How to motivate yourself, when you're not feeling it.

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How to motivate yourself to workout, when you are not feeling motivated.

I get asked all the time from readers, and friends – “how do I stay so motivated to workout.” Most people assume that I was born with this supergene to be motivated.

I assure you that IS NOT the case!

I am regular Mom, just like so many of you! My days are filled with laundry, messes, carpools, cooking and cleaning and all kinds of other non-glamours stuff, that is best not to go into. 😉 You Moms know!

I don’t have a fancy home gym, or personal trainer (oh wait that’s me – lol), no personal chef prepping healthy food here.

I get tired.

I feel lazy.

I feel unmotivated.

So how do I deal?

That is the question, right?!

It boils down to a couple of key tips that have kept me going over the years! These tips help me to stay motivated and keep at it.

SET A SCHEDULE: Make a commitment to yourself to make your health a priority. For me, that means I have a time scheduled Monday- Saturday to workout. This time is set in stone; I try my best not to schedule anything that would mess with this schedule. Since my set time to workout is 5:30 am it is pretty easy to not have any conflicts. But set a time that works for you and stick with it! The first couple weeks I started working out sooooo early – were absolutely the worst! I was tired! But I kept with it, and now I usually will wake up on my own. Your body will adjust and trust me come 9:30-10pm I am READY for bed, and I fall asleep easily.
PREPARE AHEAD: The night before pick out your workout clothes, and have your gym bag all set to go. That way, you wake up and get dressed, and once dressed, it is pretty hard to talk yourself out of it.
CAFFEINE: When you wake up at the crack of dawn – this is a much-needed item. It will help your body and mind wake up quicker so that you can perform and push myself fully when you get to the gym. There are several excellent brands out that provide great products. ( I should dedicate a whole post to my favorites!) When you just took a huge shot of caffeine, its go time and no backing down at the point.
COMMIT TO 5 MINUTES: So now that you have drunk your pre work out and gotten to the gym or brought out the weights and are all set up to workout at home, you still might not be “feeling” it…. It happens to me all the time. I just can’t seem to get motivated, I want to lounge around at the gym, and I just can’t seem to get excited to get moving. (We’re friends, so I can freely admit this, right?!?) When you’re feeling this way – scroll through your phone and find a song that you just can’t help but want to sing along with and move to. Then set your alarm for 5 minutes, so with music thumping and your timer going – give it your all for 5 minutes. Everyone can commit to 5 minutes, right? Facebook quizzes take more time. And then if you’re are still not feeling it after 5 minutes, then you can allow yourself to quit. But in the 5 years, that I have lived by this rule – only twice have I quit. (I was legitimately sick – both times) But what USUALLY happens, is that after 5 minutes your heart beat is going, and you’re smiling because “your jam” is on – and you know you can do it! It is kind of a magical tool to use to help you get and trick your motivation to kick in. 😉
FORGIVE YOURSELF: It is going to happen, you will miss workouts. It’s life! Things come up! But here is the most important takeaway. Do not let a missed workout, turn into a week, then a month, and then a year. That is what happened to me in the first place. I became complacent. I decided I was too busy to workout, and that chasing my kids and keeping a house was enough of a workout. My body didn’t change until I committed and stayed committed. Yes, you will miss. You are only human! But I don’t get mad at yourself, don’t berate or belittle yourself. I just say, OK that happened. Tomorrow is a new day and I can DO this!
LOVE YOURSELF! Don’t work out to look hot, don’t workout for someone else’s approval. Choose to be fit and healthy for YOU! YOU are worth it! AND I know once you make health and fitness a part of your life. So many amazing and wonderful none “weight loss” related things will happen for you! But it starts with truly loving yourself and making yourself a priority! Because you ARE amazing and awesome – and don’t you forget it! 😉