motivation to get fit

ellie22

I read a thread in this forum about what gives people the motivation to keep exercising. Im just curious to know what was it that gave you the starting motivation to decide to give it a go and do it properly, and then stick with it? Im always joining gyms, am unhappy with my body but i go mad for about a month then let other things get in the way, im just not motivated or determined enough!

So what advice would you give to someone to motivate them to get off their backsides and just do it? What worked for you?

Climate Expert

ellie22 wrote: »

I read a thread in this forum about what gives people the motivation to keep exercising. Im just curious to know what was it that gave you the starting motivation to decide to give it a go and do it properly, and then stick with it? Im always joining gyms, am unhappy with my body but i go mad for about a month then let other things get in the way, im just not motivated or determined enough!

So what advice would you give to someone to motivate them to get off their backsides and just do it? What worked for you?

I've been doing exercise since I was 8 or so. The day I stop doing it is the day that I'm old. So I keep going and never settle for comfortable old age.

c - 13

I dont like what I see in the mirror so i'm working to change that.

If your the sort of person who prefers the "traditional" type of motivation to go to the gym try the following -

http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Dick_Hoyt_whitworth_07

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyiApzjIuzw

lisajane

The weather motivates me to go to the gym. I want to loose weight for so long and the rainy weather last july really got to me so i joined a gym.

RacoonQueen

Desire.

You have to WANT to get fit. You have to WANT to achieve your goals be it weight loss/weight gain/strength/increased fitness levels. You have to WANT it, otherwise you're just going through the motions and they're the people that tend to fail. You have to give 100% all the time while working out and while you're not because everything you do inside and outside the gym contributes to helping you achieve your overall goals(well eating one biscuit isn't going to have an effect but you know what I mean). There really isn't any answer to your question, I don't think you can pass on the will to get a better body, get fitter etc... that will has to already be there, you can motivate and help someone adhere to a programme but the desire has to be there in the first place.

I live by my 4 D's; Dedication, determination, discipline and desire.
They're pinned to my wall, each has it's own(different coloured - what can I say I'm a girl, I like things to look pretty) post it, any time I begin to falter I look to them and remember my goals, if I'm half arsing my way through a workout I repeat them over and over and it kind of gees me up. As I say, everyone has their own little ways I really don't think the motivation to get off your arse to do exercise can be 'taught' it has to be there in the first place.

scoey

I don't exactly know why, but I just like being fit. I have this urge to make my body be the best it can be. I like the idea of being fit and strong, physically capable. If I stop working out, I'd feel like I was wasting away/becoming weaker. Being in good condition just makes me feel better, both physically and emotionally. More energetic and in a better mood.

I think my original reason to begin working out a couple of years ago was to improve my success with women. That's not my motivation now. Now, I just get a lot of pleasure out of constantly increasing my strength and cardio fitness. I like to imagine that in a few years I'll go on some mad adventure and being physically fit will be a necessity. I think the idea of physical stagnation or being unfit is totally unappealing to me these days, it's not like staying in good shape actually takes much effort. I do about 40 minutes of strength training every couple of days and cycle to college and pretty much eat what I want(although luckily, I mostly just like eating a LOT of wholesome stuff, as opposed to processed food) and I'm in better shape than most people I know.

Actually now that I think about it. The ability to eat so much food and not get fat is a big motivator for me in working out. I like food.

I think it's just about getting started. Once you get going and notice some results, you'll feel better and won't want to go back.

