Motivation to Get Healthy and Live Healthy

 

Take 20 minutes today and get motivated. Whenever I read something about getting healthy or eating right, it motivates me to do just that. Motivation does not come in pill form. When we do get motivated or inspired it’s a gift, especially if it helps us stay healthy and happy. There are self-imposed limits, or our capacity to realize what’s possible instead of what’s impossible. Many people settle and think they can’t change and feel better. Maybe we might need people to push us, challenge us and to drag us through things we don’t want to do until we realize we’ve done it.  Sometimes we just might have enjoyed it and it becomes a habit. Healthy habits produce healthy people. Healthy people are happy people. I’m not going to throw a bunch of facts and studies at you. Because it’s obvious, if you’re healthy and strong, happiness will come to you five-fold. But Staying motivated is not the easiest thing. Here are some things that help me stay motivated. 

• I weigh myself at the same time every morning. This helps me to monitor my eating habits and what effect my eating has on my weight. 
• Having fun. Exercise should be fun. If it isn’t, try a different kind of activity that you enjoy. As long as you’re moving, it’s good for you. I love music so if I’m exercising I either have headphones in or my Bluetooth speaker playing loud. 
• Vanity: Imagine a slimmer, fitter you. Now let that visualization drive you. Start a workout program and don’t be afraid to get naked in front of a mirror to see the results of your hard work. Be patient and know, if you keep at it the results will come.
• Fitness Magazines.  I always feel motivated after reading an interesting article.  Not sure why, but it works. 
• Blogs. I enjoy reading blogs about people who never stop trying to be the best they can be. I relate to  the ups and downs they go through and I try to learn from their experiences.
• Success stories. I find the success stories of others incredibly inspirational. If a fitness website has success stories, I’ll almost always read them.
• Rewards. If you exercise for a few days, give yourself a reward! A week? Another reward. Do it often in the beginning.
• Fitting into new clothes. Wanna look good in a smaller size? Workout!
• Adrenaline rush. I get a rush when I exercise. Ride that rush to complete the workout.
• Stress relief. Wound up after a long day at the office? Get out and work off that stress. It makes a world of difference.

That last one “Stress relief” is worth its weight in gold. The triple-double added bonus, STRESS RELIEF. No doubt about it, exercise helps me keep my sanity. I always try to make exercise a priority or the insanity might take over. Yikes!!

There’s an endless amount of reasons to keep us from taking the time to better ourselves. Genetics/lifestyle/opportunity/excuses, they can do that and I can’t. 

We say “I don’t have time” when life gets busy.

• If we don’t have enough time to work out, it’s easier for us to be okay with wheezing after a flight of stairs.
• If we don’t have enough time to prepare healthy meals, it’s easier to accept our next unhealthy meal through a drive-thru window.

• If we don’t have enough time to clean the house, it’s easier to accept living in filth.

• If we don’t have time to apply for new jobs and make new connections,it’s easier to accept staying in a dead-end job.

Come on people!

Today, let’s give ourself permission to make some changes:

• If you don’t like “exercise,” it doesn’t make you a bad person.
• If you don’t like to run, it doesn’t mean you are a quitter or doomed to stay overweight.
• If you have gone to a boot camp and it kicked your ass and you hated it, it doesn’t mean you’re weak.  
• If you have gone to a gym and you hated lifting weights, then don’t pick up another weight again in your life.

Don’t do the things that make you miserable.

Use that energy to find something that you enjoy and get the body moving.

Find something that gets you moving. The truth of the matter is our bodies are INCREDIBLE pieces of machinery – they reshape themselves and adapt to whatever is thrown at them.

Principle #1 at Take20 is to train in a way that you enjoy!

This will allow you to stay excited and motivated about moving – if you force yourself to do things you hate all the time, you’ll give up the second you reach an obstacle.

When you do find that exercise, make sure keep learning about it to stay motivated.

Principle #2  never use the excuse “I don’t have time to work out.”

This should be #1 since the idea behind Take20today is, all it takes is 20 minutes. That’s all it takes to get in the best shape of your life.

20 MINUTES!

Every meal, every push-up, every step walked, every mile we bike, every second doing ANYTHING is sending tiny signals to our body “change and get better at this thing.” THAT’S how you get started building a body to be proud of, and that’s how you end up building a body that looks like the body you want to have! There’s a secret I discovered about healthy people. They’ve found exercises they love, and they stay motivated by learning and finding that healthy habit that helps them thrive.  Could there be a physical activity or exercise out there for you? Yes, there is, and if you haven’t found it, keep searching.