Motivated all the time? Nope!
I'd say I'm motivated about 75% of the time. The other times, I have to find my motivation, or just stick with it because it's a habit (like I'm not always "motivated" to brush my teeth, but it's got to be done!).
If I'm low on intrinsic motivation (the motivation that comes from inside), I will find some kind of external motivation. Challenges and check-ins are something that works well for me. I'm currently doing a P90X-like Hardcore Rotation Check-in on VF, and a 2005 workout challenge (we choose how many days we will workout or how many workouts we will do for the year, then report in once a month) over at
www.videofitness.com . Knowing that I'm accountable to my workout "buddies" helps keep me working out even when motivation is a bit low.
I'm also currently doing an "Active for Life" challenge in my community, that is currently keeping my motivation up. Teams of people (my team is faculty from the Foreign Langauges Department) keep track of fruit and vegetable consumption, water intake, and minutes of activity and are scores are compared to those of other teams. So far, we're leading in 3 out of 4 categories (we're smokin' everyone in terms of fruit/veggie consumption and minutes of activity!!). As you can see, a bit of "friendly competition" can do wonders for motivation. (though too much "competition" can be demotivational, IMO).
Sometimes that external motivation can come in strange forms, like getting a pretty new workout outfit (I have an entire wardrobe of workout wear), or getting dressed to workout 1-3 hours ahead of the workout while I watch a movie or correct papers, and then pretty much HAVE to workout because I'm dressed to!
Knowing that consistency is important, if I'm not motivated to do the "high intensity" workout I planned for some day, I'll do a lower intensity workout (and I firmly believe that varying workout intensities is very important).
Right now, feeling (as in "where did that hamstring muscle come from?") and seeing results from my intitial 2 weeks of my Hardcore rotation is keeping me motivated to continue with it.
As for "clean eating," frankly I hate the term because it sounds so gimmicky, and implies that there is such a thing as "dirty eatiing," which seems to place a moral value judgement on it. Also, some peole include "foods" that I wouldn't consider to be foods in that category(most protein bars and energy bars). I prefer the term "whole foods" which emphasizes real food in it's least processed state.
I have been a whole-foods-eating vegetarian, then vegan, for many years, and at this point, most "junk food" has no appeal to me. It just doesn't taste as good as healthier food...MOST of the time!! I do indulge in treats, but I try to stick with mostly healthier, natural foods treats (about every two weeks, I'll down an entire pint of strawberry Soy Dream---a soy "ice cream" substitute-- in one sitting! But that only 480 calories). It's a far cry from the way I ate up until I went to college: lots of chips, pepsi, sugar, white bread (at that time, whole grain breads were disgusting to me, now I feel the same about white bread---YUK!).
Sorry about being so long-winded (that's just the way I am! and I type fast, so I can get a lot "said" in a little time).
I guess I am just so amazed at all the people on here. If I worked out like that all the time I wouldn't be able to move...lol...but maybe that will improve as I do more Cathe. Just a few questions and thoughts. Thanks all!