celestial

This short piece pretty much provides my reasons and my motivations for keeping fit and explains my love of exercise, the feeling of it, the results, the realisation when doing it that you are restoring your body to the way it naturally should be:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0976805421/ref=sib_dp_bod_ex/105-2609563-7654815?ie=UTF8&p=S00A#reader-link

littlefriend

Well a few years ago I joined WW for maybe the 3rd time. I used to go with my flatmate and there was it was a really good class, in that, a good few people there were really funny so it was just a laugh for an hour. I got really into the whole points thing and I used to cook dinner every night for around 8 - 10 points. We used to go out for about 3 walks of maybe 2.5 miles and we thought we were athletes - seriously, the exercise, along with a lot of other aspects of WW is crap imo. But anyway it did the job and at first I wanted to lose a stone before Christmas, then another before Easter and then another by the time I was going on holiday in the summer - so I had very specific goals that I focused on and thats what got me there. I really, really stuck to my points every day and the very light exercise I was doing got me there. The food I was eating was absolute crap - low fat everything and I wouldn't eat a nut or seed or take fish oil in a fit. I drank diet coke all day long along with about 8 coffees and ww yoghurts. Gross. So while I [and my flatmate] lost weight our faces just looked drained rather than glowing with health.
Anyway, I wrecked my back after that and by some miracle I've managed to maintain the same weight. Anyway, for the last 2.5 years I've been on very heavy medication and basically felt gross.
I now go to a trainer twice a week and I've also started crossfit.
The thing is - when the whole thing started it was because I wanted to lose a bit of weight for cosmetic reasons. I find now that my goals change all of the time. Now I want my body to be as strong as possible to cope with the problem in my back. I also notice things that I used to find a teeny bit hard don't cause me any problems at all. eg I walk my dog in a forest and I hadn't noticed that I wasn't getting out of breath walking up the big hill at the start of it until I did it with a friend - she had to keep stopping on the way up whereas now I don't find it remotely difficult.
Anyway, I'm babbling now - what I'm trying to say is - you probably don't have a real goal - just right I'm going to join the gym and go a million times and turn into a different person. How about using outside to exercise for say 6-8 wks during the summer. You'll probably both notice some results in that time and start having some fitness goals [run 5k, improve your ass or whatever]. If you can manage sticking to the outdoor thing then you probably will have more of a chance of actually using the gym if you join again. Or maybe just join some classes in your area - they are more like appointments so you may be more likely to attend.
Thing is, which I have only realised now, that you don't have to be running to no-where on a treadmill breathing in everybody's sweat. Get outside and walk/run - time yourself and just try to get faster, buy a couple of weights and one of those ball things, join a class. Doing it that way is WAAAYYY less boring than being in a gym. When your training goals become more specific, then think about joining a gym again.
Just do it - the way I think about it now is - say Christmas for example - you can still be a total lard ass and pssed off with yourself or you can spend your time thanking ppl for telling you how great you look. That time is going to pass anyway - you might as well use it well rather than watching big brother or some ****e like that on tv

Matamoros

Hi Ellie, I'm a bit like you insofar as I've joined Gyms and given up exercising after a while. I am back doing exercise each day now with some success and maybe the things that I thought about may be helpful to you.

Firstly, get your diet right, G,em and others members have done great work on this in the stickies. I worked on that first before I did any exercise and felt a lot more energetic. More energy, more motivation.

Do it with others, being part of a group has so many benefits and the banter and camaraderie is what most of us are there for. Join up with some team or group, they are usually delighted to get new members.

Visualisation, you can Google this but essentially this is a powerful tool to help you see clearly what you want and to help motivate yourself to go and get it. Give it a try and see if it helps.

Good luck, keep us all posted!

siochain

Besides the buzz of all those endorphins running around the blood stream and the feel good factor after working out I just look at it as investment for the future.


Goal setting and in particular upcoming competitions helps with extra motivation.

aye

ellie22 wrote: »

Im always joining gyms, am unhappy with my body but i go mad for about a month then let other things get in the way, im just not motivated or determined enough!

that could be a problem there. you go mad at it, then get bored when you start missing having time out of the gym.
ease yourself in a bit more, 3 or 4 times a week when starting out is plenty.

find something you enjoy also. the gym isnt for everyone, you might be better off getting fit by doing swimming lessons, playing basketball, doing a dance class you know.

personally, i enjoy the gym, thats why i go. i also cant hack sitting on a couch when i get home watching tv, i need to do something.

originally my motivation when i started in the gym was sports performance, at this stage it's mainly aesthetic.

for a lot of people its great to have a gym buddy, or someone to do the classes with. someone that will make you go when you dont want to, and you can make it more interesting by having a little competition between yourselves.

also, set your self some realistic short term goals, so you can keep track of things, that way the resuslts wont seem so far away.

