Motivation to Exercise: 6 Good Tips to Be Consistent with Your Routine

Exercise is one of the greatest things you can do to improve your health, elevate your mood and increase your self-esteem. If you are having trouble staying motivated to exercise, you are not alone. Exercise gyms are crowed with people at the beginning of the year, but by Valentines Day the herd of enthusiastic people thin out as New Years resolutions fall by the wayside.

The main reason people are not motivated to exercise is because they engage in activities they don’t enjoy or do too much to soon in an attempt to maximize results in a short period of time. When you do a workout that is too challenging, painful or boring, you will “fall of the wagon” and eventually quit. Here are some tips that will give you motivation to exercise so you will be consistent with your routine:

1. Take baby steps. Engage in a workout that will leave you saying: Hey that wasn’t that bad, I can do this every day.
2. Pray for the strength, focus and determination to get up and exercise on a regular basis. Nothing will motivate you like the power of God in your life strengthening your spirit and uplifting your countenance.
3. Make your body move with daily work that needs to get done like, gardening, cleaning the yard or house. Play with your kids, try a jump roping contest, run a race down the street or play tag. These are fun ways to make your body move and bring out the kid in you.
4. Get a workout partner who is a little more physically fit than you are. You partner can motivate you to pick up the pace and not slow you down when you’re ready to go to the next level of fitness.
5. Buy some nice workout clothes to wear. Sometimes we don’t want to go out because we have nothing nice to wear at the gym. If you have a new wardrobe of cute workout clothes, you’ll be more inclined to workout out just to show them off.
6. Switch up your exercise routine. Don’t do the exact same workout every day. Try walking outside one day and an exercise video the next day, then go out for a swim. Keep the workouts new, fresh and interesting so you will not get bored.

If you use these six tips to stay motivated to exercise, you will be well on your way to being consistent with your own custom made workout routine. Set your own pace, don’t over do it and keep it fun and interesting. I recommend challenging yourself to do a 5k, 10k or half marathon every 3 months to have a goal to work towards. Put yourself in the company of people with similar goals so you can stay focused. The benefits of exercise far outweigh the cons, so do your best to make time to workout and take better care of your body. You’re so worth it!

About the Author
Bonnie Mechelle is the author of the best seller: Overcome Compulsive Overeating... Now, and the executive producer of The Healthtopia Radio Show in Atlanta, Georgia. She has lost over 120 pounds naturally on her own and now empowers women who struggle with weight gain, divorce, single motherhood, eating disorders, chronic illness and clinical depression. See her latest movie, The Inner Weigh and subscribe to her Christian Women's e-Magazine at www.myhealthtopia.com. If you’re ready for one-to-one faith-based weight loss coaching, get started at www.christianweightlossmentor.com. God bless you.