Motivation: Just Do It!

Lately, I’ve spoken mainly about healthy eating habits and the necessity of exercise. I’ve been asked what that has to do with motivation, which is what we need to make good food and exercise work for a fit body. Well, the very best motivation comes when you take a look in the mirror, or try on clothes that have been tight, and find that you’ve lost a few pounds or toned up a little. It’s the old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg?

As I mentioned in the last blog, I’ve joined a health club, and I’ll be passing along some of the things I learn there. But first, I’m including what a friend of mine passed along about how she makes herself stick to an exercise program—and boy, has her program worked. She runs marathons! It is somehow comforting to me that even though she is amazingly fit, she too faces the hassle of 'do I really want to get out of this cozy bed and go use every muscle in my body?' I asked Susan, who lives in Dallas and works (so she too faces the struggle of making time for exercise), how she did it. Her reply was that she has two secret weapons when it comes to motivation.

“Number one is having someone (or several people) I run/work out with,” she said. “We motivate each other, really. When I know I am meeting someone at 5:30 in the morning, I’m there. I hate being the one to call and cancel unless it’s an iron-tight excuse, such as pouring down rain or feeling like I’m on my deathbed. This one works—I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve met up with my friends and we have each said to the other ‘if I wasn’t meeting you here, I wouldn’t be doing this!’ The other thing we tell each other is that we always hope the other one will be the one to call and cancel. That gives me an excuse, although it’s not so perfect, since I could always run on my own. So since we all hate to be the one to cancel, we all show up. It works for me in the gym, too. Now that I meet a friend, I’m there. I don’t talk myself out of it anymore, and now that I’m seeing some results, it’s even easier. Without a friend to hold me accountable and be there to exercise with, I wouldn’t do nearly as much. The one constant refrain we have when running is telling each other how glad we are that we are out there doing it together.

“The other powerful motivator is the fact that I have NEVER ONCE REGRETTED getting up and exercising, be it running, walking, or going to the gym. And I ALWAYS FEEL BETTER for having done it, and that feeling lasts all day. Yet, on the rare times I do allow myself to slide or be talked out if it, I always regret it and always feel guilty and bad the rest of the day. Without fail. So, when I’m really tempted to stay in the warm bed instead of getting out to run in 30 degree temperatures with wind chills in the 20s, I remind myself of these facts that I have proven to myself over and over again. Then I get out of bed."

“I like feeling good, having more energy, and the feeling of accomplishment for getting exercise over with early in the day. It’s a wonderful feeling and a very powerful motivator. If I’m really feeling draggy, I just tell myself I’ll only run a few miles, or work out only 30 minutes. And I can tell you that I almost always end up running farther or working out longer because of how good I feel. But sometimes I don’t; I come home after doing just a little bit and still feel pretty good for at least having done something. Keeps me in the habit of getting up and out early in the morning.”