We’ve all been there.
We’re doing well with exercise and then something happens, we get out of the habit and lose motivation. And try as we might, we just can’t get back into it for whatever reason! We know we should be doing it but other things keep pulling us away - friends wanting to go out and socialize, laundry, studying, even the television is calling our name.
And by “we” I mean me, too! If I get involved in something that pulls me away from exercise and it pulls for to too long, it’s super hard to get back on track. So what’s the solution?
Well, for me, two things have worked: the type of exercise, and a good audio book. I recently started running outside. I am normally a treadmill runner through and through. It’s easier for me to stop running when I’m outside, but when the belt is whipping by, stopping is much harder. But to my surprise, it’s been nice to run outside for a change. Maybe I just needed difference of scenery to bring back my motivation or maybe I just needed the cold air to kick me in the butt. The other piece that has been helpful is having something good to listen to. I usually listen to music on Pandora, but it’s hard to run and try to skip songs that I don’t like, or change the channel while running. I downloaded (for free) and started listening to the Serial podcast from the creators of This American Life. It was great - I loved it. When that ended I started a 30-day free trial of Audible and downloaded the book All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner. I’m not done with chapter one yet so I really can’t tell you what it’s about or how I feel about it, but her other books have been great so I expect the same from this one. I made a rule for myself that I can only listen to the audio book when exercising and it has not only helped keep me motivated, but sometimes I will go a little longer than intended or take the dog for an extra walk just so I can hear what happens next! So far, changing up the type of exercise and the audio books have been helping a lot - I highly suggest trying either if you are stuck in low-motivationland.
What keeps you motivated when you seem to lose steam? You are definitely not alone, so share what works for you - I’m sure it would be helpful to others!