How to maintain your exercise motivation
Deciding to excise can be impulsive and have many reasons behind, from health, fitness to simply losing some weight, tone your body or improve posture, you might even sign up for the exercise program to work out at home. However, your fitness motivation seems to have disappeared. You are not alone, there are many people, who were motivated at first, yet after some time, become discouraged and quit when they didn’t see the results they wanted fast enough, or simply lack commitment and got carried away with other endeavors. Here are some tips to help you to stay motivated to continue working towards your goals.
Set goals and write them down. Be specific, like if you want to lose 5kg, or lower your blood pressure, do not write, “I want to lose 5kg, improve blood pressure. Speak it into existence. Instead write “I lost 5kg, and my blood pressure has improved.” Remind yourself of your goals daily. Put them up somewhere you can read them ( like on the mirror) for motivations several times a day.
Schedule exercise into your daily plans. Plan your workout time the same way you schedule your doctor’s visit or family event. Pick the days and times you are most likely to stick with your workout regime, morning, afternoon or evening. Have a look at our online classes schedule here, once you book a class you will get a reminder about your event, that will help to keep the commitment.
Take a before picture. When the scale doesn’t reflect the numbers you want to see, then you may get discouraged. Remember, when you exercise you also gain muscles, which are heavier than fat you’re trying to loose. Taking a picture before and after 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days you will be able to see the difference and get an accurate assessment of how much your body has changed over the period.
Know your fitness motivations. Figure out just what are you trying to accomplish and why? You want to lose 5kg. Why do you want to lose it? Do you want more attention from your spouse? Are you trying to become healthier, look better? What happens if you don’t focus on your health, or lose weight?
Visualize. A quick way to get a lot of motivation is to think about the end result. Have a visual picture in your mind how you look and feel now at your best. Pull out that picture of when you were at your best condition, healthy and fit or find a picture in a magazine of how you want to look. Put it where you can see it, next to your goals. Visualize you got your sexy back.
Exercise with a friend. Planning to go workout with a friend can be a great motivator. It’s also fun to have a small project together. This way you can discuss your progress, check your goals and help each other’s motivation. You can also enjoy going through your dance steps and help each other to learn complex sequences!
Be Patient and realistic. People get discouraged and lack motivation when they don’t see an improvement in their health like a.s.a.p. You didn’t get those health issues or gain those 5-15kg overnight. You may not see result overnight either. Be realistic and stay focus on making sure you are eating healthy, reducing stress, exercising, and getting proper sleep and the change will come.
Reward yourself. Make a reward list and each time you make an accomplishment, reward yourself with something off of that list. I don’t mean with 2 donuts and a bag of chips either. Maybe you’ve dropped 2 sizes, buy yourself an new pair of jeans, or that nice fragrance you’ve been wanting.
Forgive yourself. No one is perfect. Know that there may be days that you may not meet your daily goals. If that happens today, don’t worry, tomorrow is another day and you start over with more focus.
So there you have it! Use these reminders for motivation and encouragement to help you keep your mojo achieving your greatest fitness well-being. Give it a try and believe that you can do this. Here’s to being the best you can be and a healthy and happier you!
Looking forward to seeing you at our classes!
Source: iryamly.com