What Motivates You?

Today I will be on day five of five (official) days at Kosama, completing the first week of the 8-week Teammate Challenge that Z and I signed up for. Monday and Tuesday were rough and I was exhausted and drenched in sweat. I also hadn’t quite tweaked my pre-workout nutrition and I was feeling a little woozy part-way through each workout and needed to slow down or stop a number of times. Wednesday and Thursday I needed to drink some Emerge to give myself the energy kick-in-the-ass I needed to stay motivated, but the classes went by very quickly and I was actually less sore both days (and less nauseous). Today I am still a little tired (and will thus be sleeping in tomorrow morning) but I am not nearly as sore as I was just a few days ago. PLUS, I have already noticed an immediate impact from this new routine – I can actually do some push ups, I am feeling more flexible, and I generally have more energy. Not bad for just a week’s worth of fitness (and healthy eating)!

I have been logging my workouts on Fitocracy (up to level 6 after just a week or so of working out, yippee!) which in turn posts to my Facebook and Twitter accounts, so my friends have been seeing my progress too, which is a nice motivator. I have been eating healthy balanced snacks and meals all week, everything prepared at home (only have one token left – saving it!).

So what motivates me?

• The money I spent on Kosama and which will be a loss if I don’t keep up with the Teammate Challenge routine
• The people who see me every day at our gym classes that would notice I am missing
• The way I feel (physically & mentally) when I actually get out and move around
• The pride I feel in the small improvements I am seeing in my level of fitness
• The drive to fit in the dress I wore on my anniversary last year (or maybe, with any luck, and even smaller dress)

But what motivates YOU to be healthy?

I am already seeing the fallout all around me of people who made New Year’s Resolutions to get in shape, workout more, eat healthier etc… and who aren’t sticking with it. We are only halfway through January people! Don’t give up now! If you are having a tough time being healthier, don’t get down on yourself. From what I have seen, a lot of people I know dove headfirst into it (much like I did, but I digress) and thus set themselves up for failure because true success at being healthy comes from making incremental, manageable and sustainable changes to your lifestyle. PLUS, they didn’t necessarily build any motivators or accountability into their routines. For me, I originally had planned to follow the Z-Wow workouts that Zuzana puts together, but then Jenn told me about the Teammate Challenge and I realized that to really be successful at starting off right, I couldn’t rely on my own homespun motivation. Sure, Zuzana’s workouts are FREE and can be done in my OWN HOME, but so is napping, or reading a book, or simply making excuses, which is exactly what I knew I would be doing since there was no real accountability.

Going to a class that I paid for makes me accountable because I don’t have money to just be throwing away. I am working toward being debt-free and would like to take an international vacation sometime this decade, and that isn’t going to happen if I keep throwing my money away on things that I don’t get any value from.

Posting my workout results on Fitocracy and getting virtual fist-bumps from strangers, seeing how many points I can earn with each workout, and getting virtual badges for my success is motivating. Tweeting, and blogging, and Facebooking about my fitness adventures and having my friends comment and give me kudos is incredibly motivating. Because if I stop doing these things, people will notice.

So, I encourage you start by at least setting some small goals for yourself. Challenge yourself to get better at push ups with the Hundred Push Up Challenge (apps available). Sign up for a 5k and download the free Couch to 5k App to get a training schedule that can help you be ready in time. Make a goal to only eat lunch out once a week. Sign up for a fitness class in your area (checkout sites like Groupon, Living Social, Amazon Local Deals to find a cheap bootcamp). Find a friend to go to work out with at least three days a week and make yourselves accountable by choosing multiple time or gym class options in advance so you can move things around to fit your busy schedules.

Start SMALL, but don’t not start at all, and definitely don’t stop now. (Double negative – I know – but you get the idea. :))

Here are some motivational mantras to get you started.