Achieving All Your Fitness Goals by Understanding What Motivates You | Giftie Etcetera: Achieving All Your Fitness Goals by Understanding What Motivates You

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Achieving All Your Fitness Goals by Understanding What Motivates You

***This post may contain affiliate links. See my "Disclaimer" link for additional details.***

Staying in shape this summer was super easy.


fitting in fitness; getting fit; finding the time to workout



My family spent two weeks hiking in the mountains. As you can see, we went to the top of mountains. We explored an extinct volcano. There was horseback riding. We enjoyed long evening walks through the city.

Fitness was easy because we were highly motivated.

But when we arrived home, it suddenly got much more difficult. There was less time to workout, of course. But this was more than a time management issue.

There was a motivation issue.

I am very disciplined about going to the gym. I write it in my planner, and it happens most of the time. But once I got there, I often just clocked in my workout. It wasn't fun!

So I thought about what motivates me.

Understanding your own motivations is the key to getting fit.


Think about what motivates you.

Working out with friends? Preparing for a group race? Alone time? Being outside? Relaxing in a yoga group?

Whatever it is, open up your planner or notebook and make a list. 


Then, find the workouts that meet those intrinsic motivations.

Personally, I am motivated by competition.

I'm not in good enough shape to really compete against others, but I discovered an Expresso Bike at my local YMCA. While riding the bike, complete with programs that change resistance, you get to watch yourself race against others using the app that comes along with the bike. The video takes you through many natural settings.




Now, I don't expect you to go out and buy an expensive indoor bike (though if I were going to get any piece of exercise equipment, it would be this bike). But check with your gym. And if they don't have one, ask them to buy it.

It's such fun that I feel like I am playing a video game instead of exercising really hard!

I also am motivated by logging. I log my workouts and weight in my planner.

If you log water intake, consider getting a smart water bottle. It's fairly inexpensive and makes sure that you stay hydrated!




Finally, even on a day when I blog about technology (most Saturdays), I have to include a paper fitness journal, perfect for kids who want to get active alongside mom and dad!



Let me know your fitness motivations in the comments!


Etcetera.

If you enjoy what you read at Giftie Etcetera, please share on social media. Click here to join the Giftie Etcetera Facebook group.

Partied at: Reasons to Skip the HouseworkSaturday SharefestPierced Pasttimes, Sundays Down Under, Share the Wealth Sunday, Small Victories SundaySimply SundaysInspire Me MondayInspiration MondayMix It Up MondayMommy MondayAnything GoesCreate Link Inspire

6 comments:

Jaime Barfield said...

Logging weight has always motivated me. I also enjoy fit activities that are fun like Wii fit, zumba, etc

Giftie Etcetera said...

I used Wii Fit for a while and liked it. Also, Dance Dance Revolution! I tend to like games.

I love classes (like Barre Blend), but they are difficult to fit in. I wish they were 45 minutes long instead of an hour.

Sarah Eliza @ devastateboredom said...

Your summer fitness adventures sound amazing! Wouldn't it be nice if we could just do that all the time?? :P

Unknown said...

These are great tips! I really need to get back into working out!!! Thanks for sharing at Share The Wealth Sunday!
xoxo
Lisa

Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond said...

I totally agree that if you plan your fitness around what you enjoy you will feel motivated to keep going and achieve your goals. Thanks for sharing with us at #AnythingGoes - some useful tips here.

Dominick said...

When you need the best fitness training but you don't want to go outside of your home for visits to the gym then you may go with dailyburn trainer who are providing online training. And there is no doubt that all of those trainers will cost very low.