5 Ways to Motivate Your Workout
Posted by Danielle Bean in Health on Monday, February 01, 2010 10:00 AM
It’s Monday morning. Do you have a plan for exercising today?
This time of year, I often find myself dreaming of hibernating instead of pulling on a pair of sneakers.
But especially during these dark, cold days of winter, I find that I need the mood boost that comes with exercise. Today, I thought we could share some ideas to keep ourselves motivated toward fitness. Here are some of mine:
1. Find a friend. It’s not always practical for a mom to work out with a friend, but you can still use the “buddy system” to motivate yourself. Share your goal of exercising daily with a like-minded friend and then check in regularly to encourage each other and report your progress.
2. Remember your reasons. Why do you want to exercise? To lose weight? To set a good example for your children? To improve your mood? To be a better steward of the body God gave you? Think of your reasons and write them down to remind yourself of your long term goals.
3. Listen up! Do you have a favorite podcast? Save it for your workout time and you’ll find yourself looking forward to exercise. Also, listening to some upbeat music will make your body want to move. (Teen kids’ playlists are useful for this purpose as my musical tastes are often too tame.)
4. Don’t think. If you let yourself think about working out too much, you give yourself too much time and opportunity to make excuses or find other things to do. Set a time and just do it. If procrastination is a real problem for you, try exercising first thing in the morning. Get up and put on your workout clothes before you have a chance to talk yourself out of it.
5. Set a goal. Train for an event or set some smaller goal for yourself. Set a new record for your personal best for speed, distance or calories burned on an exercise machine. Or aim to lose weight in small increments—counting each 5 pounds lost as an accomplishment worthy of recognition. When you reach each new goal, reward yourself with something fun, but not a brownie! Try a new water bottle, a haircut, or an afternoon out with a friend.
How about you? How do you motivate yourself to keep moving?
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