5 Ways To Stay Motivated

Do you remember the day you first joined your gym? Wasn’t it a
great feeling, knowing that you had finally taken that first
step towards living a healthier life? Making a conscious,
positive decision to improve is rewarding, and hopefully we’ve
all kept that promise to ourselves. But try as we might, it
seems that there’s always a handy excuse to not exercise.

While gym attendance peaks around January, it slacks off every
March/April as people forget about their New Year Resolutions.
Summer BBQ’s and vacations tend to make people stay away from
the gym, and six months later holiday parties and planning to
the same thing. Finally, we can all relate to those days when we
simply don’t want to work out!

The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, a
trade association serving the health and fitness club industry,
reports that the average health club member in the United States
spends only about 90 days at the gym per year.

The goal of this article is to help you STAY MOTIVATED to
exercise! It’s not enough to just help you with the ‘how’ of
exercise – we want to help you with the ‘why’ too!

So what can you do to stay motivated? Here are five great ideas
to help us all keep that inner fire burning…..

1) Find an exercise buddy! When we know that someone else is
going to meet us at the gym at a certain time, we will
automatically be much more likely to show up ourselves. After
all, who wants to abandon their friend? Don’t have a friend at
the gym? Invite one along! She will appreciate the invitation,
and will be much healthier for it!

2) Get to know people in the gym! Visiting with friends and
family while we’re exercising makes the time go by so fast it
hardly even seems like we’re doing something good for us. It’s
great to get out of the house or office and just have some fun
with other people!

3) Talk with your doctor! We all know that exercise is good for
us. From helping to prevent cancer to lowering our blood
pressure to helping us fit into that swimming suit, exercise is
the best thing we can do for ourselves. Even with that
knowledge, it’s sometimes encouraging to hear about our progress
from our doctor. Here’s a hot motivation tip: ask your gym for a
copy of your fitness records (monthly body fat analysis and
measurements) and then share that information with your doctor.
He or she will be so happy that you’re exercising, and will
encourage you to continue!

4) Chart your progress! The CEO of a Fortune 500 company once
said “What gets measured gets done”, and that advice is as good
for us as it was for that business. Take the time to keep a food
journal, an exercise log, or simply write down your fitness
goals. Post it where you will see it every single day (on the
‘fridge, in the car, on the mirror, etc.). Life is just so busy
these days, a constant visual reminder of our goals may be just
the motivational push we need.

5) Give yourself a reward! Sometimes the ‘big picture’ can be
too intimidating. For example, if you have 80 pounds to lose
it’s tempting to think “It’s too much! I shouldn’t even try.”
That’s one of the biggest motivation-killers out there, so
combat those discouraging thoughts by rewarding yourself for
smaller accomplishments. Treat yourself to a manicure when you
lose that first five pounds. Buy a new outfit when you’ve lost
ten pounds. Take a mini-vacation when you’re halfway to your
goal. Give yourself small rewards for achieving smaller goals,
and guess what…..many small steps make up a long journey!
Before you know it, you’ll have accomplished your overall goal!

There are many other ways to give yourself the motivation to
succeed. Try some of these tips today – the only thing you have
to lose is the fat!

1. Prev:Celebrity Diet Secrets
2. Next:Set Priorities To Lose Weight