Great Tips for Maintaining Motivation

#1. Hire a personal trainer.

Why? Because nothing is more motivating than knowing you are spending $300 amount for 10 sessions with a trainer, and their sole job is to challenge you and keep you motivated.

#2. Cultivate a winning attitude by focusing on the times you've been successful.

A lot of people don't think they can change. They blame their genetics, fate, god, etc.

These people often believe / say things like "I can't" or "I'm not good enough" and think them being overweight is just reality and they need to accept it. It isn't. They're negativity is a handicap which causes them to give up easily every time they try. A negative person will look at others who are successful and happy and say, "They're just lucky." They're not just lucky. They've worked diligently for a long time to get where they are. They had a certain mentality that drove them to do what they did. You, too, can call upon that drive and you can change.

Learning to be positive and stay motivated is tricky. One way is to focus on times when you've been really successful at something. Recall the specific thoughts, feelings and images you had surrounding that success. Remember and use those sensory factors to drive yourself toward other successes. If you had a great time jogging, picture the route and other factors that made up your visual field. Take the time to visualize the route and the feeling of pride when you finished it.

Draw on any success in your life and remember those feelings of satisfaction, pride and self-worth. Think about how good it felt to succeed and use that feeling as a catalyst to stimulate the behaviour that brought you that success.

When people fail they end up getting negative feelings. They come back as memories and make it more difficult to find the COURAGE to do those same activities again. But if you focus on positive memories you will find it easier to find that necessary courage and determination.

#3. Replace unrealistic images with achievable goals.

Patience is a virtue. But it is also more realistic to be patient when seeking to succeed at goals.

If you're looking at an advertisement featuring a young, hard-bodied fitness model smiling and enjoying her workout and you're thinking, I'm going to do that and it will QUICKLY be the same for me, banish that notion. It isn't going to happen overnight. You have to be realistic about what it takes to get in shape. Working out is, well, work. And you have to do it over many months and sometimes years, not weeks.

Lets say for example someone weighs 300 lbs and they want to lose 120 lbs. If they lose 2 lbs per week it will take them 60 weeks - Approx 14 months to accomplish that goal.

But to do so this means healthy eating (1800 to 2000 calories per day), daily exercise, and they will want to be burning an extra 7,000 calories per week (3,500 calories = 1 lb of fat) in order to burn 2 lbs of fat per week. So 1,000 calories worth of exercise per day.

And to burn 1,000 calories in one hour you need to be doing some kind of really intense workout like swimming laps - But most people who weigh 300 lbs simply don't have the endurance to be doing that for an hour. So instead its more realistic to be doing a 2 hour workout of an activity that is less intense (500 calories per hour).

However that kind of heavy duty routine isn't for everyone. So if 2 lbs per week is too much set the more realistic goal of 1 lb per week (burning 500 calories per day). It will take twice as long to achieve your goal, but if you're patient then you will succeed.

Learning patience and self-control is tricky. But once you realize it is the realistic approach then you know you can do it.

#4. Determine and choose the workout that is best for you.

First decide what your goals are: Do you want to lose weight or tone and build muscle? Or both?

Once you know that then you can pick your workout(s) accordingly. Lose weight? Do cardio workouts. Add muscle? Weightlifting with targeted strength training.

If you want to become both stronger and trimmer, you should combine a cardiovascular routine, such as jogging, cycling or swimming, with targeted weight training.

Also you will need to pick workouts which are more FUN so you can stay motivated. My suggestion is that either find ways to make your workouts fun, or pick activities that are naturally fun (ie. archery, boxing, rock-climbing, sports, etc).

#5. Find a workout environment you like that caters to your needs.

Sometimes gyms aren't the best place for people. Busy gyms can be intimidating to people who lack confidence about their appearance. Thus if you can find a gym that isn't busy, or you go at a time of day when it isn't crowded, then maybe that will help deal with your confidence issues.

Or maybe you just don't like gyms. In which case find a place, outdoors or indoors, that suits your needs.

#6. Slip into a workout mentality before you get to the gym.

Think about all the bonuses of working out: how great you'll feel afterward, your increased self-respect and energy and your decreased tension. Before you walk into the gym, visualize the gym ambiance and feel yourself begin to go through the paces and engage in the workout, enjoying the surroundings, the sounds, the people, the exertion and feeling good about yourself. The purpose: To mentally get yourself into the mood.

#7. If you need someone to push you, look for a workout partner.

With a partner you'll have two people's motivation to get you going. Look for a workout partner who has goals that are similar to yours and similarly motivated.

Or if you have difficulty finding a workout partner who has the same availability then you can hire a personal trainer.

#8. Schedule regular workout times and treat them as you would any other important commitment.

If you can't find 60 minutes for yourself a few times a week, you're either over-scheduled or you don't value yourself enough. Get your kids and wife/husband to help keep you on track. Tell them that staying in shape mentally and physically helps you be the best parent/spouse you can be.

Treat each workout like you're meeting a doctor for a very important meeting concerning your health. Because your health is important to you, isn't it?

Working out will also help you release stress and work through problems. How? Your negative energy is consumed during physical activity and, as you get fit, your body works more efficiently and you feel more positive about yourself. As well, working out releases endorphins, peptides that react with the brain's opiate receptors to make you feel better.
Don't beat yourself up if you miss the occasional workout or if you fall short of your goals. Give yourself some respect and understanding when you slip up. Just decide to make it up to yourself by getting back on track and continuing with your motivated, determined workouts.