What’s Your Motivation? How do you keep going?
I asked some of my members a few months ago to tell me their “why”…Why do you show up at CFU? Why do you go through what you do on the mats? Why do you meal prep on the weekends? The most common answer was, “because I want to live a healthier life and set a good example for my family” – that is pretty much my why as well.
If you recall, I told the story of how I was sitting down during a PE class telling my kids to run laps and do other exercises…SITTING DOWN…I was a freaking PE teacher for goodness sake! What kind of good example was I setting for those kiddos? Not a good one, that’s for sure! I remember counting down the hours before I could go home and just lie down and watch tv because I was always tired – something needed to give!
But how do you find the motivation to one day start from scratch? Yes, I had the knowledge to exercise and eat healthy, but where would my motivation come from? I tell you, it had to come from deep within; being sick and tired of being big and lazy, I knew that baby steps would get me started. I told my husband my plan and set off to the Y every morning at 4:45am (yes, I know that’s crazy, but it was the only time I had in my crazy schedule). I found some accountability partners through an online group where we shared our workouts and nutrition tips. It’s what kept me going! And the rest is history!
It all started with motivating myself to do better for myself and my family BUT…I had to keep going! Everyone has those days where they really don’t feel like doing anything – heck, there’s even a song about that!
Things that may help you stay motivated:
- Set Goals! Make sure they are reasonable…don’t say I want to lose 50 pounds then get upset when the scale doesn’t budge in a week. Baby steps! Make sure the goal is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and has a time domain (SMART)
- Make your exercise/fitness routine FUN! If you dread going to the track and doing circles, change it up and hit the trails instead; take up biking or hit up a dance class. Step out of your comfort zone and keep things fun! It also helps keep you young! 🙂
- Make activity part of your daily routine! Every day do something active. On our fitness tracker app at the gym, I’ve put in a daily cardio section where members can put in their own workouts/runs in case they can’t make it to the box. This helps with accountability and keeps them on track!
- Put your activities (fitness/nutrition) down on paper…write.it.down! I used to (I should do it again!) write down everything I was going to eat the next day the night before so I was prepared for the day along with the workout I was going to tackle. Once I ate that meal or did that workout, it went on the “finished” side of my journal. That journal helped me stay on track especially with my nutrition so I didn’t have to “wing it” on a daily basis!
- Join forces with friends and family! Not only will you obtain the accountability, you will help them out with their fitness! It’s a WIN-WIN! 🙂
- Reward yourself! 7 days without any sugar, buy yourself a new pair of workout shorts! 21 days straight with daily activity, take yourself out for a nice meal! Set PR’s on lifts or runs, post that stuff and let people celebrate with you! Believe it or not, people do love to celebrate other’s accomplishments, plus it helps them with their motivation too! Seeing all of my athletes at CFU accomplish what they do on a daily basis inspires me to push a little bit more even on the days I don’t feel like it!
- Be Flexible! Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a workout or two; your body will NOT fall apart! Last week I actually took 2 days off from exercising at the gym! Unheard of BUT -My body didn’t fall apart, I was right back at it on Saturday! So give yourself a break now and then and realize that you are human and things are going to come up that get in the way of some of your fitness and nutrition goals!
If anything, write down or save photos/quotes on your phone so you can see them daily. I like the positive post-its…seeing positive messages helps me stay on the right track to where my mind should be. If you are having trouble finding the motivation to either get started or keeping the momentum, reach out and let me see if I can help! We offer personal training, group classes and online training if you don’t want to start out in a gym. Just let me know at crossfitunstoppable@gmail.com
Have a Great Week!
Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed!
