How to Stay Motivated to Workout

I have to admit, I have been putting off this post for the very reason that these past two weeks I have felt less than motivated to workout. Ironic, isn’t it? I wanted to share what helped me stay going even when I felt like staying in bed, watching Netflix in my pajamas, and eating food rather than getting my booty to the gym. Seriously, though. These have been tested when I wasn’t just riding the struggle bus to get active. No, I was driving the struggle bus, I can tell you that for sure.

Workout Buddy

One of my best friends from home has been my faithful gym buddy. Whether we are going at 5am or 9pm, she has been by my side. Find someone that is pretty even fitness level as you and wants to get fit too. Her and I have talked about that if we went to the gym with someone who was already fit, we probably would have quit because we would have felt like our progress was small compared to theirs, or some other related reason. Once you have someone, schedule when you can go to the gym each week and help each other stick to it. I know for certain that I would not have left my comfy, warm bed at 4:45am to get to the gym by 5am a lot of mornings if it weren’t for the fact that I would have felt so bad ditching my friend at the gym.

Even if you can’t get someone to go with you, get someone who will text you to make sure you go workout when you say you will. I know all too well how easy it is to just watch that next episode of Netflix instead of going for a jog. 

Reward Yourself

When you have something to look forward to, then you are a lot more motivated to go to the gym. My goal for going to the gym everyday except Sundays for a month was a new pair of running shoes (they are my babies and were SO worth the wait). I think between having a workout partner and having the reward ahead of me were two of the main reasons that I kept at it that first month.

New Workout Clothes

I am a typical white girl. Clothes motivate me. What can I say? When I had a cute outfit to wear to the gym, I was so much more motivated to go to the gym that day. Target has some cute stuff that is cheap so you aren’t breaking the bank in the progress. I know as a college girl, I can’t afford expensive workout gear too often.

Measure Yourself

I didn’t say weigh yourself for a reason. I was weighing myself for the first couple of weeks, and it became very discouraging. When you workout, you are replacing fat with muscle a lot of the time, and muscle is more dense, weighing more than the fat did. Weighing yourself doesn’t show if that weight is muscle or fat. I prefer to measure myself. This shows on the outside if you are getting smaller, which is ultimately what we want anyways.

Find a Good Show on Netflix to Watch

Did I did just tell you to watch Netflix? Why yes I did! My gym has wifi (bless them) which makes it so easy for me to be able to watch Netflix when I am on the elliptical or treadmill. Watching Neal Caffrey’s beautiful face on White Collar makes my slow death while doing the cardio a little less horrible. Seriously, though. I have been excited to go to the gym simply because I reserve one show I really like just for watching at the gym.

Learn a Language or Listen to a Book While Running

I hate running. It feels like such a looooong time to finish the amount of time I have set that I am going to run. I found that when I go for a run by my house, I love doing something that is going to keep my mind busy. I really want to learn Swedish because I am a ¼ Swedish and that side of my family really interests me. So, I downloaded some podcasts for free that teach you Swedish. When I run, I listen to them and repeat the words. My mind get so engaged and challenged learning the language that I forget how much I hate running. Something else you could try is getting some audio books and listening to them. I’ve heard that works really well too.

I hope these tips help you stay motivated to get fit! I tried to give some tips beyond look up fitspiration on Tumblr or Pinterest, cause honestly those photos mostly make me sad and want to just eat more food cause my body doesn’t look like that haha. But, yeah, I hope these tips help. Let me know if you have any other ideas, since I am always open to new ways to get myself to the gym.

Thanks lovelies,