How do I make fitness more of a priority?

Question

I really have a hard time caring about working out. Lazy, lazy. Problem is, I want the benefits from it (energy, health, killer bod), but how do I make myself care more about hitting the gym? Right now, it's a struggle to pull myself in there one or twice a week. Help...inspiration needed!

Answer 1

I'm a personal trainer, yoga instructor. I used to be out of shape and overweight. But now I love fitness. Here's the key....plan on doing something active every day. Find things you enjoy. Set aside an hour. Here's why....half the days of the week something will probably come up to interfere. If you plan to work out every day...you'll at least get in the gym 3-4 days a week. If you plan on 3-4 days a week, you might only make it once. Get my drift? Try going immediately after work or after you wake up in the morning (give yourself some time to wake up a little first though). Make it something you really can't get out of. If you do it right after work...and make no excuses, go straight over to the gym..then you can't get out it. If you find something you like and stick with it...you'll find you LOVE it and can't live without it. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

The best thing to do when considering a lifestyle change is to make managable steps for yourself. For instance, if you never really go to the gym, don't set a goal for yourself where you go to the gym every other day, because you will not adapt to it easily and therefore will find it easy to abandon altogether. Instead, try going to the gym once a week, doing short workouts (something managable), and you will have no excuses to give up on it.

In your case, I would say try going to the gym 2 times a week for 4 weeks. Then, try going to the gym 3 times a week for 4 weeks. We all know the ideal health strategy; eat vegetables, meat, work out every other day for an hour or more, etc. but it is not as easy to follow as it is to understand.

I'm not sure how else to motivate you; I don't think it is healthy to idealize the "typical" female body portrayed in the media and feel the need to meet or exceed such expectations as they are unrealistic to begin with (i.e. airbrushed celebs on magazine covers). Be happy with yourself and do exercizes that you enjoy rather than only exercizes that you think are working out "the right areas" of your body.

Best of luck.

Answer 3

I joined Curves. It's a great workout, doesn't kill you, it's fast (30-minutes) and fun. Three times a week does it. No waiting around for machines, etc. They're very encouraging too. It's the only program I've ever done that I don't dread. Have the money automatically taken out of your account each month - if you're paying for it anyway you might use it more.

Answer 4

Set your alarm for 4:40 a.m. Get your exercise done in between 4:40 a.m. and the time you need to be ready for work.