Staying fit is not easy as you have to give up delicious meals and make an effort by exercising. Here are some ways to motivate yourself to workout:
Give yourself a reward
Although most people are motivated by goals such as better health or weight control, others need to resort to other measures. According to journalist Charles Duhigg - author of The Power of Habit: Why We do What We do in Life and Business - some people need more immediate rewards to keep themselves motivated. These immediate rewards include treating yourself to a smoothie or an episode of The Leftovers after the working out session.
He advises you to create a neurological “habit loop,” which consists of setting up a cue that triggers your behavior (leaving your spinning shoes next to your bag), creating a routine (making it through spinning class) and getting a reward. “An intrinsic reward is so powerful because your brain can latch on to it and make the link that the behavior is worthwhile,” he explains. “It increases the odds the routine becomes a habit.” By creating this habit loop that culminates in a reward, motivation becomes natural, as the brain begins to associate sweat and pain with the surge of endorphins - feel-good chemicals released after a work-out session which make you feel exhilarated. Over time, your brain starts to recognize the work-out session as a reward in itself and it won't even need an external treat anymore.
Make a commitment
Studies show that we are more likely to follow through when we make promises in front of friends. You can sign a contract agreeing to pay a friend a certain amount of money each time you skip the gym. “It's a simple notion of changing the cost,” explains Jeremy Goldhaber-Fieber, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University who studies health decision science. “I say I'm going to make a commitment to do something for a certain amount of time, such as exercising 30 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks. If I don't do that, I'm going to pay some kind of penalty, whether it's monetary or the embarrassment of having friends know I didn't live up to may word.”
“We have to get past the initial experience of displeasure in order to recognize the longer-term benefits,” he says. “The challenge is designing tools to help make that happen.”
Positive Thinking
Positive thinking consists in visualizing the benefits of a behavior as a motivational strategy. You also have to figure out what's holding you back and come up with a way to overcome it before it becomes a real problem.
“After you imagine the obstacle, you can figure out what you can do to overcome it and make a plan,” explains Oettingen.
Get paid
Research on how monetary incentives affected exercise found that people who were paid $100 to go to the gym doubled their attendance rate. “You just need to get people to keep doing an activity, and paying them money was effective,” explains study author Gary Charness, PhD, behavioral economist at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Whether you get a reward or pay someone to keep you on track, you'll know you've succeeded once you can't go on a day without exercising. You succeed the day you view your workout as an addiction, a pleasure or an escape. What matters is that you are doing it on a regular basis and you are doing it for your.
Here are some motivation catchphrases to get you going:
“It takes 21 days to make or break a habit.”
“I already know what giving up feels like. I want to see what happens if I don't.”
“Once you see results, it becomes an addiction.”
“When you feel like dying, do 10 more.”
“Today's actions are tomorrow's results.”
“Be the girl who decided to go for it.”
“3 months from now, you will thank yourself.”
“The hardest thing about exercising is to START. Once you're exercising regularly, the hardest thing to do is STOP.”
“I'm not trying to build a summer body. I'm trying to build a lifestyle.”
“Your legs are not giving out. Your head is giving up.”