How do I get motivated?

Question

I know I should eat right. I know I should exercise a little every day. I know what's right and wrong when it comes to losing weight. (at least I think i do)

My will power is next to nil. I need suggestions on how to motivate myself. (yes I know I'm lazy so no negative answers plz "get off your lazy butt" etc.

I really need help here.
Thanks in advance.

just want to say thanks to all for the serious answers. There can only be one best answer, but there are several I will apply to my life.

I love the motivation to dedication motto
and I believe I will look into the depression thing.

Thank you all very much for your help!!

Answer 1

You probably have the skills to be in better health, you just don't have the right instrument right now.

Try writing a contract every week to do 1-2 activities (eat right, exercise), and give yourself a reward if you meet the contract and a punishment if you fail. Focus only on activities -- not results. You can't guarantee to lose 2 pounds per week, but you can guarantee you'll go for a 10 minute walk 3 days this week.

And if you meet your contract, do something you enjoy. Watch a movie, go for a drive, buy a book/CD/DVD, etc. If you don't do what you tell yourself you'll do, tear up $20.00 or something.

If you need a stronger contract, get more people involved. Tell them that you're going to walk 3 days this week and have them ask you every week if you met your contract. If you didn't, you have to give them $20.00 each. If you did meet the contract, you'll have a group of people you'll feel good telling that you are improving.

And then next week, just take a small step -- walk for 11 minutes on 1 day and 10 minutes on two days. But increase your activity each week and keep rewarding yourself for doing what you said you'd do. You'll create change and start feeling that the activities themselves feel good.

Remember, if you consider doing this -- the contract HAS to be in writing. And if you aren't changing or sticking to the contract, then you need a stronger punishment for failing. It's easier just to go for a walk than let all your friends know that you owe them $200 each every week that you fail. And if you keep on the activities, and increase gradually, the results will just follow and they'll be more than you ever thought possible.

Writing helps, as well. Write a few days a week about what you did and how you feel about it. ("I walked for 10 minutes and I feel great that I did what I committed to do." "I ate a gallon of ice cream and sat on the couch all day and I feel awful about that.")

You just need a better feedback system and rewards/punishments for activities will help you get off of the results and onto the activities. You'll find that you get addicted to feeling good about yourself after a few weeks of being on a system.

And always start out small and take small increases. It's a lot of people's tendency to start out too big, take steps that are too big, and then binge when they fail. "I ate well for 3 days in a row but then I had a piece of cake today.... so I might as well just eat the entire cake."

Good luck, hope that helps.

ForeclosureFish
http://www.foreclosurefish.com/

Answer 2

We all, if we're honest with ourselves know what we should do. Still, we can't seem to get the motivation to take action. The problem lies in the fact that as humans we love the status quo no matter how difficult or disgusting the result may be. It's simply a matter of preferring the known to the unknown.

The way out of this quagmire is to do something small. I needed to exercise but instead of starting with this big involved exercise regimen, I started with riding my stationary bike for 5 minutes. Over time, I naturally increased it to 10 minutes then longer until I'm now doing 10 miles a day 5 days a week.
Do I like it? NO but it's part of my routine now so it gets done.

FWIW, I don't think you're lazy. You may think that whatever you need to do is pointless to your overall happiness. Add that to our desire for things to remain constant and soon inertia can develop and we think it's a lack of motivation.

One thing you really should consider however is learning about depression. Many people suffer from depression and mistakenly think it's laziness or a lack of willpower.motivation. Here's a link to an on line depression test that may give you some insight on the illness.

Answer 3

Set a schedule for yourself. Do you work out better in the morning or at night? Can you work out during your lunchbreak? Then, try to stick with it. If exercise makes you feel good (which is really the best reason to do it) and you only have a certain time to work out, it will be that much easier.

After a while, things won't be so hard. If you're working out for yourself (which you should be) you will feel stronger and better. As for healthy food, throw out or give away everything unhealthy in your house. If it's not there, you won't eat it. And, if it's any consolation, this is the hardest part of your healthy lifestyle. Give it a few weeks and you'll wonder why you ever lazed around.

