Tips on how to motivate yourself to get fit are awesome, because they push you to make the first step towards a healthier lifestyle. However, motivation with time wears off. It is inevitable to lose your initial motivation to get fit. So what can you do to stay fit even when you’ve lost your motivation?
What can you do to get fit if you lose your motivation?
The health magazine guides suggest many creative ways to find something that will motivate you to get fit:
- Put workout gear in a visible place
- Buy expensive new workout wear
- Log workouts online
- Get a workout buddy
- Share motivational quotes on social media
- Follow people who inspire you
I think all this is just BrunoPoo.
If your motivation to get fit is to justify buying expensive workout wear, then I bet you’ll be skipping workouts at the end of your second week.
A workout buddy will bail on you with time, because it is impossible to synchronize your schedule with a friend in a long run.
Reading inspiring quotes and looking at pictures of fit girls won’t make you magically appear at the gym.
How to find motivation to get fit and stay fit
Whatever your initial motivation was to get fit, chances are that motivating factor is gone by now. Are you searching for long term motivation? There are only 2 things that can motivate you to make a big change and stick to it in the long run.
What are the 2 most powerful motivators to get fit and stay fit in the long run?
#1. Motivation to get fit: Fear
Fear is the most powerful motivator. Use it.
If you are afraid of having a heart attack, it’s great. That is your motivation to start living a more healthy lifestyle.
If you watched your grandmother struggle from Osteoarthritis as a result of obesity, and you fear that it runs in the family, then it’s time to use that fear as motivation.
My mother suffers from severe migraines as a result of stress, unhealthy lifestyle and lack of exercise. I couldn’t change her mind about the importance of workout, no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t wanted to end up like her, so I started doing yoga for stress relief. Started eating healthy, drinking plenty of water, getting plenty of sleep. The occurrence of my migraines dropped significantly.
One day I was walking past a school where young parents were waiting for their children. They are all younger than me, and already had children in school. I realized that I am over 30 and I still don’t have kids. If I decide to start a family of my own, I’ll be the oldest mom there waiting outside a primary elementary school to collect my child. I’ll have wrinkles, back pain and myriad health problems due to my obesity. It was then that I’ve decided that I don’t want to be that mom. I will lose the excess weight. Changed my bad habits into healthy ones. Started using sunscreen religiously.
Find what you fear the most and use it to motivate yourself towards big achievements.
#2. Motivation to stay fit: Habit
I started losing weight when I was obese because I wanted to live by leading a healthy lifestyle.
I started to work out because I was overweight and I wanted to look good for my wedding (mission accomplished).
Then being able to carry all my groceries in one trip felt awesome.
Then I discovered that it’s called bodybuilding because you CAN sculpt yourself a body you want. Now I am experimenting with building myself a better booty. It never stops. Once I jumped on the fitness bandwagon and saw result, I was hooked. Working out became a habit.
When you start doing a morning sun salutation yoga stretching right after you get out of bed tricking your brain still in sleep mode unable to come up with reason why you shouldn’t do it, it becomes a habit. You just get out of bed and head to your yoga mat and start stretching. By the time your brain wakes up, your done. And you feel like you’ve already achieved something today. Habit is what keeps you going in the long run.
So your best bet to stick with your workout when your motivation is gone? Use your deepest fear as a motivator to get fit. Make workout a habit. That’s it.
One more thing: by making your workout constant, it helps you keep things in your life together. Your job is a mess, your relationship is falling apart, family is a disaster. The moment you hit the gym, all that vanishes, it’s only you and your workout.
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