How I Keep Motivated in my Fitness Journey

I’m often told, I wish I had your motivation to workout consistently. The truth is, I don’t always feel motivated, but I’ve learned some tricks along the way to keep me consistent.  Here are some of the tricks I use to keep motivated in my fitness journey.

How I Keep Motivated in my Fitness Journey

Learn to pivot.  When you are burning out or your workouts are becoming stale and unmotivating, pivot and find something else. Fitness is about moving your body, not about forcing yourself to be in a gym or repeating the same workouts. Instead do something fun! A few fun things I enjoy are playing pickleball, turning on my favorite music and dancing for 20 minutes, taking a long nature walk or hike, or signing up for a group pilates class.

Be flexible. We all have days where we just don’t have it in us. That’s okay! It’s important to listen to our bodies and give ourselves a day off when we need it. Sometimes when I don’t have it in me to do a full workout, I’ll spend 45 minutes stretching and foam rolling instead. The stretching feels relaxing and meditative. Perfect for a stressful day and I still did something beneficial for my mind and body.

Give Yourself a Fitness Challenge. These are my favorites! I’m goal and task oriented, so fitness challenges keep me focused and motivated. If you’ve been following along for a while, you might remember when I gave myself an ab challenge last year (and the year before). My goal was to complete an ab circuit  5 x per week for an entire month. Another favorite challenge of mine was setting a goal to ride 70 miles on my spin bike each week ((10 miles per day). For me, the benefit of a fitness challenge is that it removes the frustration of saying, what am I going to do today? Sometimes having a game plan is half the battle of working out. 

 

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20 Minute High Intensity Workout. Lately this has been a winner for me! I’ve been having busy days, so committing to a 20 minute intense workout on my spin bike is more realistic than a full hour workout. Plus my high intensity workouts get my blood pumping far more quickly and efficiently than a longer slower paced workout. 

Don’t Set Fitness Goals Tied to Weight Loss. I feel like weight specific goals set us up for failure because if we don’t reach that weight loss goal by a specific time the response is to want to give up altogether. Not to mention, you can workout everyday and not lose weight. When you’re over 40 like me, weight loss is complicated. There are so many other factors like hormones, thyroid conditions, and diet that impact our weight. So rather than setting fitness goals based on weight, I like to create fitness goals that are based on action. My fitness challenges are a good example. For me, the mental, physical, and emotional health benefits of working out go beyond wanting to be an ideal weight. When it comes to working out, the real goal is consistency and creating a healthy relationship with fitness.

Think of Fitness as a Lifestyle Not a Resolution. The problem I have with New Year’s resolutions for working out is, they tend to not last. I like to  incorporate fitness into my lifestyle the same way I do other healthy habits like juicing and taking my supplements. It’s something I do consistently all year long. Sure, there will be times when I fall off course or need to take time off, but since I treat fitness as a part of my daily rituals, it’s easy to start again when I’m ready. It’s like a habit – it feels more awkward when I don’t do it. I experienced this last August when I was in the process of moving. I took nearly a month off but once I was settled into my new place and got back to my routines, working out was a natural habit that I looked forward to resuming.

Accountability Partners. Accountability partners can come in different forms. It can be a workout buddy, a coach, or even signing up for a class. As you know, I have worked out with a personal trainer twice a week for the last few years. Since this is a scheduled and paid workout, it’s my way of guaranteeing that I will workout a minimum of two days per week. But it doesn’t have to be paid – your accountability partner can be a spouse, friend or relative. Sometimes we are far more willing to let ourselves down before we let down others – so take advantage of that and commit to a workout partner. 

Eating Healthy Foods: When I’m feeding my body nourishing healthy foods, it gives me the energy to sustain my workouts. Eating healthy also motivates me to want to keep the positive momentum going in other areas of my life including working out. 

 

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Get Plenty of Sleep: Getting enough sleep is essential for working out. Not only does it give us the stamina and energy to workout, but it also helps us achieve better results from our workouts. Sleep helps our  muscles recover and build lean muscle. If you’re not seeing the results you want from your workouts you might need to ask yourself if you’re getting enough sleep. 

Aside from staying motivated, I’d like to give you a tip for getting started: Don’t procrastinate. It’s easy to say, I’ll start my workout next week or next month or in the new year. But when that date comes around we don’t do it. Start TODAY! Chances are if you don’t have the motivation to incorporate fitness into your lifestyle now, then you likely won’t be able to do it later. It takes mental discipline to create new habits, so I encourage you to just start. Don’t over complicate it. Start simple if you have to. Just start. Love you babes! :))