6 Ways to Motivate yourself to Exercise

1. Exercise as early as possible. The earlier we exercise in the day, the less interruptions or excuses can come up to prevent us from doing it. It also sets our physical state for the day. Endorphins are making us feel good as well as the psychological affect of knowing we accomplished our exercise goal for the day and are on the road to achieving our fitness aspirations!

2. Do an exercise that you enjoy. Strive to do the exercise that you love. Never mind which type of activity burns more calories. Don't run if you like to powerwalk. Don't do the stationary bike if you love to run. Don't run if you love to do classes at the gym. Don't do classes at the gym if you like to swim! The point is when you do the activities you enjoy the most, chances are you'll keep doing them.

3. Don't overextend yourself. Exercise is to be enjoyed as well as get us fit. If we are overextending ourselves to get to our fitness goals quicker, it can only cause discouragement from wanting to do it and make the whole exercise session too strenous and unenjoyable. Who wants to do it again tomorrow? Go at a moderate pace that you can handle, but where you are still being challengged. Your level physical capabilities will gradually increase and you'll be able to do more. It takes time. Remember, you're in it for the longhaul!

4. Listen to your favorite music! It's amazing how when we listen to music we love during exercise, minutes can fly by quickly with not even remembering we are exercising! Getting caught up in the music and how it makes us feel can make exercise significantly more tolerable and enjoyable. While jamming to the tunes, be proud of yourself!

5. Put up motivating pictures on the walls. Putting up pictures of people who look and feel the way we want to, and/or scriptures about strength to get us pumped, can laregly motivate us to do what we have to do. Even seeing the pictures at times when we don't have to exercise can get us excited for the next exercise session!

6. Make a chart of your exercise schedule and days to exercise. When you do this and put a check beside each day you exercise, it is motivating to see how many days you are actually exercising and that you are really doing it! You see that you are getting closer and closer to your goals and that you can really be a lifestyle exerciser if you commit. When you've accomplished a certain amount of days, like a week (even a day if that's huge for you) you can reward yourself with something like a movie, an item of clothing or a nice dinner out.

You can do it!