I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve put off going to David Barton Gym. I was either too sick, too lazy or simply too unmotivated on those days and just didn’t feel like exercising. If working out is currently at the bottom of your to-do list (or not in your list at all!), I completely understand. We’ve all been there.
But the thing is, being physically active has tons of benefits. Not only will you be able to reach your ideal weight, you’ll also be more fit and healthy. Plus, it’s been found to help with one’s mental health as well.
Here are some things you can do if you seem to lack motivation to exercise:
1. Start slow.
You can begin by adding things you enjoy doing that isn’t necessarily part of the workout. For example, you can do:
- Gardening
- Playing with your child
- Going to a nearby hardware store on your bike
2. Develop a different mindset.
The first step to actually get in the habit of exercising is to change your mindset. You need to get past mental roadblocks and develop new perception, a new way of thinking, a new attitude and eventually you’ll have a renewed motivation to get your body moving.
3. Tell yourself exercising is a must.
Here’s the thing – if you want to be fit and healthy, then you need to exercise. There’s no way around it. We’re not talking about spending two hours in the gym every day to pump iron or to attend spinning classes. Exercise is not limited to these things. You can walk 30 minutes everyday and that’s already a good way to jumpstart a healthy and active lifestyle.
4. Celebrate small wins.
Oftentimes, people set big goals for their fitness. When I first started, my goal was to lose the 35 lbs I gained from my pregnancy. Setting a goal like this seems to be OK but I found out it wasn’t. I couldn’t shed the 35 lbs even after working out 4x a week at our local gym for 4 months. So I quit. And that was my mistake. If I had simply made a more realistic goal like losing 4-5 lbs a month the outcome would have been different. I should have been happy with every small achievement I made but I was too focused on the 35 lbs that it only made me more and more frustrated every time I weighed myself.
5. Do what feels right for you.
Blogs, vlogs and even ads online seem to dictate that the only way to lose weight and achieve that toned physique is to do killer workouts or spend several hours at the gym each day. But fitness is not a one size fits all kind of thing. If treadmills and stationary bikes bore you, you can enroll in a dance class. If you have weak knees, you can do yoga. If you enjoy the outdoors, go for trail hikes a couple of times a week.
Getting motivated to exercise (and being able to keep this motivation) is not easy but the key is figure out what’s stopping you from doing it. Once you’ve found out what it is, do what you can to address the issue so you can look forward to exercising more.
Need more motivation to exercise? Watch this video: