What's Your Motivation?

     I think one of the biggest reasons we never follow through on our aerobic fitness routine is lack of motivation. We've all been there at one time or another. Over the last year I've been battling this lack of motivation and I don't need to tell you it's hard to get out of because you already know it! 

     18 months ago when I had my daughter I was so excited to get back into shape. I was still in good shape right before I had her (well, good shape for a pregnant woman) because I had been exercising before my pregnancy and was able to do so all during pregnancy. And when I say I was exercising I mean I was really exercising. Weight training, basketball, running, swimming with the team I coached during their practices up until the day I went into labor, volleyball, everything you could possibly think of, I did. As a PE major we were required to participate in all of these things for 2-4 hours a day and I loved it! However, I still managed to gain 52 pounds over my 9 month pregnancy.

    After my baby girl was born I felt great! Being in shape made labor, deliver, and recovery easier on me than I'm sure it would have had I not been in so great of shape, and everyone kept telling me that because of my exercise during pregnancy my body was going "bounce right back." About a week and a half after my natural childbirth I was ready to start running (my mom was there and she said no...always the voice of reason). By the time I hit my 6 week checkup my doctor said I could do whatever I wanted, though he didn't know I'd already had. :) School started up again 3 months later and I was back into 2-4 hour per day workouts. By January I'd started student teaching at a high school teaching aerobics classes 6 hours a day and training for a half marathon in the afternoons. By May 1st, nearly a year after my daughter was born, I ran my first half marathon.

     Now why did I tell you all of this? Because you may be surprised to know that all of my hard work yielded nothing. I lost zero weight. I even gained some weight (and I promise you it was not muscle, I do know the difference and I would have been happy to gain back some muscle mass). This took a serious hit to my motivation. After working so hard I had nothing to show for it. I went from a pre-pregnancy size 8-10 depending on the style all the way to a size 16. If I'd been sitting on my butt the whole time I'd say I deserved it. But after all of that hard work and no results I was ready to quit. And I did quit for a while.

     7 weeks ago I started doing Turbo Jam and I joined Weight Watchers. In that 7 weeks I've lost 21 pounds. I've still got 30 to go, but I love that things are finally working out for me again. The start of weight loss gave me back the motivation I needed to keep going. I've kept up my cardio routine and I exercise 5-6 days a week now because I want to. I love seeing results, I'm so happy with the way things are going, and I want to keep doing it. My motivation is back!
     I realize that was a long story, but I feel you needed the background story and realize just how devastated I was before things picked up again. So, what motivates you? Seeing the weight loss, feeling strong and healthy? Looking better in a swimsuit? Fitting into your wedding dress? Six-pack abs? Find what motivates you and use it to your advantage. Make a list of short term goals for yourself. My short term goals look something like this:

- Lose 5% of my body weight

- Lose another 5% for a total of 10% of my body weight

- Lost 5 more % for a total of 15% of my body weight 

- Have another baby

     Yup, I said it. I want to have another baby. I don't want to keep getting bigger and bigger every time I have a baby so I want to get that weight down before I get pregnant. My short term goals are to lose only 5% of my body weight each time. I've blown away my first two goals and I'm working on my third. Accomplishing one short term goal gave me motivation to accomplish another. Eventually, I'll accomplish my ultimate goal and have another baby (hopefully with less than 52 ponds to go along with it).

     So short, simple, and to the point, my motivation to keep up my cardio routine is that I like losing weight and I want to have another baby.
     Here's the plan, I want you to set at least 3 (feel free to do more) short term, easily accomplished goals for yourself. Even if goal number 1 is to walk for 15 minutes a day, 3 times a week. Next, share those goals with as many people as you feel comfortable with. The more people that know about these goals, the more you feel obligated to do them. They might check up on you, or you might want to report to them to keep yourself in check. Lastly, get to it! Start hammering away on that list right away! Keep your list in a place where you can see it and be sure to reward yourself along the way. My reward for weight-loss is a shopping trip to buy smaller clothes.
     All that being said, leave a comment telling us how you stay motivated and what you do when motivation is lacking. Tell us your story. Feel free to post your short term goals as well!