Let’s get you some WORKOUT MOTIVATION!
Recently, I got into home workouts. For some context, I used to hate exercising a lot. I always groan when we had to do it during PE in school. To be honest, I would much rather run five rounds around the track! I just never had the motivation to workout at all! But as much as I try, I just cannot do a pushup! Or hold a plank!
There are two ways of facing something you are not good at:
- you decide to put in effort to improve yourself 🙂
- you avoid doing it as much as you can and start to hate it even more because you are so bad it 🙁
The latter was exactly what happened to me. My school had a fitness test and I got so upset when I failed one of the stations. So, I decided to try home workouts every day. But I gave up in less than a week. Does this sound very much like you?
Spoiler alert: I now workout every day and I look forward to it each day. How did I get this workout motivation? A little mind trick *wink*
Some day during the coronavirus season, in lockdown, I ended up allocating some time every evening to exercise. With my sister and I motivating each other, we started looking forward to exercise every day. It was pretty much the only productive thing we do each day!
With so much time on my hands, I was usually binge-watching shows on Netflix. By the way, there are so many other things to do other than Netflix. So, don’t be like me and learn how to be productive!
Anyways, when we heard lockdown was about to be extended, I suggested to my sister that we should start Chloe Ting’s 28 days abs program.
Basic. I know! But I felt it was better to follow some sort of schedule. [This can be strong workout motivation for some. But if you have tried following a program and gave up halfway, then don’t worry. Just read on!]
Soon, I started getting really interested in fitness – both exercise and healthy eating. Past “me” would have never expected me to be like this! For instance, I started making yogurt bowls, smoothie bowls, oatmeal and started snacking on fruits!
One day, I was browsing YouTube when I came across a fitness YouTuber who talked about how we must not focus on the results and exercise to feel good. I thought that was a really healthy and positive mindset to adopt. But it was difficult.
Every day, my YouTube feed gets flooded with before/after transformations of those who tried the Chloe Ting programs. I just can’t help but wonder why I could see no difference at all even though I was halfway through the program.
What am I doing wrong? Is this all worth it? And just like that, I started to lose my workout motivation 🙁
I started to wonder why things changed and I decided to write how I feel in my journal. Why did I decide to work out? What do I want to achieve? How does exercising make me feel?
I realized I started to work out every day because it felt good:
- It felt good I was doing something productive every day.
- I felt happier after every workout (its true! Exercising releases brain chemicals that is associated to feeling happy, confident and less stress).
- I tend to eat healthier too! Working out made me focus on being healthy overall!
- I was able to do the workouts better such as stopping less frequently and holding the exercise position much longer.
Soon, I realized I started to dread exercising only when I started to find improvements in my body. I flexed my arms and the muscles were still soft. Lifting my shirt up, I still saw my un-flattened belly. I started to think if it’s worth to continue working out.
But after that journal reflection, it finally hit me. The reason why I went from excited to unmotivated was because of my change in mindset.
I initially started doing workouts because I was bored and didn’t expect to gain much from it. I just had fun and wanted to challenge my body each day. But when I started to focus on finding physical differences in my body… working out started to feel like a painful chore.
My number one tip is changing your mindset. It is natural for humans to feel demotivated and not want to continue doing something when they don’t find the results. So, my advice is to cheat your brain 😉
If you continue working out every day just for your personal satisfaction of feeling better and being able to do the exercise better, you will be much more motivated to continue your daily exercise routine.
Now, I am not saying that looking for aesthetic results is wrong. The truth is, many of us workout to get those glorious abs or those thin thighs or that round butt or those toned arms.
But all good things take time. And we must not give up. For that, we have to focus on feeling good, enjoying the process, competing with your fitness best to become better and better.
This way of thinking will help you so much to not give up in your fitness journey. And trust me, the physical results will eventually come.
It just takes time and this mindset will allow you to stay steady throughout. You need to focus on thinking this specific way until you get the attractive results which in turn will start motivating you! But until then, you will have to stop looking for results.
So, stop measuring your waist after every workout. Stop checking your weight every day. If you keep up with the exercising and healthy diets consistently, you will see the differences in your body. And that, my dear, will motivate you to continue even further!
If you have come this far, get a pen and journal about it. It is really helpful to pen down your thoughts about new things you learnt. All the best for your fitness endeavor! I am rooting for you 🙂