i'm so lazy... how to stay motivated?

[yellowsnow]

I got a membership at WHC, but i've been slacking so bad lol. how do you guys stay motivated? I went every other day for 3 months, but then stopped after the new years cuz of a new job. i'm always exhausted when i get home.

maybe i'm just being a baby :nut:

[buh_buh]

maybe setting some goals would help. That way your not just going aimlessly and have something to work towards.

[JJLuke]

commit to the time you spend, make a routine, ie. monday do chest, wednesday do cardio, etc. and make sure the routine and schedule is DOABLE for longer than six months, even if it means only twice a week, then so be it, twice a week is better than nothing!

once you've been working out for more than six months on a regular basis it becomes second nature, you dont think about it and when you forget you really feel bad, regret it, and make something up (do pushups while on vacation) or do it the next day

a friend and I started working out and followed a routine, M/W/F and he recently started bailing on me because of school, etc. and has since "left the mindset" of the workout... making it a MUST versus a should is very important

you only have one body in life, make sure it's a top notch machine!

[A_3]

I find lots of different ways to stay motivated. The main thing is I feel like crap when I don't work out. I feel really guilty and like i'm losing all my hard earned muscle.

It helps to have a set plan, so you know exactly what you're going to do when you hit the gym. It can be fairly intimidating going to the gym when you first start if you don't want to look like a newb.

In a couple of months i'm getting a full fitness test done: cardio, flexibility, strength, etc... It takes a few hours to do but i'm curious to see how in shape I actually am. That's been my most recent motivator, helps me complete a full workout.

[Manifesto55]

work out in the morning. Getting up that early may seem like a bitch at first, but you get used to it. I find it way easier to stay motivated when I'm not dreading going to the gym after a full day's work :)

[TrevorK]

I found the best motivation was going with someone with a similar schedule - each of you push the other to go.

[Clanche]

Originally posted by JJLuke
...a friend and I started working out and followed a routine, M/W/F and he recently started...

I prefer F/F/M :D :bigpimp:

[three.eighteen.]

yeah goals...i hit my last goal and everything kinda just faded away, i was happy at 145...this time next year...160

[mdeleon]

for me i create a scheduled plan on what i should do during the days i work out, fit it into your schedule. I think the most important thing to do is to WRITE IT DOWN, because just saying your gonna work out, or trying to memorize your schedule never works out. you either forget or when you're supposed to get started, you get lazy. but when you have everything written down, you can prepare yourself before hand, eat something healthy and filling to give yourself some more energy, it'll also make things easier instead of wondering when you'll be able to have time for a work out, with a schedule, you've already fit it in and just waiting for the time to get started.

Another thing i do is write down what i want to achieve on my schedule, beacause since you're not thinking of your goal(s) all the time, when you review your schedule or even glance at it, you're reminded on what you want to achieve which'll give you motivation.

One last tip to stay motivated, STAY OPTIMISTIC and EXCITED to meet your goal, it doesn't help anything at all especially when workout time comes when you feel that you're wasting your time and such. get excited for your workouts and in doing so will also give you more energy to workout....oh, and listening to your fav music helps in pumpin you up as well.

[JJLuke]

Oh yeah I found that when I started working out, reading a good book on wtf to do helps.

"Men's Body Sculpting" is the one that I read, do a search on it, has pic of a ripped guy with a dumbell on the front

After reading it, it gave me an idea on diet, routine, etc. the book really motivates you to do it, once you follow suit, you will want to eat better and work harder, lol but there are times when you can go out of routine, that's ok just dont do it too much

And think of the effects above and beyond ho you feel, look to what others will perceive of you... I see ppl I've not seen for over a year and they compliment me and tell me how much "fuller" I look and asked me if I've been working out.

:bigpimp: that always helps

[BlueFrenzy]

Those are some great suggestions guys ... here's a couple more ways to stay motivated:

Goal setting like the other guys said is great, but to add a little kick, maybe what you want to do is to schedule a fitness test a few months in advanced ... that way you know you have a "deadline" to reach.

Another thing on similar lines is to sign up for a marathon, sports competition, etc also months in advanced (ie Bloomsday in Spokane) and have it ALL paid for now. Things like the airfare, registration, hotel, etc. That way, you know if you don't train, you would have wasted your money, and nobody likes to waste money!

Also along the money wasting front ... schedule a trip to Daytona Beach, Mexico, Hawaii, or any other place where there are beaches and lots of fit people. Now we wouldn't want to be the ONLY one on the beach who not fit, would we? Ha ha

Personally, I'm a hockey goalie and play volleyball. As a goalie, if you get scored on, it sucks and hurts the ego (even if it wasn't your fault) ... you're always thinking, if I were faster and got across the net quicker, I would have made that save!
So I take that as motivation to train harder to NOT let my team down in the future (ha ha ... because we can't rely on the lazy D-man right??? ha ha).

So what you may want to do is to sign up for a league in the sport of your choice and work your way to GLORY!!

Finally, the other day I was watching Dateline and it was a segment on fear and weightloss. Basically, there was a clinical psychologist who theorized that one of the biggest motivators in all our lives is fear. Be it fear of humiliation, fear of authority, etc. So he did an experiment with a few volunteers that wished to lose some weight. What he did was take pictures of the volunteers in tiny bathing suits and told them, if in 3 months, you haven't lost 15 pounds we will broadcast the pictures on national television (Dateline). Guess what happened? Of the 10 volunteers, 9 lost more than 15 pounds and one lost 14pounds (she was petite to start so that was a large amount proportionally). They ended up NOT broadcasting her picture because they never intended to embarrass her, BUT it was the threat of public humiliation that motivated these people. Great huh? When I watched the program, I realized that my training methods (ie the vacation, paying for stuff in advanced, etc) was following in line with the psychologist's theories. Anyways, how would us normal folk take advantage of the above? Well, maybe what you want to do is to take a pic of yourself before then give the pics to a particularly sadistic friend. Tell your friend that, if in 3 months (or whatever), if you had not lost x amount of weight to distribute the pics to all your friends and family. Tell them to post it on the internet like on myspace, nexopia, friendster or here on Beyond.

Anyhoo ... I talk too much ... good luck!