Motivating yourself to exercise

So you’ve decided you want to exercise and start your fitness journey, my first thing to tell you is: Congratulations! This is your first step and I’m super excited for you. Whether you just want to lose a few extra pounds or change your whole diet, it’s a change of habit. You’re going to change your diet and your exercise level and it can be difficult at times. The sudden rush of motivation may eventually wear off, I’m afraid to say. However, there are ways that I like to keep myself motivated.

The first trick to motivating yourself is try and see your exercise as therapy and something you can look forward to and not dread. Albeit, there are days when it’s cold and I’m tired and I don’t want to drag myself to the gym and have a session. When these moments happen, I just don’t see it as an option, unless I have an excuse such as I’m sick, I’ll always force myself. You’ll never regret a workout, ever. But you might regret not going. So even if you go and exercise for 20 minutes, you’ll still feel good for going. It’s happened to me before where I was having a difficult day and didn’t really want to exercise but I went anyway, after about 20 minutes I thought ‘you know what, this isn’t helping me, I’m leaving’. When I left I was so glad I went, even if it was just for 20 minutes.

Secondly, remember that you’re trying to build a habit. They say it takes 21 days to make a habit so you have to persevere until exercise becomes habitual. You want the results to last long so you have to work for longer. It’s a slow process, but it’s so worth it.

Remember your goals. Remember why you started, was it to feel confident about yourself? Was it to get abs? Those things are achievable but only if you have actually put in the work. I feel so confident when I’m in my favourite workout gear and I’m dripping with sweat. Whenever I think about not exercising, I always just remember why I started, and what motivates me.

Find some inspirational quotes, it’s very cheesy and some of them make me want to vomit because they’re so cliché but they do help. One quote which always sticks out to me is ‘pain is temporary, if I quit however, it’ll last forever’. Obviously if you are in actual pain, please do stop exercising and seek medical attention but if it’s muscle pain then power through!

Take progress pictures! Again, it sounds very cheesy but it will totally help. When you can look at before and after photos you’ll really realise the amount of progress you’ve made. It’s sometimes easy to forget or notice but photos will make you feel so proud of yourself. Also, I read that the more you upload gym selfies the more weight you tend to lose.

One of the things that motivates me the most is that I can eat more once I’ve exercised. I know it sounds ridiculous but I am honestly such a foodie and I love large portions so I always make sure I exercise a lot.

Finally, please remember that you are doing this for you. You are trying to be healthy. You’re not trying to starve your body, or put your body under pressure. You’re not being healthy because someone called you fat or because you want to impress someone. If you are, it won’t last. You’re doing this because you love yourself enough to look after your body.