{Guest Post} Cathy Trails: Motivation!
12:45
Hello lovely ladies of the blogging world!
I am still mostly absent from the blogging world because life is cruel and I'm still mourning over my laptop until it is resurrected with a new battery, as I'm writing this I am using the ultra slow family PC, I will just say it's so slow that I had to double click the Google Chrome icon about 20 times before it would even bring up one window, which is somewhat frustrating!
But anyways, yesterday I had my induction into the college gym, which wasn't as big I was thought it was going to be but it's awesome all the same! In fact I have renamed many of the machines, mostly to 'Child Birth' Machines, just because of the lovely positions you get to sit in, but when the time finally comes for me to one day give birth, I will be super ready...obviously. Anyways (again) the gym was awesome and I can't wait to actually start going once I go back after half term.
So today we have one of my favourite bloggers, who is one of the loviest ladies, who is super motivated and a real inspiration to talk to you about staying determined to get fit!
Cathy!
Cathy!
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For most of my life, I've struggled with maintaining a consistent workout routine. I could never hold a workout routine for more than a month because of one reason or another. Lack of time. Fatigue. It's a hassle. All the excuses, I've said it - - a million times.
But, for the first time in my life, I've been able to keep up with a consistent workout routine (consistent being 4 days of exercise a week) - - and I've never felt better. Do I still have days when I just want to get into my jammies, turn on some Netflix, and not think of working out? Oh yeah. More often than I'd like to admit. What I realized about motivation is that it will have its ups and downs. It's a matter of tackling those motivation downs and picking yourself back up, over and over again. Below are my motivation tips that I want to share with you in hopes of helping you get off your butt and making it a habit. Working out isn't temporary, it's a lifestyle change.
1. Bring your favorite upbeat music. When I'm working out to a good beat, I tend to synchronize my exercises to the music and mentally tell myself "keep running until this song is over". Some of my favorites are Kanye West and Daft Punk.
2. I'm not a cardio type of gal. However, I'm a reader. When I'm on the stationary bike or treadmill, I like to have magazines and books ready to make me forget about what my sweat session. By the time I'm done reading a magazine, 2 miles have gone by!
3. When you hesitate to workout, start putting on your gym clothes and then make the decision. Most of the time, when I'm already in my gym clothes, I have no other valid excuse to be lazy.
4. Set tiny, and I mean itty bitty goals. On tough days when I really don't feel like working out, I tell myself to do at least 5 minutes in the gym. Just something active for 5 minutes. That way, you feel accomplished and 9 times out of 10, will want to do more than just 5 minutes if you're already there!
5. Take pictures of your body throughout the way to track your progress. Seeing your body transform even the tiniest of changes, can be SO motivating. When you visually see this, it helps increase your motivation to stay on board.
6. Text a friend to provide you a numerical workout challenge. Recently, my friend challenged me to do 200 jumping jacks and 200 burpees. Did I do all 200 jumping jacks? Yes. The burpees? Not so much. But hey, it got my butt moving and that's the point!
7. Find some fitness blogs and follow along. On days when I am really lacking motivation and inspiration, I just pull up fitnessista.com or blogilates.com, and feel ready to go! This is great when I start to lack ideas on switching up my exercises.
8. Tweet your workout to your followers BEFORE you workout. When you share this with the public, you're more likely to hold yourself accountable to avoid looking like a fool.
9. Find gaps of time to fill in an exercise. At my day job, I have lots of time gaps in my day. To beat the boredom and work on my health, I have two 10lb dumbbells at my desk so I can do bicep curls and tricep extensions. I'm at work for 9 hours...surely, I can squeeze in some arm work :)
10. Place a positive message at work, home, or anywhere you frequent. Messages like "If not now, when?" or like the picture above "Yesterday, you said tomorrow" are great! I find that when the message is positive, visual, and frequent - - it serves as a great reminder to stay focused and motivated.
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This is such good advice, luckily for me the gym already has great music playing all day, and oddly enough singing along actually helps me with me breathing when I'm working out. I'm definitely writing all of these tips into my phone so I can consistently remind myself of them and keep myself motivated!
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| I want this top and her stomach! But I'll settle for the top...for now! |
So remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥
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