Help! Tricks you use to jump start!

Timber99

Timber99

Cathlete
We all have times in our lives when we slack off and need to get started again. I am having a "time" right now and need some motivation, tips, etc. to get back going. What tips do you use when you need a "push!??"

I've beem an exerciser for years now after a huge weight loss in 1996. Life's been tough the past few months for me and my motivation is lacking, no matter how hard I try to push. I am still working out but not very motivated to do so. My eating is in a slump. I have put on a few pounds in the past month and just feel yucky. I know it will only take a few weeks of clean eating and hard work but I just need...a push!

All input appreciated!
 
Hi there,

This may seem like an overly simplistic suggestion, but I find that trying something new in my workouts helps to re-inspire and motivate me out of a slump - maybe some new workout DVDs/VHS, different instructors, a live class, etc.

Lately I've been doing the "mish-mosh" thing with my Cathe workouts and it's created a fun and challenging change of pace.

HTH
 
I'm in a slump too. Was feeling PMS fatigue last week, and my endurance was next to nil. That plus sinus/allergy problems has reduced my motivation to couch-potato level, and I just feel fatigued overall.

I'd also love to hear some strategies for motivation and how to workout in spite of a lack of it.

My strategy - starting tonight - is "just do it" to the best of my ability, and then I'll try to get a little stronger and go a little longer every night. To me, doing something is better than doing nothing, and usually you can push yourself more than you think you can.

Oh - and a last resort secret weapon? Caffeine before working out - a cup of coffee sometimes works wonders.
 
I find that having a "ritual" helps me get back into the swing of thing. It starts with determining what time I'm going to work out, and sticking to that plan. Then I get into picking out the outfit I'm going to wear for my workout (sometimes picking up some new workout wear--I love sale shopping at www.carushka.com to get cute but inexpensive fitness wear--adds motivation for me, even though no one else sees the outfit). An hour before workout time rolls around, I have a snack, sometimes watch a TV prgram that only lasts one hour, or use the time to write out the weights I'm going to use if I'm doing a weight workout.

TO get started, find a workout that is fun and don't worry if it's as tough as you think it should be. The point is to get that first push.

By the way, P90X is a great push: it's a rotation that's allready set up, and it has variety and effectiveness. (And, no, I do not work for Beach Body!).
 
I agree with the caffeine (cup of coffee) Joni. As much as I hate to admit this is one of my 'best' tricks -;) Sometimes it is just the kick I need and it comes into play in the middle of the workout when I feel like giving up.

Another thing (someone says mish-mosh their workouts, above). If I understand them right---and what works for me--is to just really mix it up for a couple of day, or even a week. I am one who needs a chnge, or I start second-guessing my motives and talking all 'negative ' to myself. When that happens I go to something extrememly different. Like I'll do Tae Bo for a couple of days, Or Run as far as I can on cardio days rather than a DVD. Or Go to a Fort that is near me and run up and down the hills till I can't take it anymore--:p Or even take a day and just do some power yoga. Usually, this is enough to get me over the hump and the next day I feel rady for Cathe's and the tough stuff.

The eating, Maybe you need to just have a talk with yourself. Sometimes I journal about why I am eatinbg this way (when it's bad) and where my thinking is coming from. Sort of a big mental purge.
 
Oh, yeah--Kathryn's right---if I get a new outfit, I feel like using it right away. Even though no one sees it but me, and I'm going to sweat all over it...:p .....sometimes that will get me in the mood.
 
I've said this in a previous post.

I visualize bad eating and not working out periods (i.e. Christmas, Thanksgiving holidays) as a black hole (crater) in the ground. For each workout and good eating day, I take a step or two away from the hole. In a few weeks, that black hole is a dot on the horizon.

Plus I have a new mantra for working out "Who'll know? I will!"

Then there's the getting back in the saddle motif.

Then there's the shutting the door behind me. Can't do anything about then, can only do something about now.

Plus I use that old tried and true method -- "just do it" for a minimum of 15 minutes. (Once I've been at it for 15 minutes, I aim for 30 minutes. I almost always finish the full hour doing this.

