I can’t tell you how to stay (or become) motivated to lose that 10, 50, or 200 pounds you want to lose. I get e-mails all the time from people looking for *that* spark or *that* thing to set the fire off inside of them and motivate them.
I never have anything cunning or remarkable to reply back with. All I can say is you should make it a part of your lifestyle and not a choice you can accept or reject. You don’t need to get motivated to eat, use the restroom, or sleep — so why do you need to be motivated to lose weight and live healthy?
Why isn’t eating a decision? You’ll die without food.
Why isn’t using the restroom a decision? Because you’ll explode?
Why isn’t sleeping a decision? Your body requires it to function.
Now, ask yourself why you want need to lose X pounds. Maybe you want to watch your daughter get married, get a girlfriend, run a marathon, look good naked, wear a bikini at the beach, whatever the reason may be — it needs to be drilled into your subconscious. You need to wake up knowing that you have to eat, use the restroom, live healthy, and sleep later on that evening.
Everything else like work, school, spending time with family, going to the movies, etc., is a choice that you can decide whether or not to do that day.
It may sound like a bunch of garbage, but I’m proof it’s not. It’s past 5 pm and I’m leaving a long, terrible day at the office. I know I couldn’t be any further away from the weekend and even worse, it’s pouring down rain. I’m ready to relax and have a nice dinner in my warm, dry house.
But, I’m still heading to the gym. I don’t have a choice.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I am so proud of you.
I’m a 238 pound, 26-year-old woman who *needs* to lose about 40 pounds or so to have a baby with minimal complications.
You provide such inspiration to me. I tell myself while I’m on my elliptical: If that other guy can stay on here for 81 minutes, then I can do *at least* 35 minutes.
And now you have given me something else to think about with this post. I agree. Living healthy should be as natural as breathing, eating and using the restroom.
Thank you for putting it in perspective.
I have thought about this so many times … What is it that flips the switch in your brain and makes it possible to head to the gym when last month it was impossible to make yourself go to the gym? Part of it is, as your say, getting the motivation to take root in your brain, but there’s sometimes a disconnect between what we know we need to do to achieve a goal and what we are consistently willing to do. Whatever it is, you certainly seem to have it down pat.
Tyler, this sounds so familiar. I wrote once about the Pain of transformation. THis journey we are on is transforming and therefore hard at times. What keeps me getting up again and again is my vision…my motivation. You are right…it has to be something real and important to us. SOmething big enough to pull us through the times it gets painful to keep going in the transformation. Keep going Tyler! You are doing great!
Huh. I never thought about it that way…. but you’re so right. My motivation is always changing, but it needs to be a part of daily life, not just when I feel like it.
Great post!
I tell people not to wait for motivation. Waiting for motivation could mean still being just as fat and sedentary a year from now. You just do it because it’s necessary, like taking showers or brushing teeth.
Thanks! I worked out today because of this post :)
You’re doing awesome! I really wish I had half the motivation that you do. I don’t know you but I stumbled across this blog a couple of weeks ago and since then you’ve been my motivation to get to the gym and hop on a cardio machine. I decided to check back today to see how many more pounds you lost. I now have a subscription to your page :)
Good luck!