Staying Motivated To Working Out

Author: Lauren Certo

At this stage in our lives we can barely pay our rent on time and keep our head’s on straight on at work, so when it comes to our personal health, it usually comes in second…who am I kidding, it comes in last. After ten-hour work days, reaching for your gym bag instead of the remote is basically not going to happen. With summer around the corner the dreaded bikini season is upon us. And I don’t care who you are, but it gets harder and harder every year to have confidence in your bathing suit. So here are some tips to stay motivated in the spring months so the summer pay-off is well worth it:

Set Goals

I run a lot and I find when I sign up for a race or event it holds me accountable for training and going to the gym. You don’t need to go crazy and do a marathon, but there are many Couch-To-5k programs which work wonders.  Or you can just make a goal that every Thursday night before “30 Rock” you’re going to destroy the elliptical.  It’s better to have something set in your mind instead of wandering around the gym aimlessly.

Lay Out Your Clothes

Pick out your workout clothes the night before.  Then, hang them in a spot that is visible from your bed.  Then, when your alarm goes off to get your booty to the gym–your clothes are visible and mocking you if you don’t get up and put them on.  I’ve even gone far enough to sleep in my gym clothes—hey, they’re clean!

Get Friends Involved

No one likes a lazy ass!  It’s like when you want to stay in on Saturday night and watch “Under The Tuscan Sun,” but your friend drags you out to some bar. And in the end, you get drunk and do the robot to “Sweet Caroline,” thinking that you are feeling great. You get the same feeling (unfortunately not the DRUNK feeling) when you are done working out with a friend. Working through the pain together feels much better than doing it alone… and when one of you wants to sleep in and give up–you know where they live!

Go Shopping

It’s the girly-est reason to want to work out…but having cute workout clothes you want to wear seriously helps you. Although, that feeling usually fades after about two weeks of wearing them but still! And on a 20-something budget you aren’t rockin’ Lululemon – you’re wearing the fitness clearance from Marshall’s—every little bit helps!  But just like anything in life, you need to treat yourself and splurge once in awhile on nice workout clothes, instead of flaunting the t-shirt from Field Day 1998 on the treadmill.

Don’t Be Cheap

Gym membership and fitness classes are not cheap, but they do help you stay motivated and active.  Most gyms are able to automatically withdraw money from your account each month, so in turn, not using your membership is allowing the gym to have it’s way your bank account even more than the rest of the world already does. Plus getting LivingSocial and Groupon deals on fitness classes are always fun and inexpensive. Let those purse strings loose a little for a guarantee of some money well spent.