[androgyne]

I hope this is the right place for this :afr

Those of you who diet and exercise, how do you keep up the motivation to keep doing it day in and day out? I've often decided I'd try to get back into shape, and I even managed to keep my diet up for a long time once, but in the end I can never maintain the motivation to exercise. Also what is a good mix of strenth training and cardio if the exercise is primarily aimed at weight loss?

 

[Where the river goes]

It used to be hard to get me to exercise often. That changed when at 22 years old, I was having problems w/my circulation (numb feet and hands when I'd wake up in the morning) which scared the crap out of me and got me exercising. I started exercising regularly last summer. I also made a permanent change in my eating habits, cutting down a lot on the fatty foods and salt. I eat plenty of fruits, veggies, whole grains and all that good stuff. I don't eat red meat anymore, I eat fish twice a week, poultry no more than 2 days a week and a couple days a week I don't have meat at all eating tofu, or soy or a combination of legumes.

It was not easy at all to make these changes, but knowing that I would be healthier was my motivation. I've lost 54 lbs since last summer (I'm down to 188-190ish) I don't have any circulation problems like I used to, I have seen some improvement in my muscle definition. This has been a huge confidence boost for me and has helped reduce my anxiety a bit My motivation now is to continue to improve my muscle definition and overall health.

I don't know if this mix will work for everyone, but what has worked for me is exercise 5-6 days a week. I weightlift for about an hour twice a week. It's a full body workout, switching the exercises I do every 4 weeks. After 8 weeks I take a week off from any weightlifting to let my body rest and recover a bit.

I also do cardio exercises 3-5 days a week. Basketball (35-45 mins), fast walking (a bit over 4 miles in a hour) and recently starting hitting up the punching bag for about 30-40 mins.

 

[persistent1]

I have found that the best way to stay motivated to exercise is to constantly remind myself the benefits of exercise. I actually found a list of benefits on the internet and I printed a copy for constant reference. These benefits include: decreased anxiety, improved mood, better sex!, better circulation, stronger immune system and many more I cant remember right now. It is also better to focus on the benefits than to exercise because you want to lose weight or because you need to. Your mind responds better to positive goals than negative ones.

 

[Melusine]

I was just going to put up a post related to exercise motivation. I have very little willpower but have kept up exercise for a while and am steadily losing some weight but mostly for maintenance, i probably won't get serious about it again for a few weeks, i'm on the average/small side anyways. I've been depressed so food has also been an issue, i've been eating lots of ice cream bars and frozen fruit bars, had cravings for candy bars and cookies and cheesecakes (luckily there is none within distance) i've been eating later than i should becaue i can't sleep and when i watch movies late at night. I can't get images dancing my head of cheesecake and other various desserts out of my mind when i'm depressed. Someday i'm going to just quit cold turkey all that sugar crap.

 

[Caedmon]

I'm pretty motivated to lift weight, although I don't like doing cardio. I mostly get in my cardio via walking (living in the city helps this).

My main problem has always been my near insatiable appetite for junk food. I'm very poor right now, and that has done wonders. (Kinda hard to pig out when you don't have the money to buy food!)

 

[microbe]

Keeping a diet and exercise log helps. i just started one.
post it here and i'm sure we can comment with tips or words of encouragement to keep at it!

being fit, going to the gym, and eating right is tough at first. but it will go from being tedius, to becoming a hobby, to becoming an obsession, then to a lifestyle, then to a passion.

i'm still at the hobby stage

 

[mbsgreg]

Staying motivated

For all of you who are trying to keep your weight under control this is for you!!!

I wasn't sure where to post this, so hopefully it will be the appropriate place. I have come across something that sounds totally bizarre but if you can try and have a bit of an open mind and give it a shot, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Check out http://www.shangriladiet.com Strange theory but I decided to be a guinea pig and you will be shocked how well it works. Book was just released. I saw the author on a Canadian news program and decided it was worth a shot. I won't bore you with the details but this will really help you keep your appetite in check and it is for lack of a better word cheap cheap cheap!!!

Check it out and let me know if it works as well for you. I have been on it for 2 weeks and well the results speak for themselves.

Curious to see what kind of feedback I get

Cheers, Monicka :banana