How to motivate yourself to exercise and keep healthy

27 January 2016



Exercise. Fitness. Working-out. Gym. Routines.


These are all things I'm terrible at doing and sticking to. I'm hoping to change that this year by making exercise a fun and enjoyable activity instead of seeing it as something that will help me lose weight.

I went to a few zumba classes when it was the new and cool thing to do, tried out yoga in the summer, failed at too many 30 day challenges, played a spot of tennis here and there, and glued myself to the cross-trainer when I felt like it. But there have been weeks and months go by at times when I've not done any working-out (apart from walking). And this is because I've never been fully committed to being fit and healthy; I've always seen exercise as a chore and that extra thing that I have to do to lose weight.



So this year I'm determined to have a more active and positive lifestyle, and here is how I'm hoping to do it:

  • Be more active in everything I do. I'm going to stop thinking of exercise as that 20 minutes on the treadmill or that run I'm going on later, but instead as something that can be achieved all day. This includes the obvious such as taking stairs instead of lifts, but things like  having a little dance whist doing the dishes or grabbing your charger from upstairs yourself instead of asking a younger sibling (I am very guilty of this) can really make a difference.
  • Do a fitness activity outside the home. Whether it's in the park, the gym, a step and tone class or swimming. There are plenty of brilliant work-outs you can do at home or in your garden, but you're in your comfort zone and it's very easy to do 10 minutes and then get distracted by a family member or that cooking show on TV. And if you're going out to work-out, then you can take a friend or that annoying family member who would distract you at home!

  • This leads me very nicely onto my next point, which is to have a work-out buddy. It can be your best friend, mum, sister or flatmate; just anyone who will keep you motivated! I like to work out with my sisters because they are fitter than me so they keep me in check and make sure I do all the burpees. When I'm working out with them it doesn't feel like I'm doing exercise because we're all having so much fun moving around to our favourite tunes!
  • Invest in fashionable and long-wearing sports clothing. One of the biggest things motivating me to exercise is the cool leggings I recently bought from Tkmaxx, I honestly went wild in their sportswear section! Don't compromise on your gym gear, and wear things that will help you feel comfortable and super confident. 

 Hopefully by the end of this year fitness is something I am able to incorporate into my lifestyle so it's not that task looming over my head all day. I hope you can benefit from these ideas, I would love to know how you stay motivated and determined to exercise!


Comments

  1. I wish I'd found this post at the beginning of the year haha I have lost all motivation for exercise. I loved your first point - it makes sense to incorporate exercise throughout the day, rather than dreading the hour in the morning/evening etc. I recently bought a hoola hoop after coming across some videos on YouTube. Unfortunately, I tried to run before I could walk and bought a weighted hoop :-( I had bruises all over me and was in so much pain after the first day (and haven't used it since LOL!). I think I'm going to get a normal one and try again. It's supposed to be great exercise and fun! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your lovely comments! Oh no, my weighted hula hoop is lying around unused too, it's so hard to use regularly because of the sore waist it gives you! Haha, I had some motivation in the beginning of the year and slowly lost it until about a month ago, so it's never too late. It's actually quite funny reading back on this post, because we're half way through the year and I've not yet managed to do a fitness activity in the outdoors!

      Delete