Lydia Englebert, Negosentro | Find Your Fitness Motivation and Lead a Healthy Lifestyle | We all want to live a healthier life. In order to do so, engaging in physical activity on a regular basis is a must. However, it can be really difficult to break the vicious circle of couch potato lifestyle, especially if your work involves a lot of sitting as well. Motivation is something that we all seek but it may as well seem like an impossible concept to wrap your head around. Therefore, if you strongly wish for a positive change and feel like the only thing stopping you is your lack of willpower, the following tips can help you find that inner strength and turn working out into a healthy habit.
Write down your goals and wishes
It may sound too far-fetched, but this trick is very helpful. Coming up with sentences that thoroughly explain your fitness goals and wishes regarding your looks and health can make a significant difference in how you actually perceive your situation. What’s more, it would be very helpful to have this piece of paper hanged somewhere where you’ll be able to see it constantly. You can use a corkboard or some other type of bulletin board for this purpose. That way, you will always be reminded of what your true aspirations and wishes are.
Start planning
The biggest issue many people are facing is the inability to effectively organize their time. If working out regularly is going to be life-changing for you, you can’t expect it to become a part of your daily flow that easily. Because of this, it’s very important that you plan out your workout schedule around your other responsibilities. For starters, you can try creating a weekly plan and see how that schedule works out for you.
Use music as inspiration
Regardless of whether you decide to go to the gym or exercise at home, you can always benefit from playing music to motivate yourself even more. Don’t underestimate the power of music. Of course, if you decide to go to the gym, it would be smart to get yourself a pair of sports earphones. Don’t choose a random playlist that you simply love. You can love many different genres of music and not every song will have the motivational effect you need. Take the time to actually put together a playlist that makes your body want to move.
Workouts don’t have to be the same
Even if you manage to organize your time perfectly, the lack of motivation can still be a serious issue. This is precisely because each day is different. Your workload and mood can’t possibly remain the same every day of the week. Therefore, it’s very important that you allow yourself to adjust the exercises to your mood. In the end, it’s much better to get some exercises done than to simply give up on doing anything whatsoever because you don’t feel like it. After all, you may not have the energy or will to go to the gym on a certain day, but you can still do some effective exercises at home. The focus is on consistency, not the challenging aspect of the workout.
Dress for success
There have been many studies and discussions on the topic of importance of clothes when it comes to your own perception of self. In general, it is said that when you dress for a certain occasion accordingly, you will feel that more confident and motivated. This is not a fad, and while you don’t have to dress as a professional athlete in order to motivate yourself to work out, getting some proper gym clothes can definitely get you into the mood for exercising. After all, you’ll feel much better and more confident in breathable leggings and fitness tops than you would in old, worn out, baggy shirts and camo sweatpants.
Use milestones to reach your final goal
If you’re making an effort to start working out in order to reach your goal weight/looks, but you haven’t been very physically active before, it’s essential that you don’t perceive the final goal as the only one worthy of your effort. After all, you cannot expect to tone your body to perfection or lose a certain amount of weight quickly. Still, precisely because of this, it can be really easy to lose the motivation as well. Therefore, create specific milestones on your journey that will act like smaller goals. Basically, don’t go into workouts thinking “I have to drop 5 sizes”. Instead, think realistically and make your first goal to lose just 1 dress size. That way, you’ll have something to work for, look forward to and succeed in continuously.
In order to find the necessary motivation to work out on a regular basis, it’s paramount that you don’t obsess over your looks constantly. It’s not your looks or physical activity that define you. This is something that you have to do for yourself just like you enjoy your favorite TV show. If there’s too much pressure involved, you’re more likely to lose the motivation faster. On the other hand, if you take a casual approach to this particular change in your lifestyle, the chances are you’ll make a significant progress as well.
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