how do you stay motivated?

Hi guys,

I am looking for sugestions on how to stay motivated.  I will have a few days where I'm all about the workout and food, but then there are days that I really don't care.  How do you do it on a daily basis?  Do you have a workout buddy, post notes to your self all over the place, or is it just natural for some people.  I need help.  I really want to lose the weight. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I think the bottom line is, you have to find an exercise program you enjoy.  You can't make yourself do it if you hate it.  Also, you don't have to do it everyday.  If you can only do three or four days a week, that is plenty.  Also, you have to find an eating program you can live with.  If you are depriving yourself too much, you won't stick with it.  If exercising every other day, and eating a little more each day results in a little slower weight loss, it may still be more effective, because you can live with it and stay with it for the long haul.

Hope that helps.

Here are a couple of things that are working for me at the moment.

I'm following the program in New Rules of Lifting for Women.  It involves lifting weights three times a week.  The workouts are short, challenging and fun, and can be done at home.  The program allows more calories than is recommended on Caloire Counter, so I am more satisfied.

I just got a pedometer.  I wear it all day long.  I try to take 10,000 or more steps everyday.  This means I have to park further away to the entrances when I drive somewhere, take walks with the dog, go up and down stairs as much as possible at home, etc.  At the end of the day I like to see how much distance I covered, how many steps I took, and how many calories I burned.  I try to do better the next day.  Somehow, wearing the pedometer motivates me to keep moving. I don't beat myself up if I don't make 10,000 steps.

I also don't beat myself up if I have a bad day.  I try to just do better tomorrow. 

My biggest weakness right now is red wine.  I don't want to give it up.  I leave room in my eating plan for one glass three or four nights a week.  I also have a small piece of dark chocolate every night - it is anywhere from 40 to 60 calories. I don't have any junk in the house.  I wouldn't be able to resist it.

Good luck.  You can do it.  Don't get discouraged.  Make sure you are not trying to eat within a calorie limit that is too low for you.

On the days when you just really can't make yourself leave the house to do something, whether it's going to the gym or going out for a walk, have some things on standby that you can do in your home. If you do sit ups, push ups, jumping jacks, jumping rope (my current favorite!), something like that, or even a little of all of those, you can benefit without taking up a lot of time. If you can convince yourself to do just 10 minutes of jumping jacks or jumping rope, you will burn bunches of calories and be done with it. You will feel 10 minutes of jumping jacks in your calves the next day! Or if you're all alone (or impossible to embarrass LOL) turn up your favorite music and dance around like a maniac. Or even learn a new dance. One time I learned The Soulja Boy dance from a video on youtube, and I videotaped myself doing it and sent it to my best friend's 12 year old daughter.

I'm wondering if anyone knows of any bum exercises? I have tried all kinds of exercises that are supposed to tighten and tone, but it doesn't seem to do much.

I was overly blessed with a large booty, and so although I know that I can't get rid of it completely, but I would like to get it toned up, perhaps not so far out, and so that when I sit down, instead of the flab moving to the sides, to be able to have it stay put (sorry for the visual).

Does anyone have any ideas about this?

BTW, we dropped our gym membership down from a family to an individual because I haven't been able to get there. However, I have been looking for a treadmill through craigslist and free classified sites like that, and can get a really good used one for about $100. Since that's about all of what I would use at the gym, it seems to make sense to save $60/mo for my not going, and take less than 2 months of that cost and put it toward something that I can have at home and use whenever I feel like it.

I've noticed that I tend to really want to walk around 10 at night, and that's the time our gym closes. Having one at home will make it so much easier in that anytime I get upset or stressed out, I can just run up to my room (which I think is where I'm going to put it), and spend 15-30 minutes walking it off, and if I'm bored during the day, instead of playing around on the computer, walk off the boredom. When I was walking on a treadmill multiple times a day, daily, I lost about 30 lbs.; then I stopped figuring that it would keep coming off, lol. I want it all to come off and stay off. I know that I have the incentive and drive to do this daily and I'm more than willing to put myself to the test.

Does anyone else have a treadmill at home that they use for more than the general consensus of a clothing rack?

Also, someone mentioned about the tabata squats. What are the reps/sets that you do, and how often weekly?

Thanks!

Jennifer

This is going to sound crazy but my ex husband had the most perfect tight round booty.. And every night when he laid down to sleep, he would lie on his stomach and contract his butt muscles quickly over and over (so that it vibrated the whole bed) until he went to sleep. It was obnoxious as hell and he didn't do it to exercise, it was just how he went to sleep, but he did have a great butt, and I think that might have had something to do with it.

doesn't sound crazy...I've tried the same thing and it annoys my husband to all earth.

I have an elliptical that's not a clothing rack =) it did turn into one for a little while but then I just made myself get up and start using it and it got easier from there. 

I do tabata daily now m-f. When I started back in I did it only tues and thurs and would do a full squat set only once a week, switched to 3x a week and started to alternate with squats M/F one week and then Weds only the next week.  Now that I'm doing it 5x a week I do the loops below m/w/f and follow my alternate plan on t/th.   This turned into a book so I'll go ahead and put a tabata thread up with the plan I follow.

Hello!  I know you posted your question about a treadmill some time ago ... but I am a new member and I thought I would respond anyway.  I have a treadmill at home.  I used to have it in my bedroom and I NEVER used it in there.  I have moved it into my dining room (I know that is a decorating taboo but I don't care) and I use it Monday through Friday.  I have little time to watch TV ... but when I have the hankering to watch a show, I just jump on the treadmill, turn up the TV and get my exercise while watching, instead of just sitting around on the couch to get my TV fix.  I also noticed that it takes my mind off of the exercise and the time goes by much faster ... and I can keep going longer than I did when I was alone in my bedroom with my treadmill.  Also, having it in my dining room prevents me from using it as a clothes rack!  Just my two cents ... hope it helps you when you find one of your own!   Good Luck!

All I think about is how good I'm going to look after

Exercise has kind of been my way of dealing with a bad break up, so it's a pretty intrinsic motivation. I figure by the time I no longer need to run to avoid the bad feeling I'll be addicted to the adrenaline rush, and that's kind of the case already. I'm preempting feeling bad by going running to get the endorphin kick.

When I'm on the treadmill, if I'm getting bored or thinking too much then I'm not running fast enough.

The appetite hasn't really been the same because of it. So I find that I'm eating almost 100% for the sake of nutrition than really for the enjoyment of it. Which makes it insanely easy to keep the calories just right and the nutrition above average.

-J