motivation

So, that two days of spring like weather was a big fat tease. I am thankful for every second of it, though. I could have used some sunshine, but "beggers........." So I plan on using this day as a a day off. I haven't had one in 7 days, so I guess I will give in to the laziness of the rain and cold. Fyi...."day off" doesn't equal lay around and watch TV all day while eating junk food. It just means I'm not working out, or not working out hard today.....maybe;)

I read something this morning that got my attention, and so I want to share it with you. I am paraphrasing, but the jest of it is that you can not rely on motivation all the time when it comes to health and fitness. You have to rely on discipline. I believe that is so true. People want to be inspired to get fit. Inspiration is a good thing. Motivation is a good thing. Accountability is a good thing. But when none of those things show up on a random Wednesday afternoon, and you find yourself waiting around on it, Wednesday turns into Thursday, turns into Friday, and so on.....

Motivation is typically what gets people started on a fitness program. Maybe swim suit season is around the corner, or the Holidays are over and you gained a few more pounds, or you made a New Year's resolution, or you may have even had a health scare or aha moment that motivated you to get started. But what happens when the new wears off? Research shows that it takes approximately 3-4 weeks to develop new habits. It's around that point (give or take) that people begin to fizzle in their new fitness programs. About this time is when your body starts to catch up to the changes you have made, and starts defending itself against them. As a result, you stop seeing the inches and pounds fall off at such a dramatic rate. This is when people begin to feel stuck.

When you first start out on a fitness program because of motivation, then you remain motivated by the results of your hard work, it's easy to keep going. But what happens when that stops? You quit....... You give up..... Until the next motivating thing comes along and starts the whole process all over again.

Sometimes you aren't going to want to go on. Sometimes you are going to feel defeated. Sometimes you are going to want to quit. Sometimes your workout buddy is going to flake out on you. And those "sometimes" happen a lot more than they don't. But as long as you aren't quitting, you are succeeding.

When you find yourself in those moments that motivation has left you hanging, dig deeper and find your determination. Your dedication.Your drive. Your discipline. Kick it up a notch and go after what you want. When staleness sets in, change what you're doing! Don't allow boredom and plateaus to be the reason you quit. If you develop an injury, change what you're doing! Just because you have a shoulder injury, doesn't mean you can't get out there and work every other part of your body.

There will be plenty of days that you are NOT going to feel like eating right, or working out. There will be plenty of days that you step on the scales and feel angry and frustrated. There will be plenty of days that you find yourself thankful for any excuse you can find to get you out of it. But whatever you do, never stop relying on discipline. Nobody ever regretted a good workout or healthy dinner. Nobody ever walked away from the gym on a guilt trip over what they DID do.

Funny....I'm trying to motivate you to stop relying on motivation to keep you going. Haha.
Seriously though.....Get busy! Stop waiting around. Make yourself out a schedule and stick to it. What are you waiting for? Go do it!

I can help! Email me at lacyfitnessblog@gmail.com. And if you have a topic you would like me to address, let me know and I will do my best to help you out!