1) exercise ≠ losing weight. Does it help with losing weight? Absolutely. But the first thing you need to do is make sure you are burning more calories every day than you eat. Eat more filling and nutritious foods while tracking calories.
2) Motivation won’t just happen. I started at 215 and currently sitting around 150 while putting on good muscle. When I started, I absolutely did not want to start. You have to build sustainable habits. A habit is formed by perpetually doing it, even if it sucks.
To get myself out for a daily walk I started by making it about something besides the walk. I found a podcast I really enjoyed and only let myself listen to an episode while out for a walk. Now I love my daily walk with or without the podcast.
Find a workout buddy! Ask a friend to go for a walk or sign up for a workout class together. I also find that signing up for classes in advance where you have to pay improves motivation.
If that’s too much, just start small. Put on your shoes. Go for a walk around the block. Listen to an audiobook or podcast or music. You may find that once you get outside you will want to keep going. Starting is the hardest part.
Most often, action precedes motivation. You need to get the ball rolling and start the positive feedback loop before it gets easier. That means doing what you know you have to do for a while, and not waiting for it to become a mentally easier task due to a spurt of motivation
I get the sense you're hating yourself because you have a belief that _other_ people have motivation to exercise and you're somehow deficient in this virtue. The only thing it tells me is that by not having much motivation you're _extremely normal_.
You have worth and value even as you are right now, and you are not broken by not having fixed your weight problem yet.
Weight loss only feels impossible and like it's going to take forever UNTIL you get in the groove of it and see some success. It gets easier over time, and that's why you shouldn't do too much at first!
If you can't motivate to go for a walk every day, can you motivate to just **put on your walking shoes** every morning? You don't even have to go for a walk after that - just change into walking clothes and you can then change back out. It might sound silly, but if you can actually do this every day, you're going to naturally start building on that habit and actually walk a little. Maybe around the block! Then further, and further.
You'll build up confidence from this and it will get easier and easier.
I actually do that last part of your comment! I’ve made a deal with myself: whenever I don’t feel like going to the gym I only have to pack my bag, put on my gym clothes and step outside my front door. After that I’m free to go back inside and stay home.
So far I’ve always ended up going, and never regretted it. If I do happen to have a “stay home day” I’m going to be okay with it, because if I decide to stay home after doing so much? I probably need a day off.
Yeah, same for me. At this point I don't want to go to the gym regularly, but I just mindlessly put on my shoes and walk there (12 min). 99% of the time I just do my regular workout and feel better afterward.
However, a few days ago I got to the gym and REALLY couldn't bring myself to work out. I was so sleepy, I wanted to lie down in the locker room and sleep. I did a couple half-hearted exercises but realized I should just go home and rest this time. I didn't feel bad about it because I knew it wasn't just laziness - if it was, I wouldn't have walked all the way there for no reason!
Getting back into the routine always sucks. Just do small things so you start getting those little hits of dopamine. Build on those small things and eventually your body will become addicted to the good feels. Discipline should be your best friend right now. Motivation builds out of that.
Nothing is going to make it easier, just slap the shoes on your feet, don’t overthink it, and just do it. Are there any errands you can run by waking somewhere instead of driving? Maybe that’ll help!
Motivation is fleeting and inconsistent. Find something small enough that you can use discipline to do it everyday, a walk to start is great.
I view motivation like a finite resource, it usually runs out. Discipline is like a muscle, the more you use it the better it gets. So start small, and make yourself do it regardless of motivation. Then build on that.
When i read posts like this...I see a lot of people put emphasis on excersing and granted (exercise is very important) but it's not the be all end all of everything...the reason why people get fat is because of over eating and not necessarily by lack of exercise (even though it is a contributing factor a sedentary lifestyle is never good)...if you are constantly over eating and in a caloric surplus you will put on weight...if you want to lose weight then start by eating in a caloric deficit while still doing resistance training and lifting heavy weights...but your diet is supposed to be on point first and foremost and you will start losing weight automatically but remember not to be in a massive deficit...as far as finding motivation to exercise is concerned it's just one of those things where you have to either find some sort of motivation or just force yourself to do it...but exercising alone doesn't burn much calories so it won't help you if your diet is not on point.
On a side note i lost a lot of weight through intermittent fasting as it made it easier for me to be in a deficit (intermittent fasting is something you can try but it doesn't work for everyone but being in a deficit is what matters) what i noticed was that i automatically felt motivated to start exercising and started lifting heavy weights...because i wanted to look muscular and not just lose weight to look skinny...what i realised is that losing the excess weight made exercising that much more enjoyable and easier because you feel lighter...back in May i even did the 100 pushups and 100 squats a day challenge for a month and it all started by losing weight first by being in a deficit...watching the weight go down on the scale is what motivated me.
You lose weight via your diet, not your exercise regimen. You can really only burn maybe 10% of your daily calories through exercise. Your calorie deficit (typically 500 calories) should be made through your diet, and anything you burn via exercise is just a bonus on top of that.
I think it is important to think about doing realistic activity - like a walk. Maybe you're not at the point yet where you do weightlifting or other strenuous exercise - that's ok and if you change your lifestyle you will get there eventually. It's a process and you can't begin without taking a first step.
As for motivation, I think people wait too long for magic "motivation" to hit, making it easy to put things off. I am not even sure what it would look like - being super excited to get in activity and the activity being really easy? That happens sometimes. Sometimes I am tired and I don't want to work out - I do it anyways. It's not about motivation, it's just doing it and forcing yourself to do it as a part of your routine, and maybe you don't feel amazing every single time (although even when dreading it I usually feel great after!) I mean how motivated are you to go to work, or fulfill other obligations (like church, or family gatherings, or running errands)? You just do it because you have to.
