Some people are motivated by the simple fact that they want to lose weight or want to pack on muscles. On the other hand, you have people that may not be as motivated by such vague goals. We really need to understand that fitness is really about a lifestyle, not just accomplishing a fitness goal. What good does it do for us if we actually lose 50lbs but end up gaining it right back a year later? Or if we run a six minute mile at the age of 28 but can’t even run a mile when we’re 45. Now chances are your mile time will be a little slower a few decades down the road, but who says you can’t still finish it? We don’t train so hard during our youth and early adult years just to find ourselves completely out of shape later on in life.
If you’re struggling with fitness, try changing up your motivation techniques. Working out has great benefits to the physical and emotional health, but that doesn’t mean those have to be the only rewards we get out of making healthy decisions. If you’re just beginning a new fitness journey, it’s ok to treat yourself to a milkshake, pizza, fruit snacks, or whatever your favorite indulgence is after a solid week of working out or as a reward for reaching a milestone. Or you can go the healthier route of treating yourself to a nice smoothie or a meal at a fancy restaurant. I love this technique because it gives you something to look forward to, something to strive and work hard for.
Now I wouldn’t recommend treating yourself to junk food after every single workout; that would just be counterproductive. But if a reward after your final workout for the week keeps you going and gives you the drive to keep pushing for another week, then go for it. Hopefully this helps you to build the habit of exercising consistently. In due time you should start to realize that working out is the reward itself, and eventually you may not have the desire to indulge in pizza or ice cream anymore, or it will be much less frequent.
For some people, using food as a reward may not be what gets us off the couch to hit the gym. Maybe the drive to prove to yourself you can reach the goals you’ve set helps to keep you accountable. If that’s you, consider drafting a contract of commitment to keep yourself accountable with exercise. You can even take it one step further and have a partner hold you accountable. Maybe you want to work out for 3 days a week for 16 weeks. Write down whatever your fitness lifestyle goal is and sign it so you’re bound to it. There are even tools like stickK that help you write a commitment contract for your desired goal (fitness or otherwise!) choose a “referee” to keep you accountable, and even put money on the line to keep you motivated!
These are just a couple of approaches that may help. Figure out what will help best keep you on track and don’t hesitate to implement it. Always be sure to keep a positive attitude no matter what. Visualize yourself working out on that nice spring or fall day. Visualize yourself slimming down to fit in that outfit, or finally hitting that timed mile goal. Zero in on those positive thoughts and capitalize on them. Make them a reality!