Tips to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

With the cold weather and holiday season upon us, we have even more excuses as to why we aren’t exercising – as if we needed more excuses! “It’s cold, it’s dark, I have to go shopping, I have a holiday party, I’m not a morning person, etc.” I asked one of my colleagues, Julia Derek, how she motivates her clients to exercise. Julia is a personal trainer and has a fitness newsletter called Fit and the City – appropriate for us city girls. The following article was taken from her newsletter.

My personal favorite motivating tips would be a combo of # 3 and #5 …

Eleven Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise by Julia Derek

1. Find an exercise buddy. If you can’t find one among your friends, join exercisefriends.com.

2. If you’re competitive, make a bet with someone that you’ll lose weight by a certain date and tell everyone you know about it so there is no way out…

3. Book a beach vacation three months in advance. Miami and Los Angeles are great choices because everyone there looks fantastic, so you better too.

4. Sign up for an event like a 10 K, triathlon, or half-marathon and train for it.

5. Do a Demi! Get a much younger boyfriend/girlfriend. I can guarantee you that you’ll find time to go to the gym…

6. Hire a funny, likeable trainer. Some people are motivated by a hot trainer.

7. Become a trainer or group exercise instructor. Few will come to your classes if you’re out of shape.

8. If you’re single, join a volleyball league or runner’s club instead of going to bars to meet your new significant other.

9. Play badminton on the beach or in a park. Position yourself with your friend in a crowded area and start playing. The worse you’re at it, the higher the chances are the ball will land in a group of people. Great excuse to make a connection!  (My suggestion: try skiing. Fun exercise and a great way to meet guys/girls!).

10. Become a fitness magazine junkie. Vow to read every fitness book out there. The more you educate yourself about health and fitness, the harder it becomes to not take their advice.

11. Update your Ipod with great new uplifting music every Sunday so that you have something fun to listen to during your workout. A cool new exercise outfit won’t hurt your motivation either.