Learn from my Failures: Exercise Motivation

Regular exercise is something that has proven to keep me, not only healthy, but happy on a daily basis. There's nothing like that just-went-to-the-gym feeling. The problem is getting out of bed and getting to the gym. Foreseeing this problem, I got a wiifit for snowy, lazy days when I couldn't fathom leaving my room. However, this did not solve the problem. Sure I had a means of exercising in my own room, but now I had to get out of bed, get out the wiifit balance board, turn on the wii console, and then get going. There will always be an excuse not to exercise. But there are things you can do to make excuses easier to muffle. In the case of the wiifit, I started leaving the wii balance board out in the middle of the room with the remote nearby so everything I needed was all set. This also proves helpful when trying to get yourself to practice an instrument more. Whenever I wanted to practice piano more but was too lazy, I would leave the music out on the piano with the bench pulled out and the keys exposed. That way, I had no excuse not to play because everything was ready for me. Another great way to get yourself motivated to go to the gym is to have pictures of yourself at the ideal weight or fit people you admire around your room or on your desktop so you're reminded of your goal. The most effective way I've found to keep a fitness regime is to have a workout buddy and a routine. I maintained a regular exercise schedule once I found a routine with some variety (e.g. yoga two days of the week, zumba two days of the week, running three days of the week) and a friend who wanted to share the same routine. That way, even if I didn't feel like going to the gym, I didn't want to let down my workout buddy by not joining her. Getting the initial boost of motivation is the hard part, after about a week or so of this kind of a routine, it will seem weird not to go to the gym.