How to Get Motivated to Exercise

If any of you are struggling with your weight or struggling to meet your goals then you know that its no secret that the road to success may be hard. One thing I hate to hear as a trainer from my clients is, “You’ve never been fat, so you don’t know what it’s like to lose all this weight”. To give you an example let me tell you guys my short story.

About 6 years ago I was the same height as I am now (5‘2) and the same small frame, yet my pant size what size 10-12. I had convinced myself that I wasn’t chubby and that it was normal for me to be this size because I was short and short people carry weight differently than taller people. I was 100% content with myself. Then one day, thanks to my brothers, I started to work out. I will admit, I had NO idea what I was doing so I bought DVD’s. I purchased pilate DVDs, stability ball DVD’s, etc you name it I had it! I would do my pilates DVD practically every day, even though for the longest time I wasn’t seeing results, I just felt better. But then, one day I did notice a difference, my pants were getting too big! So I kept exercising consistently and then boom! I realized what I could look like. My once curvy hips that I thought was in my genetics were slimming down and my once bigger legs were looking slim and toned. So then everything changed, I worked out harder and pushed myself harder, ate healthier, cut out unnecessary sugars in my diet and unnecessary salty foods that I craved. That was 6 years ago, and today I am still doing the same.

So how do you stay motivated? Well its quite simple actually. Heres a list to break it down:

1. What is is that you REALLY want?
If losing weight isn’t one of your top priorities than chances are you will struggle big time. But if you are unhappy with how you look and feel then why aren’t you making it your top priority?

2. What is it that would make you REALLY happy?
For me, on the days that I wake up feeling lazy and have no drive to workout I just asked myself, ‘would sitting on my butt doing absolutely nothing make me happy or would kicking my own butt in a workout make me happy?’ Well I would hope that you guys would pick the latter choice. Yes, we may not feel like exercising on the days that we should be but, if you force yourself to exercise you will notice that it will instantly change your mood. Think about it, how does lazing around make you feel happy when you are not achieving anything! But if you workout, even if its for 10 minutes, you achieved something! That in itself will make you feel better, and not to mention the ‘feel good’ hormones that gets released when you exercise. 🙂

3. Set yourself a goal.
Well this one is a no brainer! This goal setting rule has been around for ages, why? Because it works! But here is where most of us go wrong, we set ourselves goals that are either too big or too hard to achieve in a short period. See, when you set yourself a goal it should be small and it should be set to be achieved in a short time frame. For instance, my goal this week is to complete 200 high knee skips after every workout this week in less than 1 min and 30 sec. Currently I can complete 200 high knee skipping, with sore calves, in 1 min and 45 sec. My gaol is small, only a difference of 15 seconds and my goal time frame is 7 days. Trust me, a difference of 15 seconds will be enough to make you feel better because it was a goal that YOU set for yourself to accomplish and if you reach it, no matter how small the goal is, you will feel great!

4. Treat yourself
The one thing we also tend to do, especially if we are trying to lose weight, is to deny ourselves the pleasures in life. This one kind of ties in with #3. If you reach your goal then you should treat yourself! Now, I don’t mean buy yourself a pair of shoes or new gym wear, which is a great treat, its just not exactly what I meant. You are allowed to have ONE cheat meal a week! For myself, I make the cheat meal at the end of the week when I achieved my goal. This cheat meal could be an actual meal or a dessert after the meal. Remember its a cheat meal..not a cheat day!

5. Don’t anticipate to see results tomorrow.
The one thing I hear constantly is, “I have been working out for 3 weeks now and  I haven’t lost a pound!” Well, if losing weight was that easy and that quick then there would be no overweight people! To really see results it takes about 90 days of being consistent with exercising and diet. 90 days, that is only 3 months! I always say that if you can’t push yourself for 90 days then you don’t want it that bad. Its a harsh truth but really, in reality, after those 90 days you will still have to eat healthy and have a consistent workout regime. So give it your all from day one and you will see that, even after day 90, you will still be pushing yourself to the limits and seeing more and more results!
Hope that helps and I wish you the best in your path to losing weight or getting that body that you really want. Remember, if you want it that bad you will work that much harder to get it!

Jessica Aboughoushe
Certified personal trainer
Full Body Developments Inc.