The motivation for doing something is key for me. I'm an over-thinker so I can't just do something for the sake of doing it. It has to have a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is fun, or because whatever I'm doing makes me happy. But I've never been able to just do without some type of meaning or reason behind my actions. So if I'm going to commit myself to doing something every day, it has to have some rock-solid motivation behind it. In the case of working out, I could go on and on about the benefits. But today, I'll just give you my top four reasons for getting my butt in gear every. single. day.
It's vital to find reasons that motivate you now and will continue to motivate you. You will not find "get skinny" or "lose weight" on this list. It's not that I don't want to lose weight. I'm human and I could stand to lose a few. But it's not a good enough reason for me to exercise everyday. Working out is hard. It's called "working" for a reason. And some days, I care about my weight more than other days, so just the prospect of possibly losing some weight is not enough for me. It is far from enough, in fact. Especially since I've actually had the experience of running six miles every day and not losing one pound for MONTHS. (Can you say frustrating?!) Anyway, I digress.
I have managed to find the right motivation for exercising for me. Maybe getting thin is one of your top motivators, but it just doesn't cut it for me at this time in my life. I remember saying to Quinn (my husband) about six months ago that I wanted to lose weight, but more than that, I just wanted to be happy with how I looked. I wanted to be confident and not have self-esteem issues every other time I looked in a mirror (after-baby body can be a rough thing to deal with, especially when your babies are ten-pounders). Living like that was not okay with me. And I'm happy to say that after making exercising a bigger part of my life, I still have days when I wish I were thinner, but generally, I am ten-times happier with the way I look. And honestly, I don't think it changed that much. I just changed my perception of it, which was my goal in the first place.
