I think we can all agree that the hard part with exercising is staying motivated. I totally understand and I go through this every so often. I try to remind myself by following a few simple rules that allow me to keep on track of my goals so I can continue to be encouraged with my exercising. Some of them start with short term goals or taking baby steps. As you begin to approach these smaller goals or accomplish them, you will build confidence. You will then become motivated since accomplishing anything is very rewarding. By knowing how much time and effort you've invested feels great when you begin to see results. So, let me discuss the rest of the points on how you can stay motivated.
1. Write down your short and long term goals. Next, acknowledge it by saying it to yourself or someone close to you such as a friend or spouse. By admitting it, you have taken action in implementing these goals. We tend to think about our goals in our mind but it was just a thought that passed by us so saying it aloud is a commitment we just made to ourselves.
2. Reflect back on previous attempts that have made you to stop exercising. Do you see the same pattern that you are heading or what are ways you can do things differently this time? Were you exercising too much the first few weeks and you decided it was just too much work? Start off with the basics and work out a schedule that you can handle and slowly progress from that stage. Lets face it, these days everyone has a busy lifestyle with their career, family and friends. Try to find a routine that is simple, quick, and consistent that works for you!
3. Be patient with your exercising. Most of us exercise so we can lose weight, tone up, stay healthy, etc. Seeing results isn't anything that is overnight or the first week. There are no short cuts in life and that goes for exercising as well. If you want to see results you have to be patient with yourself. If you are burning more calories than you eat, your body is continuing to change. Even if its slower than you expected, results are still present but at a slower process than you want. As they say good things come to those who wait!
4. Be around people who have similar interest as yourself. Get a training partner whether you are training at home, gym, etc. Having someone who can motivate you when you are down or tired helps a lot! I've gone through that road many times and having that training partner helped me immensely. Of course, some of us may not have a training partner and that is when your determination powers through to finish that work out. Also, talk to fitness professionals in the health industry and they can assist you or hire a qualified personal trainer.
5. Constantly monitoring your weight does not help at all. By getting on that dreaded scale, it can definitely discourage your progress if you haven't lost any weight. There are so many things that can play a factor such as attaining more lean muscle, water retention, etc. Muscle does weigh more than fat and I like to think things out from a logical point of view. If you feel and look better in your clothes then you are making great progress. Focus more attention about losing fat loss rather than weight loss.
6. Always educate yourself. Go to a book store, library, or surf the internet and read as much material on health and fitness. As they say knowledge is power!
7. Rewarding yourself is another bonus. Go to that much need massage after exercising hard since you've done a good job the past few weeks. Other ways to reward yourself can be going away for a day with a friend or spouse, check out a movie, buy yourself a small gift such as running shoes or workout clothes. We all need to feel self appreciated and this can definitely jump start yourself by knowing you deserve it!
8. Try to stay positive. I know each day is different and you may not feel the same way as you did the previous work out. Find ways to stay positive by remembering that you always feel great after exercising, finishing this workout will allow me to do my other things such as watching TV, you ate some junk food today so need this workout to balance the calories, etc. Sometimes being competitive can be good as well and the days you don't want to exercise, you can think to yourself that you don't want your training partner to being one step ahead of you!
9. Keep track of your progress. A simple way to keep motivated is to see how far you've come when you first started or what areas do you still need to improve. Keep a diary and log your exercise routine and training regimen. Set up your own progression chart on a set schedule by taking measurements of your body, weighing yourself, evaluating your body fat percentage. This can be done every 3-4 weeks to evaluate your progress.
10. Your determination and perseverance is the key to success. There are no gimmicks or tricks on this last point as success only come from within. It is up to you to succeed in life whatever your short or long term goals are.
So, here you have it and I just mentioned a few points on staying motivated. Really, there aren't any excuses for you to discontinue exercising besides it benefiting your overall health, reduced stress, and disease prevention to name a few!
Richard Chan is a Health and Fitness Life Coach, promoting good health internally and externally. For more information you can visit Richard Chan at
http://www.flex-fitness.com regarding exercising, training or nutrition.
Chris and I went to Uruguay for about a week and a half. It was a lot of fun! We took the boat over from Buenos Aires to Colonia, which takes about an hour. From there we bussed to Montevideo, where we stayed a couple of nights. It is a nice city, except it seemed to have an unusual amount of beggers. Also, Uruguay loves their Mate. Mate is a tea type thing, except instead of having it in a little bag, you put the actual leaves into a cup and add hot water and then you sip it through a straw which has a filter on it. There is also a ritual to drinking it. In a style which I assume to be similar to a peace pipe, you drink one whole cup and then fill the water back up and pass it to the next person.
preparing to leave when I started to itch. I had peed in the dark in a bush the night before and thought maybe I had squatted in some poison oak or something, but soon a rash had spread all over my body. Next the rash kind of dissapated and in its place was just swollen redness. We went to the doctor who gave me cortizone and told me to stay out of the sun. Apparently I had used a lotion or soap which in addition to the sun had given me some sort of allergic reaction. Who knew! To the right is a photo of my misfortune. 
So, after that we went to a great little town called Punta del Diablo. However, I couldnt go out in the sun, and it was a beach town, so we ended up just hanging out in our little cabina playing cards with a small boy named Santiago. Which of course was fun! He taught us the name for all the shapes, but we found out later that he actually may have given us the wrong names...
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