- How you feel after a workout. I always feel great after a good workout. It’s a high. And I let that motivate me the next time: “You know how good you’re going to feel, Leo!”
- Having fun. Exercise should be fun. If it isn’t, try a different kind of activity that you enjoy. As long as you’re moving, it’s good for you.
- How you’re going to look. Imagine a slimmer, fitter you. Now let that visualization drive you.
- I'd like to return to my 2008/Canadian figure! I went to the gym 3-4 times a week and went down two dress sizes.
- Magazines. It motivates me to read fitness magazines. Not sure why, but it works.
- Blogs. I enjoy reading blogs about people who are into running, or losing weight. It can show the ups and downs they go through, and you can learn from their experiences.
- Rewards. If you exercise for a few days, give yourself a reward! A week? Another reward. Do it often in the beginning.
- Fitting into new clothes. Wanna look good in a smaller size? Work out!
- I want to fit into my old pre-pregnancy clothes!
- Being attractive. That’s always a good motivator, as I’m sure we all know.
- Stress relief. Wound up after a long day at the office? Get out and work off that stress. It makes a world of difference.
- A workout partner. Best thing I’ve done.
- I miss my exercise partners - the girlfriends who would work out with or without me, but who got me up and out the door. I miss the chats at the gym, the walking and discussing everything from politics to setting up friends together.
- An exercise class. Sign up for a class, perhaps with a friend, and you’ll be motivated to get there and work out.
- Classes have always worked really well for me. The pressure of keeping up with the group, the fun music...but I am not a member of a gym right now.
- A coach or trainer. Worth the money, just for the motivation.
- I am going to try exercising by myself but know this is a fall-back option.
- An exercise log/graph. For some reason, writing it down is extremely important. Really. Do it for a week and you’ll see what I mean.
- Your before picture. You often don’t realize how far you’ve come. Take pictures.
- A 5K race or triathlon. Just sign up for one, and you’ll be motivated to train.
- The dread of feeling “yuck” from not exercising. I hate how I feel after not exercising. So I remind myself of that when I feel tired.
- The scale. It’s not motivating to weigh yourself every day, as your weight fluctuates. But if you weigh yourself once a week, you’ll be motivated to have it keep going down, instead of up. Combine the scale with the measuring tape, and measure your waist.
- Reaching a goal. Set a goal for weight, or your waist measurement, or a number of days to work out, or a number of miles to run this week. Setting and tracking a goal helps motivate you to complete that goal. Make it easily achievable.
- Posting it on your blog. Tell people you’re going to lose weight or exercise daily, and report to them. You’ll make it happen.
- A blog seems too public, but telling my husband or emailing a friend may be good.
From: zenhabits.net
You're probably telling yourself something like "I should exercise right now. If I don't work out, I'm never going to get fit." This statement has many hidden obstacles. For one thing, feeling like you
should do something makes it seem like work, or an obligation. That's no fun. You're also thinking about what will happen if you
don't exercise--in other words, you're threatening yourself with punishment (the image of being unfit). Subconsciously, you're flooding your mind with negativity. Instead, remember that exercise is a choice, and it's about whether you
want to, or not! And instead of thinking about how you'll look if you don't work out, think about how great you'd look if you did!
- Focus on starting, rather than finishing. When you focus on finishing something, you direct your attention to a vague, highly idealized future. Visualizing a finished project is motivating for many people, but for someone who’s having a hard time starting a task, visualizing a hard-to-grasp future can be overwhelming — even depressing. The solution in this case, then, is not to focus on finishing, but on starting. Forget for a minute about the finish line, just concentrate on giving your first step. Bring your focus from the future to what can be done right now. We all know that if we start something enough times, we'll eventually finish the task. Starting — all by itself — is usually sufficient to build enough momentum to keep the ball rolling.
- Get back on the horse. Have you not exercised for a week? A month? A year? A decade? Who cares? Don't punish yourself. Don't think about how hard it is to get fit. Live in the Moment. Do you want to get in shape? Then work out. Eventually, you'll get momentum going, and you can fine-tune your routine. But that will come naturally, from feeling good about yourself and wanting to take better care of yourself. Until then, just establish in your brain that working it out is a choice, a fun choice.
From: www.wikihow.com
