Motivation

**kathleen89** · 04-17-2009 12:52 AM

Any tips on how to stay motivated when it comes to exercising? Whenever I start I just can't make it last.

**candicej** · 04-17-2009 10:59 PM

I recently lost 12 pounds in 7 weeks doing cardio kickboxing, which I just started for the first time 7 weeks ago. The only drawback is that I'm getting aches like sore knee ligaments, rotater cuff etc. So I have been having difficulty staying motivated because of the soreness.

So it might sound silly, but I rented some movies last night that the clerk told me were about female boxers, and it worked pretty well for motivation! for the first time in weeks I can't wait to go to the gym and start hitting that bag. Also, I changed up the songs on my iPOD, and will do that more regularly. Hearing the same songs every workout was getting old.

Here's the movies I rented below:

-Fight Night: Saw that this just came out on DVD this week, and it's about a female prizefighter. The lead actress is small, lean and tough. Actually a really good movie and makes you want to workout hard.

-Girl Fight: Another boxing movie with a female lead Michele Rodriguez, she's also so lean and tough, and I like to pretend I'm that lean and tough

**WildChild** · 04-18-2009 01:57 AM

JUst have to set a schedule, just like eating you have to do it daily!

**kathleen89** · 04-18-2009 05:56 AM

I've managed to loose just about 30 pounds by simply dieting alone, no exercise, and it is wonderful (I don't really enjoy exercising

), but now it's getting harder to loose weight, so I really need to start toning. It's just so hard to keep to the schedule I make! It's not an unreasonable one either. lol

The idea about the movies is a good one! I'm sure that would get me pumped up to work out hard. Having good music is key too. Too bad my ipod is broken

**sourpuss** · 04-18-2009 07:12 AM

Do you have photos of you before you lost the weight? Whenever I look back at old pictures of when I was heavier than I am now I think...man, I never want to be that unhealthy again! That usually is enough for me to get to the gym.

Also, I have a lot of physical activities that I really enjoy, so doing them is a workout. I box, go hiking a lot, trail running. All of them are things that I do for fun. Any actual workouts outside of those are to make said activities easier or to improve my performance so that's a huge motivator for me.

**WildChild** · 04-18-2009 07:38 AM

The light of my life sent me a sext recently, a pic of two Huge people having sex. That visual will keep me working out for a while LOL

**kathleen89** · 04-19-2009 03:50 AM

I actually did just find a picture of me before I lost the weight and I couldn't believe I ever looked like that! At the time I didn't realize how big I had gotten. It really does make me never want to go back to that.

Lo yeah sex is definitely better when you feel good about yourself and not flopping around.

**WildChild** · 04-19-2009 04:17 AM

Actually thinking about it what motivated me the most when I really did need to lose weight (I had hit 185 but didn't look it) was putting up a picture of myself when I was very slender and in good shape. I would visualize how I felt then, how it felt to bend and move and how light and easy it was. Getting mentally into that place really helped me! And it was positive motivation rather than negative.

**candicej** · 04-20-2009 11:17 PM

Wow - there are some good ideas here, as well as some really hilarious stuff

I totally agree with making sure you are doing things you enjoy as a large part of your fitness regimen. Whether that is going for walks with your dog, hiking trails, kickboxing, riding bikes at the park, it's so important that you enjoy your activities to stay with it. I get horribly bored on a treadmill or workout machines at the gym. I love being outdoors, and I love challenging myself.

Hope I don't rant too much here, but I think it's always important to have something that motivates me from deep within. Give myself a goal, and really commit myself to that goal. If anything, know that reaching that goal will make you that much more confident at achieving anything you want in life. Our bodies are very responsive to exercise and nutrition, yet the thing that will most always fail us in achieving our objective isn't out bodies, but our own self doubt. But every small success like a few pounds lost here, walking a mile more than you've ever walked before, goes a really long way in eliminating those doubts.

So I suppose a major thing that really motivates me is overcoming challenges. Like in the movie Fight Night, what resonated with me was that this woman was fighting against men...big men....in what really is a mans sport. But she was committed to it and that was very inspirational to me.