And sometimes I say to myself in absolute amazement. "What the f*&k?!! I haven't died from not working out!! And that last mega muffin and Mom's double-chocolate-chocolate-chip cookies didn't kill me." And then I stick my tongue out at the mirror and swear not to look at my protruding abs. Which makes me laugh! And the laughter cleanses me. And then I walk away from the black hole.

Patricia
 
I usually make a nice cup of tea and then put a Cathe workout in to watch it, preview again, especially if it is something I have not done for a while, and I find that by the time I have finished drinking my tea, and Cathe is halfway through the workout, my feet are tapping, my body is swaying in the chair in the direction of the moves that my body knows and remembers and I can't wait: I shove back the furniture, throw on my gear and hit it!

Like Kathryn, when starting over after a slump, I ignore ideas about "what I should be doing" and head straight for what's fun so I can just let myself go into the music and not think about how it might be hurting....

Another trick that works for me is to issue myself a new goal or challenge: it stops the days seem like "endless working out with no end in sight to it"!!! Instead it is "great, 4 weeks of Slow & Heavy to bust through this plateau and see if I can increase my poundage for chest and back," whatever your new goals may be.

Or you may decide to add a new element to your training to shake things up a bit: add yoga, pilates, get tapes by another instructor bcause a new vibe will get you intrested in working out again, find some medicine ball workouts, grab a friend and get out powerwalking and powergabbing (gossipping!!!) at the same time: on a nice day, a good walk with either a friend or fab music can be a real kick in the pants, in a good way!

Short answer: change something up!!! The outfit, the music, the goal, the type of exercise, the instructor, etc.

These work for me.

Also, I never start back on a rainy day: I grab a sunny day, open the doors and let the sun flood in while I work out, then it improves my health and my mood 10-fold, because mood problems are what are responsible for slumps after all....

You'll know when you are ready to get back into it: it may not be today or necessarily tomorrrow. Don't sweat it: you'll know when it's time and when it's time to stop feeling sorry for yourself, give yourself a huge kick up the butt and get going again! Finally don't feel too bad about it, we all go through it and some of us (me!) more than others!

Clare
 
I'm with Kathryn. I lay out my gear the night before and eyeball it while I drink my coffee. Once my coffee kicks in, I put those clothes on and having done so, I am unlikely to talk myself out of the workout. The hardest part is always the first step out the door or getting my workout mats, weights and steps out but I do that without thinking too much and I sometimes give myself a pep talk. I know I feel miserable if I skip. I always feel better when it's done. I eat better too. I also have a plan to loosely follow and a log that let's me see what I've done. It's great when the month tallies up to five or six workout days per week. Now it's so much a habit, I don't talk myself out of it too often. You just need to get back in the habit. You can do it! You go, girl!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
Order a new Cathe workout...tee hee or do an activity you really enjoy without worrying about a rotation. Do your absolute favorite workouts/activities until you get back into the swing of things. Sometimes you just have to do it even when you don't feel like it. You KNOW you will feel better after you get back into working out. Make one or two dietary changes at a time and journal what you are eating. If you slip up get right back on track instead of letting it cycle into days of bad eating. Good luck....you can do this!
Angela:7
 
If I'm feeling really lazy and lumpy, I can often kickstart myself by doing some active housework like vacuuming, matress-turning, sheet-changing, etc. This gets me over the urge to sit and vegetate. Caffeine also helps, or walking to the mailbox.
 
Sometimes browsing the Collage catalog or Cathe's video/DVD library or even reading fitness-related magazine articles helps to motivate me. I start thinking, "Oh, I can do THAT!" Then I want to try it. But I'm an English teacher, so reading has always been motivating for me.

Shari
 
THANK YOU!

These are all great ideas! I am still doing "okay," but my motivation just stinks! I will use all of your ideas to get it back. Thank you!
 
RE: THANK YOU!

Timber,

Don't wait for motivation to kick in. 'Just do it' and you will motivate yourself.:7
 
LOL.... Flipping through a Victoria's Secret catalog.... that gets my butt up off the couch every time! :p
 
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