love riding bikes and missing a ride because life happens is frustrating, so I have no problems jumping on the bike the next day.

I also like hiking and I'm a novice climber once per week at my local climbing gym.

Weight lifting is really the only exercise I do where I sometimes just have to will myself to go because it's important...I actually like it for the most part, I just don't like it as much as I like riding or hiking or climbing. Sometimes I'm pretty meh about getting into the weight room...I very rarely feel that way about my bike.

You need to find things you enjoy to do that keep you active but you don't consider working out. Hiking, Mountain Biking, Rock climbing. Always change it up and you won't need the gym or motivation.

I set monthly or quarterly challenges and then I tell everyone I know that I'll accomplish the challenge, crush the goal. The thought of being a failure is worse than the thought of falling off the wagon. I've signed up for a body building competition in November and I am prepping now. I invited everyone I know to come and watch the show and see me win. How's that for staying motivated? haha

Consider it a lifestyle change, not a program you have to force yourself to commit to.

I find its been easier since being logged in to MFP. Efforts I've made in the past have always been very short term.

Finding exercise I enjoy really helps. I also treat it like any other obligation in my life--like, there's plenty of days I wake up and I don't WANT to go to work, I'd rather be doing other things, but I gotta go.

Plus, it seems that actually getting to the gym is the hardest part. Once i go, I'm always glad I did. So I keep that in mind.

I have days where I struggle. Where I get off a 10 hour graveyard shift and I think to myself, "Do I HAVE to go to the gym? Can't I just go to SLEEP?" And then I try on a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear in over a year and they miraculously FIT. So I spend the next 2 hours admiring my butt in the mirror, wiggling around and thinking,"Dat @$$ though!" Too rights I'm going back to the gym the next day. Deadlifts for life!

I remind myself that every time I go, everything I do, is one step closer to achieving my goal. I may not see it right away. I may get SUPER frustrated. But then all of a sudden a pair of pants are too large or a shirt fits better and BAM, motivation renewed!

For me it's letting go of my "all or nothing" attitude. Like, I have to be a perfect eater 100% of the time every single day, or I might as well eat whatever I want because I ruined it. Before I would eat so well, but one little piece of chocolate or a random cookie and I would think, "Oh well, you blew it...you might as well just give up for today." and I'd proceed to eat everything in sight. THen that would turn into "Blew it today so I'm going to eat whatever all week and I will start next Monday." and I'd eat everything for a week. And so and so on. Like a vicious cycle.

Now I have to constantly remind myself that I'm not going to be perfect every single day. I might eat a cookie that I don't log, but so what. It's better than eating a whole box. I have to remember that one little treat isn't going to derail me for an entire day.

Look in mirror or ride my mountain bike. Both show me I need to keep losing weight lol.

I write every exercise planned for the week on my calendar, in ink.

amusedmonkey wrote: »

For me it's pretty simple: I like eating, so burning calories will always be something I'll want to do. Even if I don't feel like it at first, eating less sounds even less attractive and I just get up and do it to get it over with. It's only unpleasant to get myself off my butt, but as soon as I'm out there I enjoy it. My love for food doesn't go away, so neither do my fitness endeavors unless I'm not physically capable. I use audiobooks (when outside), shows (when inside)..etc that I don't allow myself to watch outside of my exercise time, and sometimes they are so interesting that there are days where I surprise myself and find myself needing to reign it in not to overdo it.

Not the approach most people prefer, but it works for me brilliantly.

Love your approach, better then my "Just do it" lol

I find myself always attempting to out train my diet because I like to eat lol, to combat this on days where I do 10 miles + workouts I eat more, on rest days I eat incredibly less and on days where no cardio is involved I eat slightly more. Lets just say those 10 miles + workout's are my favorite days because I get to eat a lot more lol (heart of a fatty patty)