Motivated?

Where does it come from? It's one of those tricky things where one day you're so motivated and the next day you're so not..how can you motivate yourself to keep on going..not stopping..but ultimately making it part of your life that you don't need the constant motivation..

Eventually, I will get into my story- how I became a personal trainer, my goals, my tools, and how I achieved them..a lot of that is actually written in my "Success Story" so I'm waiting on my former manager to email it to me..I was the "Success Story" at Total Woman Gym 2 years ago, which was my introduction to health and fitness and since then I can proudly say the more I learn the more I love, and I'm always looking for ways to challenge myself, challenge others and hopefully inspire and encourage friends and family to make some good changes in their daily life..so when I get the copy of the story I'll share it and add some insight..

But before that lets talk about some good motivational tools..Over the years I've been through different stages in my training and fitness level...weight loss, body-building, sculpting, leaning out, and maintaining. What I love so much about working out is that you can literally transform your body (within your own genetic limitation-I'll talk about that another time) into whatever you chose depending on the work you put in. So whether you need to lose weight, tone up, bulk up- there is a method for everything where all your hard work pays off and is proven with results. Like anything, weight loss is all logic- calories in vs. calories out and muscle building helps in burning calories..but now we're getting off topic...

When I need to lose weight, there are a few motivational tools I like to use, everyone has their own but I'll share a few that have worked for me..

Set a goal: Pick a reasonable goal that is easy enough to stick with, but hard enough to challenge you. DO NOT just say, "I need to lose 20 lbs"..be more descriptive.."I want to lose 2 lbs. this week"..in order to do that I will, increase my cardio days, cut back on carbs after 4 p.m. and try to limit my fruits to 1 or 2 a day..This way- you have a reasonable goal that you can easily work towards all week, and the feeling of accomplishment when you have lost those 2 lbs will inspire you to continue and not give up..

Pick a clothing item: When I was struggling to lose weight after I gave birth to Chaya I bought myself a skirt that was too small for me, zipper barely zipped. I told myself I'm going to do whatever it takes to fit into this skirt. I made myself an eating and work out plan and every week I would try on that skirt to see how it fit. Lo and behold, it kept getting loser and loser until one day, it fit perfectly. Of course I didnt stop there, I went out again and bought another skirt too small and continued the process. So find yourself a piece of clothing that you know realistically (again be honest with yourself) you can fit into and work from there. Set yourself a goal- and stick to it.

Find a picture: I always love finding a picture of someone that has a body I love. Generally b/c its so easily accesible mine has always been a picture of a celeb with a similar body structure to mine..simply having that picture around..in the kitchen, on the fridge, in my gym- it reminds me what I'm aiming for and what I can acheive with hard work..

Write it down: Get yourself a notebook and start writing. Write the day and date, write down exactly what you ate- your workout- was it a good day? Bad day? Talk to yourself..motivate yourself..especially if it was a particularly good day write down how good you feel so on days where you feel like giving up you can refer back to those good feelings..

Find a buddy: I say this last b/c it can be a great motivation and a good push- but it can have the opposite effect so just be careful. I used to run every morning a friend-  it was a great schedule and something I easily got used to but whenever my friend didnt feel well or wasnt in the mood- it was as if I was given a day off and didnt have to run that day..so as long as your able to motivate yourself- finding someone to do it with you is great motivation..