How to motivate yourself to work out? To feel better and to look better, how to motivate yourself to lose weight, to exercise for better health care and physical visits with the doctor. Exercising is one of those things we all know we should do, make new year resolutions to do, buy all the gym equipment we can fit into our houses. We go out and buy the latest track suit with the sneakers to match, a gym bag and everything else related to getting in shape. And we still don’t exercise, still don’t go to the gym and use that membership we bought and paid for. We still take the elevator to the 2nd floor and get in our cars to drive three blocks to the store. It is a challenging thing learning how to motivate yourself to work out, how to motivate yourself to lose weight, breaking eating habits you have had your entire life that brought you to this point. You have to have a desire to lose the weight. You have to set little goals for yourself, be determined. You have to give up old habits, for example eating right before bed. Or consuming to much sugar content and fatty foods. Not giving your body enough movement and cardio to burn off the calories you are consuming.
I recently in a bid to lose weight started focusing on walking. Realizing that now being older I don’t move as much as I use to. Even though I regularly ride my exercise bike for 30 minutes a day, sometimes twice a day. I was not losing the weight that I wanted to lose. One day I am looking at my smart watch, which sometimes is too smart for its own good, I noticed 1,237 steps… It was 8 0clock at night. What, I had only taken 1,237 steps all day. There was my problem, I’m not moving enough. So, I thought about, yep for the most part I am sitting all day. From the house to the car, from the car to the building, back to the car then sit. I’m not cutting grass like I use to or parking a distance away from buildings and walking to the building or walking downtown at festivals and I began to realize, there is my problem a lack of movement. I began to walk the treadmill every day, since I have a treadmill in my home, I can use it when and how I want. So, to start it was a quarter mile a day. The first week it took 2 times on the treadmill to reach my quarter mile, and I increase everyday with the thought my shirts fitting like I want and summertime outfits with sneakers to match clearly in my mind. This was to simulate the steps I’m not taking by working mostly from home these days and sitting all day. Motivating yourself to exercise can be challenging to say the least. There’s the physical aspect of it for sure, but then there is the mental which could sometimes be harder than the physical.
So, how to motivate yourself to work out? Start with walking. You do it every day, anyway, just do it more and be strategic about when you walk. There are several benefits to walking as a form of exercise, walking is known as weight-bearing exercise producing stronger bones and improved balance, reduce body fat, increased cardiovascular and pulmonary heart and lung fitness, helps manage high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain or stiffness, diabetes, increased muscle strength and endurance according to better health.gov. walking is a great way to improve your overall health, walking is low impact and free, it requires no equipment. Try keeping log of your steps and daily progress, try wearing a fit or smartwatch and even ask someone to walk with you to make it more social. Try making walking fun, if you walk on a treadmill at the gym, take your headphones and listen to something you want to learn. Listen to music, motivational speakers etc. Some gyms have tv you can watch while you are working out as well. If you walk outside find a nice place you like that makes you feel good and take your walks there. Go to different places or exploring when you walk or walk the dog to make walking more exciting. If you walk on a treadmill at home, which is what I do daily, you can listen to music, watch your favorite tv show or YouTube channel, or just take the time to think and meditate. You can start out in small spurts, walk as fast as you can for as long as you can. Find your first goal, it may be a distance, or time, meet that goal daily and keep it for 2 weeks then increase either your distance or time and your speed. Don’t be in too big of a hurry to soon, be safe, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Be patient, be motivated, be determined before you know it, you will be exercising and walking as a daily habit, the distance and the time you desire.
It is important to maintain a good body weight, you can talk to your doctor about what is a good body weight for you. The best way to get and maintain a healthy weight is to eat well and exercise regularly. So, as you exercise, run and or walk, it is a good idea to start getting in the habit of eating balanced meals and making exercise and your diet a conscious daily way of life.
So, have an exercise workout plan for motivation. Set a goal for losing weight, an outfit you want to wear, a trip to the beach you are planning to take, or to see the scale go down on your next doctor visit. Whatever it may be find something that is motivation to work out and lose weight. Talk to your doctor about your workout plans and keep it safe. There are a lot of ways to make working out fun and exciting, use your imagination and put one foot in front of the other, and workout!
“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.” – John Wooden
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