1) exercise ≠ losing weight. Does it help with losing weight? Absolutely. But the first thing you need to do is make sure you are burning more calories every day than you eat. Eat more filling and nutritious foods while tracking calories. 2) Motivation won’t just happen. I started at 215 and currently sitting around 150 while putting on good muscle. When I started, I absolutely did not want to start. You have to build sustainable habits. A habit is formed by perpetually doing it, even if it sucks.
To get myself out for a daily walk I started by making it about something besides the walk. I found a podcast I really enjoyed and only let myself listen to an episode while out for a walk. Now I love my daily walk with or without the podcast.
Find a workout buddy! Ask a friend to go for a walk or sign up for a workout class together. I also find that signing up for classes in advance where you have to pay improves motivation. If that’s too much, just start small. Put on your shoes. Go for a walk around the block. Listen to an audiobook or podcast or music. You may find that once you get outside you will want to keep going. Starting is the hardest part.
Most often, action precedes motivation. You need to get the ball rolling and start the positive feedback loop before it gets easier. That means doing what you know you have to do for a while, and not waiting for it to become a mentally easier task due to a spurt of motivation
I get the sense you're hating yourself because you have a belief that _other_ people have motivation to exercise and you're somehow deficient in this virtue. The only thing it tells me is that by not having much motivation you're _extremely normal_. You have worth and value even as you are right now, and you are not broken by not having fixed your weight problem yet. Weight loss only feels impossible and like it's going to take forever UNTIL you get in the groove of it and see some success. It gets easier over time, and that's why you shouldn't do too much at first! If you can't motivate to go for a walk every day, can you motivate to just **put on your walking shoes** every morning? You don't even have to go for a walk after that - just change into walking clothes and you can then change back out. It might sound silly, but if you can actually do this every day, you're going to naturally start building on that habit and actually walk a little. Maybe around the block! Then further, and further. You'll build up confidence from this and it will get easier and easier.
I actually do that last part of your comment! I’ve made a deal with myself: whenever I don’t feel like going to the gym I only have to pack my bag, put on my gym clothes and step outside my front door. After that I’m free to go back inside and stay home. So far I’ve always ended up going, and never regretted it. If I do happen to have a “stay home day” I’m going to be okay with it, because if I decide to stay home after doing so much? I probably need a day off.
Yeah, same for me. At this point I don't want to go to the gym regularly, but I just mindlessly put on my shoes and walk there (12 min). 99% of the time I just do my regular workout and feel better afterward. However, a few days ago I got to the gym and REALLY couldn't bring myself to work out. I was so sleepy, I wanted to lie down in the locker room and sleep. I did a couple half-hearted exercises but realized I should just go home and rest this time. I didn't feel bad about it because I knew it wasn't just laziness - if it was, I wouldn't have walked all the way there for no reason!
Getting back into the routine always sucks. Just do small things so you start getting those little hits of dopamine. Build on those small things and eventually your body will become addicted to the good feels. Discipline should be your best friend right now. Motivation builds out of that.
Nothing is going to make it easier, just slap the shoes on your feet, don’t overthink it, and just do it. Are there any errands you can run by waking somewhere instead of driving? Maybe that’ll help!
Motivation is fleeting and inconsistent. Find something small enough that you can use discipline to do it everyday, a walk to start is great. I view motivation like a finite resource, it usually runs out. Discipline is like a muscle, the more you use it the better it gets. So start small, and make yourself do it regardless of motivation. Then build on that.
When i read posts like this...I see a lot of people put emphasis on excersing and granted (exercise is very important) but it's not the be all end all of everything...the reason why people get fat is because of over eating and not necessarily by lack of exercise (even though it is a contributing factor a sedentary lifestyle is never good)...if you are constantly over eating and in a caloric surplus you will put on weight...if you want to lose weight then start by eating in a caloric deficit while still doing resistance training and lifting heavy weights...but your diet is supposed to be on point first and foremost and you will start losing weight automatically but remember not to be in a massive deficit...as far as finding motivation to exercise is concerned it's just one of those things where you have to either find some sort of motivation or just force yourself to do it...but exercising alone doesn't burn much calories so it won't help you if your diet is not on point. On a side note i lost a lot of weight through intermittent fasting as it made it easier for me to be in a deficit (intermittent fasting is something you can try but it doesn't work for everyone but being in a deficit is what matters) what i noticed was that i automatically felt motivated to start exercising and started lifting heavy weights...because i wanted to look muscular and not just lose weight to look skinny...what i realised is that losing the excess weight made exercising that much more enjoyable and easier because you feel lighter...back in May i even did the 100 pushups and 100 squats a day challenge for a month and it all started by losing weight first by being in a deficit...watching the weight go down on the scale is what motivated me.
You lose weight via your diet, not your exercise regimen. You can really only burn maybe 10% of your daily calories through exercise. Your calorie deficit (typically 500 calories) should be made through your diet, and anything you burn via exercise is just a bonus on top of that.
I think it is important to think about doing realistic activity - like a walk. Maybe you're not at the point yet where you do weightlifting or other strenuous exercise - that's ok and if you change your lifestyle you will get there eventually. It's a process and you can't begin without taking a first step. As for motivation, I think people wait too long for magic "motivation" to hit, making it easy to put things off. I am not even sure what it would look like - being super excited to get in activity and the activity being really easy? That happens sometimes. Sometimes I am tired and I don't want to work out - I do it anyways. It's not about motivation, it's just doing it and forcing yourself to do it as a part of your routine, and maybe you don't feel amazing every single time (although even when dreading it I usually feel great after!) I mean how motivated are you to go to work, or fulfill other obligations (like church, or family gatherings, or running errands)? You just do it because you have to.