That sometimes elusive exercise motivation

I have a confession to make: I have fallen off the wagon.

With the forced rest imposed on me after my recent medical situation, I have stopped exercising (totally) and with a few sugary treats here and there, I can officially confirm that I have indeed fallen off. Ouch.

I’m afraid I’ve lost some of my motivation that was intensely burning inside me before. Ah, I missed that tough girl who could resist (almost) everything sinful. I couldn’t find the matches to light the fire again — until I found this article by Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training.com.

If you’re sitting there asking where you can find your motivation (again), this might help.

*****

Today, we’re going to focus on something that I know a lot of men and women are struggling with – MOTIVATION.

So here are my top 11 inspirational tips to help motivate you to stick to your fat loss plan and transform your body and life forever.

11. Never Give Up
If you fall off the wagon, cut your losses. Don’t let it weigh on your mind and hold you back because it’s only minor damage that can be dealt with. The important thing is to get back on track, immediately. Never, ever, EVER give up. I believe in you.

10. Don’t Procrastinate
Do it now. Whether you’re thinking of cleaning out the pantry or finally starting to exercise, STOP procrastinating and DO IT now!

9. Identify Exactly What It Is You Want…
…then don’t let anything stand in your way of getting it. By setting specific goals along with deadlines you are providing yourself with a measuring stick.

8. Do Your Best With Everything You Have Control Over
Most people fail to control themselves, and end up only with regrets. We trade minutes of pleasure (i.e. fast food) for days, weeks, months, and years of regret.

Remember that the pleasure of eating lasts for only minutes, but you inhabit your body 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for life.

Rather than trying to “out-cardio” your bad diet, you must PLAN ahead to overcome obstacles. Otherwise, you’ll never succeed.

7. Replace Bad Habits
Everyday you will be tempted to fall back on old bad habits. To make a lasting change in your health and appearance you must do everything you can to resist that. Try adding a new healthy habit each day to replace an old unhealthy habit.

6. Be Consistent With Baby Steps
The best approach is to build your life one positive step at a time and the way to do this is by taking baby steps to improvement each and every single day. Be a little better than yesterday.

5. Test
There are no failures, only good and bad tests.

You should always be trying something new, monitoring your body’s response, and deciding whether or not that food or exercise belongs in your “tool box”. Do everything you can to learn more about your body. The more you know, the faster your success will be.

4. Social Support & Role Modeling
You can’t soar with eagles if you’re hanging around turkeys.

By hanging around others who want to lose weight, you can leverage their knowledge, commitment, support, and success to push yourself harder than you otherwise would be able to.

3. Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
People will do almost anything to stay in their comfort zones.

If you want to accomplish anything, get out of your comfort zone and strive to increase order and discipline in your life. Discipline means doing the opposite of what you feel like doing.
Setting goals and deadlines are the easy roads to discipline.

2. Plan
Planning is the ultimate key to fat loss success.

With a weekly plan of meals and workouts in place, you will be much less likely to hit a road bump that takes you down the wrong path. Try setting aside one day a week to map out your weekly itinerary
and you’ll be amazed at how quickly your body transforms itself.

1. Realize YOU Are In Charge of Your Success
Og Mandino once said,

I shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me. Or I can be lost in the maze. My choice. My responsibility. Win or lose; only I hold the key to my destiny.

Translation – Everyone can succeed and reach their goals. It’s a just a matter of how badly you want it.

I know you want it. And I know you can do it. And I’m really looking forward to your success.

*****

What a true and timely article. Now I’m ready to go back in the saddle again. Let’s do this together!

Tagged as: Fitness

Share this post with others: Tweet