As for more motivation, think of how good you'll feel when your body is working like it should and you feel light as a feather (it's a wierd feeling, but you get spry if you exercise a lot). GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

It always helped me to have a friend or friends you can talk, exercise, and set goals with (you are much more likely to go to the gym instead of saying forget it if you are meeting someone there). Along with the feeling of support I feel just talking about new ideas and improvements is very motivating. It will be very difficult for the first 2 or 3 weeks. Once you start seeing results through eating right and exercising becomes addictive. It is actually helps me immensely to relieve stress daily. Make sure you have an ipod or some tunes too!

Answer 5

Hm... with food he's motivated sometimes, especially with raw meat. However he's picky with food; he doesn't really like dog biscuits but if I have some raw meat, or even cooked meat, he'll get motivated (ESPECIALLY with the raw meat). He's also toy motivated, with his rope toys, however, if I let him off leash of course he'd choose to chase birds/cats rather than play with his rope toy. And praise... hm... well, I've basically taught him a lot of things using just praise. His tail starts to wag whenever I call him a "GOOD BOY" in a happy voice, LOL. But from all of those, I think food and toys are his best motivations but even then, nothng is 100% (such as recall with those).

Answer 6

Start by taking a multi-vitamin supplement every day, this will help your body get what it really needs. You should see a difference in how more active you can be. And the rest is all about: instead of waking up at 7 am. wake up at 6:45,go jogging. With a little bit of heart, you can do pretty much anything. Just convince yourself, when you want to do something just do it, don't say you will do it tomorow. Buy the stepmaster, it's a step counter, you put it on your hip and it counts your steps, you try to increse it every week. it works for me!

Answer 7

It is very hard to get motivated. I just one day decided to change my habits. It takes a lot of will power. One thing that helped me was fast music. My Ipod is a life-saver, it gets me pumped. Also have you thought about joining a gym. Making friends to workout with is one way to get you there. It gives me something to want to go, and it makes it a lot more fun. Maybe you could get some friends together to start dieting and working out together, it's easier when you do it with someone else. I know these aren't the best tips but they helped me! Good Luck!

Answer 8

You have to pull the motivation from inside you. No one
else can do it for you. Then, if you are trying to lose weight,
watch the carbs and sodium intake when you eat. I walk
one day and do aerobic exercises the next. And you don't
have to go overboard on exercising. I have days when
I do half an hour and other days when I work out longer.
It depends on how you are feeling. The thing is to
keep doing it. I have my off days when I don't feel like
exercising but I know no one else is going to lose the
weight for me. :) Good Luck!! And if you want to write to
me you can.

Answer 9

Hello there
For almost two years I weighed over 200lbs…..the heaviest 212…. I hated myself…. I was always depressed…. It spilled off into many different parts of my life…. Now I weigh 195lbs and I am happy about it… I joined weight watchers for a little while.. I have to tell you it really helps because it’s like having a support group that really wants to see you do well… and you want them to do well also….  I didn’t stay with them.. but the helped me to know that loosing weight and being healthy isn’t just a snap decision it is something that you really want to do. The fact that you are asking questions and getting info means you want to better yourself deep down inside… You CAN DO IT!!! 

Answer 10

I recently began to try and get in shape, so I know how you're feeling. What I did is took a picture of myself (A non-flattering one) and kept it on the refridgerator door. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't. I also keep healthy snacks nearby (Healthy, but flavorful. Things like grapefruit, cheerios, low-fat yogurt, etc) So when I get those cravings at least i'm snacking on something relatively healthy. Also, think of the good things that will come of being fit (Your friends noticing, better self-esteem, etc) And write them down and keep them posted on the fridge or pantry.
Now, personally, i HATE to excercise. So, I tried to find ways to make it fun. (Go in a room by yourself, Put a good dance CD in, and get down...:-)) Dancing makes for a great and fun full body workout, don't be afraid if you can't dance, you're by yourself, who cares? Also, I wrote myself a note to read when I get cravings or want to go off my diet. the note contained things like, "You can do this, just keep at it." And other things of that sort. (I know, it's a little corny, but it works)
Anyways, Good luck, hope you find the motivation you need:-)