My motivation is that I want to get better at lifting and dropping people, like so:

Transform

The whole idea of motivation is a bit of a confusing idea as failures seek it out as a way to look outside of themselves to 'discovering' why their values and beliefs are out of bloody alignment.

Reading about how and why people stay motivated to train will lead to a temporary change but from my experience NOTHING will change until you stop looking outside of yourself and get down to the business of first priorotizing your health and fitness THEN using boards, magazines, trainers, friends to reinforce the belief that you can and will be healthy.

Its very very simple - SUCCESSFUL people that look and feel great are that way because they are 'motivated' by results FAILURES are 'motivated' by methods/ways. The failure always fritters between the next big fat loss promise and eating crap/accepting their own laziness, where as the successful people consistently do the right things 90% of the time as they are firm in their belief it will/has gotten results.

Make a choice and stick to it or else your always taking one step forwards and two steps backwards

Canis Lupus

Exercising makes me better than fat people.

Or seriously it's just wicked looking back and seeing the changes to fitness and body shape that exercise does to you.

Roper

I actually don't know what will happen when I stop training for competitions. At the moment everything I do feeds into that. Bigger+Stronger+Faster+More Durable=better performance. I suppose though it comes down to what sort of person you want to be. I am a lazy sonofabitch when it comes to everything else up to and including personal grooming, but I love the work in the gym and I hate leaving fresh. I'm not long back after an injury where I was told it could have been game over for my competitive days and that was a big shock.

This is a bit cheesy, but I'll go ahead and say it anyway. Occasionally when one of the kids in my gym moans too much or complains about being bored or tired (usually the teenagers!) I remind them of how lucky they are. My friend teaches Taekwondo and has a young girl training with him who has a prosthetic leg. She started when she was about 8 or 9 and is still going strong about 6 years later. There are things she can't do obviously but she tries to do everything and last time I saw her training in a group, it took me a while to figure out which girl had the disability. She doesn't moan, complain or look for excuses.

Then there's the countless people who walk into classes and complain about being stiff or sore, about it being too hard, too sweaty, the gear isn't always clean so I quit, there were no showers so I quit, I couldn't get there easily so I quit. Their decision of course, their life choice and if that's the way they want to be then I respect that but I don't respect most excuses. It happens everyone, family, lifestyle, work get in the way for a while and the pounds pile on but it's what you do after those fallow periods, your ability to get back on the bike so to speak that matters.

Petrolium Hat

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Exercising makes me better than fat people.

Or seriously it's just wicked looking back and seeing the changes to fitness and body shape that exercise does to you.

This

and I'm getting married at the end of the year and might as well look me best. I'll never be in more pictures in one day.

unreggd

Jealousy works great!!

Seriously. Take a photo of yourself, stick it beside someone with an amazin bod you'd like to have, and keep it where ye'll see it every day

We can all do our special poses in the mirror that make us look great, but this would keep you on yer toes

Abi

unreggd wrote: »

Jealousy works great!!

Seriously. Take a photo of yourself, stick it beside someone with an amazin bod you'd like to have, and keep it where ye'll see it every day

We can all do our special poses in the mirror that make us look great, but this would keep you on yer toes

That made me lol ^^ :pac:

I dont know if jealousy is good idea. Unless your subject is of similar frame, height etc, you could be chasing a dream tbh.


A couple of months ago I posted a thread or two how to tone up a bit and for music suggestions. There was some fab suggestions for music and that, well its help me tone up a lot. I was never really over-weight, just a bit soft. I stopped really looking at scales for a long time, I think it can be a de-motivater at times. But had a look to answer a question on AH. Im down about a stone and half to 8st 8lb :eek: I knew the clothes were getting loose, but didnt think it would be that much.


Having some good music to work out to works wonders for me