There is something very interesting about exercise. With most things in life, even though we are in the information age, there is a lack of widely accessible information. For example, most of us would not easily access accurate information on how to install satellite television or how to read a financial statement.
However, when it comes to exercise, things are different, there is information everywhere and everyone somehow knows how to exercise. The lack of motivation towards exercise shows that we do not do what we know. We also don’t do what we want because most of us really want to exercise, but we don’t always do it. Clearly, to exercise we need to do not only what we know or want to do, but also what we are motivated to do. In this article, I want to share with you some strategies that will help motivate you to exercise.
(I) Have a vision about your own image
The truth is that most of us have a certain image of how we would like to see ourselves. Some people were born skinny, imagine themselves skinny, and have accepted that image of themselves. Some people are born with a little weight, they imagine themselves that way and even buy clothes that fit that image. Most of the time this is something that we are not always aware of.
I remember a time when my wife had not looked at her body in a mirror for 3 months. Women can’t live without mirrors, she used a face mirror but not a full body mirror during that period for some reason. We went shopping. She looked in a full-length mirror and discovered that her body shape had changed because she had gained weight. She freaked out and yelled “Wow, I’m fat.” Surely, I must not have been honest with her at home in answering her most frequently asked question of hers “Do I look fat?”
It was true that my wife had gained weight. But what really bothered her was that her body was different from her ideal body shape or weight. This made her uneasy and motivated enough to exercise and lose extra fat in two weeks.
Without a vision of our ideal body shape or weight, we are doomed to simply pump food into our bodies and not make an effort to lose weight. I am telling you this because I would like to urge you to examine your vision of your ideal body weight before implementing the rest of the strategies that I will advise you to use from this article.
Some people wish they were skinny but actually have a fat body image that holds them back. These people buy clothes that fit this image and accept how they look. They subconsciously sabotage their efforts to lose weight. If you want to be skinny, it would help you to think that you are skinny. If you think you’re fat, you may have a hard time losing weight. I’m not saying you shouldn’t accept yourself as you are. I’m saying though that you might have a vision about your healthy self-image. The simple act of accepting yourself as you are can mean that you want to change the image you have of yourself when it comes to being fit or losing weight. This is great for your emotional well-being, but it won’t help you reach your fitness goals either. If you accept yourself with a belly, why would you want a flat stomach?
(II) The comfort of your body matters less
The main reason people don’t exercise is because they prefer bodily comfort to the pain of exercise. Bodily comfort is detrimental in the long run because it leads to a sedentary lifestyle. So the more you disregard the comfort of your body, the more you will put your body through the physical strain of exercise.
Ironically, what you will find is that once you start exercising, you will begin to find pleasure in exercise even though your body tenses up during exercise. People who have gotten over their need for bodily comfort and pushed themselves to exercise begin to feel uncomfortable when they haven’t exercised for a couple of days. They feel unacceptably strange when they haven’t gone for a run or bike ride or haven’t lifted weights.
However, the first hurdle to overcome before reaching the level where exercise becomes a “must” and not a “should” is giving up bodily comfort. Constantly, in your mind, argue against your body when it seeks comfort. Naturally your body will seek comfort. Your task is to push against your body and undergo the physical exertion of the exercise. Do not consider your mind and your body as a unit. Your body will seek comfort but will argue through your mind and remember your exercise goals.
(III) Assign an hour of exercise every day
If nothing is labeled for exercise in your day, chances are you’ll never exercise. To exercise you need to have an hour in your day that you intend to exercise no matter what. Clear exercise time and don’t let anything disturb it. If you had planned to go for a run and it rains, the hour of exercise should not be spent watching a series on TV, it should be spent exercising at home. Don’t let anything come between you and exercise time.
(IV) Forget the rules of fitness, do what you like
As I said before, there is too much information about exercise. It’s easy to get caught up in what many experts believe exercise should be. What I have learned in life is that things are not done by fixed rules. Things get done when we have fun and are excited.
Forget what other people think exercise should be. What exactly are you on? Do you like running, walking or cycling or do you like kick boxing? Whatever you like, let that be your exercise.
Once you get going and move away from a sedentary lifestyle, you can tighten things up a bit and put the formalities into practice. The reason most of us successfully learned to ride a bike when we were young, even if the fall was painful, was because we did what we loved. Do what you love when it comes to exercise to overcome what you perceive as pain when exercising.
(V) Don’t eat for pleasure
To stay motivated to exercise, you need to see results. Muscle gain or weight loss or toned body. If you don’t see results, you’ll probably give up.
To see results you need to eat well. Remember if you want to lose weight or gain muscle, 80% of the results of exercise depend on your diet and 20% depend on your physical effort.
I have prepared you to be motivated enough to work hard. Don’t let the diet undo what you’ve done.
Most people fail when it comes to dieting because they eat for pleasure. When it comes to flavor, most of us would agree that KFC beats a steamed vegetable dish. So when we eat for pleasure, we set ourselves up for failure because most healthy foods don’t taste as good as junk. Unless your wife is a great cook or has a professional chef in the house.
To see results from your exercise, eat to nourish your body. Tolerate the bitter taste of vegetables or whatever your vegetarian diet. Diet plans fail when we eat for pleasure because we soon find ourselves unable to resist the taste of birthday cake. Commit to eating differently, for nutrition rather than taste. from time to time you can thank yourself with a small piece of your favorite tasty food.
Remember to stay inspired, remove all obstacles that stand in your way to success, and don’t you dare give up on yourself and your dreams.
