I decided that even though this is the last day of March I'll probably end up carrying on with this motivation topic for a little bit (partly because I didn't start it until the middle of the month and partly because I seriously need this too!). Besides my last long post on motivation, feedback, and all that good stuff, there are some silly little things that I do that help to keep me motivated and I wanted to share those things with you in hopes that some of them might spark a motivational flame for you as well!
This is a little embarrassing to admit, but I love to read success stories! I love to read stories where the writer's situation is very similar to mine so that their success seems real and do-able for me too. Whenever I get into an exercise slump I look up fitness success stories and I read away. And I don't just read one or two. I read pages and pages of success stories and before long, I'm itching to get up and start working out. No joke, this works wonders for me! All that being said, if you have a success story of your own that you would like to share, please email me at sarabsorensen@gmail.com and I'll post your story here on Turbo Fit to help motivate and inspire other readers.
Another motivational tool I use is to first think of why I'm working out. As I've mentioned in previous posts I wanted to lose weight in preparation for trying to get pregnant with my second child (check and check!). Reminding myself that the reason I wanted to achieve my weight loss goal was for something as important as wanting to expand my family helped me to push through those tough times when it seems like you've asked too much of yourself. If your reasons for weight loss or toning are important to you and you keep those reasons in mind, you're much more likely to carry though. Now my reason for staying in great shape is that I'll be pregnant through swimsuit season and if I can't have my tight, flat abs back, at least I can have the rest of my body look amazing and not flabby. (I know, not as awe inspiring as my first reason of having another baby, right?) Not being a flabby pregnant lady is very important to me (as is the ability to have an easier labor and delivery because I stayed in shape) and so it's something that helps me keep moving when I'm too sick or too tired.
Social peer pressure is another motivator for me. About a year and a half ago one of my best friends told me she was going to run a half marathon and asked me to run it with her. I hate running. Oh how I hate running! But the silly thing about running is that I feel so good after and I'm a prideful person so I though it would be cool to be able to say "Why yes, I did run a half marathon." So I agreed to train with her. It was slow going, we had some injuries at first that we had to work through so that we could actually start serious training but we ran faithfully together three times per week, both pushing strollers, from about January until May 1st, race day. I can tell you right now that there is NO way I could have done that on my own. I would have made it through that first week and then given up. I can't speak for my friend because she's totally amazing and probably could have done it without me, but I know I couldn't have done it without her motivating me every step of the way (literally). Sometimes it takes friends to keep us going and so I would suggest working out with a partner. Even if you only go on morning walks with your partner, having someone depend on you while you're depending on them keeps you from quitting. This very much follows what I talked about last time about being accountable to someone.
Please write in with your success stories you want to share and please leave comments on things that help you stay motivated! (Remember, feedback is an important motivating factor so please leave feedback for me! I like to know how I'm doing!)
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