Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Motivation

What motivates you? I was thinking about this today as I had no motivation to exercise.

I have been pretty religious about it and now that I seem to have broken the plateau I was on for months it's getting harder to get motivated.

I have skinny pictures of me on the fridge that I can see daily. I have fat pictures of me too. But they don't make me move off the couch. Instead I think, oh well I'll just eat less today.

That is actually bad for your body. Your body starts thinking you're starving and then when you eat again it holds on to more calories to compensate for the "starving". So that doesn't work. Eventually I will eat again... I can't starve forever.

So then I logged into Sparkpeople and started reading the community forum on exercising. People share their experience, strength and goals with each other and for some reason it always works for me. I then get motivated to get off the couch and exercise.

I wish I could just turn this into a habit, get up and exercise. But it's not working that way for me. If I don't get enough sleep the night before I use that as an excuse. Oh, I'm just too tired. But I always have more energy after I work out.

It's funny how I forget that real quick.

I had my weigh in today and I am at the same weight I was one week ago. That's good. I didn't gain. I didn't lose, but I didn't gain. My weight fluctuates so much in one week though. It's really hard when you are an obsessive scale watcher like me. I never realized how much your weight can fluctuate in just one day even!!

I did my workout today. Motivated by the people on the forum. Motivated by the fact that I haven't worked out since Saturday. Motivated by the fact that I didn't lose any weight last week. Hopefully the workouts become more of a habit someday. But for now, as long as I get them done at least 3 times a week I am satisfied.

16 comments:

Fin said...

Hi. For reference, I gained so much weight when I quit smoking that I could not climb a flight of stairs or tie shoes without a rest in between.

For me, what worked was using the same tools and techniques which had succesfully got me off booze and cigs. My biggest problem was the plateaus which are part of every dieters experience.

My own belief is that the ONLY way to lose weight is eat less and exercise more. Anything else is selling books. Good luck fin

Fijufic said...

Enter into a race with someone who is exactly as fast and talk all kinds of crap till race day.

Nothing will motivate you to train more than sticking your foot in your mouth.

Love,
Bobby

Anonymous said...

What motivates me? I find a good dose of anger gets me off my arse! I find someone to piss me off regularly. Hey, it works for me!

becomingkate said...

Nothing motivates me to exercise yet! But then I really want to go to the gym behind my office, and I need to have a paycheque first...

becomingkate said...

Nothing motivates me to exercise yet! But then I really want to go to the gym behind my office, and I need to have a paycheque first...

LearningLifelong said...

The best way to motivate myself to do anything is to promise myself a trip somewhere when my goal is complete. Let's take the example of excerising as that is what you are trying to get motivated to do. First I say my end goal. Then I say I will excercise for X amount of hours everyday and then once I have excercised that amount of hours I go look up something interesting on the computer about whatever place I've decided to visit. Or go to the library or read a book about it or even make a list of what I'll bring. It doesn't have to be an elaborate trip even. It might be a couple hours to see someone I haven't in a long time or a weekend camping trip.

I also find it helps if before I sleep each night I think about exactly what I plan to do the next day and tell myself how wonderful that will be. Then when I wake up I feel refreshed and excited to start my routine!

greeneyes67 said...

Wow! You guys have some great suggestions! I'll have to use some of them :)

Lunamor said...

I don't get to the gym as often as I should, but I know the times that I've gone when I really did NOT feel like it (too tired, usually) what motivated me most was the feeling of accomplishment I'd get afterward. I love being able to say, "I did that, in spite of ________ (only having 4 hours of sleep, work stress, etc.)."

greeneyes67 said...

That's true Luna. I always feel much better afterward. Even though my muscles are sore! lol

Anonymous said...

As I see it God gave me a finite number of heartbeats, and I'm not gonna waste any of 'em exercising. ;)

S

greeneyes67 said...

Ha Ha Scott. You are funny..

Xanadu said...

Hey, I like Scott's thinking. lol. I have to set a goal for myself, then steps/ways to reach it. This holds true not just for exercising, but in other aspects of my life as well. Kind of along the lines of what Pandemona said. Hugs.

Labetine said...

I think Scott has it right. :)
Seriously, GE, I used to be motivated a lot. I would watch Richard Simmons and dance with the Oldies, lol. I dieted and exercised when I was younger, now I just sit here. Keep it up and don't give up. Stay healthy. ((hugs))

greeneyes67 said...

I know what you mean Xanadu. Those goals have to be broken down into little ones for me too.

Betty: I love Richard Simmons! Those tapes are hard! I still have them. I'm tryin' to be healthy :)

SunTiger said...

I think Soiled Dove is doing the healthy thing by admitting anger has its place. {Most people I know are afraid of anger . . . don't know how to utilize its fire which can be very purifying - such as when it spurs us toward addressing relationship issues that have too long been ignored.}

When I'm dieting, I set my mind to visualize a grotesquely obese person every time I reach for a food product that's high in calories/off my regimine. (It changes how much I desire that product -- realizing it offers only a very short moment of pleasure in contrast with the lasting effects it cakes onto my already chubby physique.)

I also keep a LOT of low-calorie options around the house: purposefully shop for yummy fruits such as cantaloupe, apples and other healthy alternatives which burn more calories than than they generate.

NOTE: I'm dieting too, luv. I have low-calorie protein shakes on hand as well. Together we'll be successful growing hotter-looking each day that we hydrate w/lemon water (which decreases the appetite dramatically).

ALSO: I recently learned that ice water INHIBITS one's ability to fee "full" so avoid ICE and overly cold foods such as frozen yogur.

Before 10 said...

just so you know... yesterday I drank my eight 8 oz glasses of water :)
i really like sparkpeople.
It helps me that I have some people who are also trying to lose weight and we try to keep each other accountable.