I can haz more candy? or motivation?

Seriously---I don’t need any more candy. Or cheese potatoes (although they were fabulous!).  I certainly enjoyed myself over the holiday weekend.  Hope you all did as well!

Now that my food fest is over (we still have leftovers but I’m hoping DH will take care of all of those), it’s really time for me to get myself back into my gym routine.  Not sure why I slacked off so much, but I do know how great I feel when I am finished with a great workout.  That’s what I have to do to push myself forward. 

Sometimes it’s so easy to blow off the gym and go home and relax. I did that all weekend.  DH even went to the gym on Saturday and I just lazed about at home.  I am lucky that I lost some weight at my WW weigh-in this past Wednesday.

Which leads me to the real topic for the post (see, I did really have one!).  How do you continue to stay motivated after you’ve met a goal?   What’s next?

I’ve been working on that since I met my goal in 2008. Then it was to reach Lifetime status at WW.  When I did that I kind of thought it was party time.  Then I came crashing back to reality when I had  bit of a gain.

Every so often at WW meetings, we have this discussion.  Our leader Jane has been at this around 20 years, so she knows what it’s like to lose motivation or to get bored.  And you already know I have ADD, so I get bored VERY quickly.  I will get into something (such as a workout program) and then a few months later I am over it. 

That’s kind of how I am feeling right now.  I need to get back to more structure in my working out, like setting a schedule.  That way I don’t have to think about it.  I can just show up and do what I have prepared.  I know that doesn’t work for everyone, but I prefer that kind of approach.  Us ADD people need to change it up so we aren’t bored. 

Some ways I like to get back on track:

• Try new recipes and foods.  When I feel like I’m in a rut, I will start online with Pinterest, All Recipes or Clean Eating to find some new recipes to try out.  I keep my old issues of Clean Eating and will browse back through them.  I also check out other blogs and the WW site for a mountain of recipes.  The local farmers markets will be opening soon as well.  I love to browse the veggies and fruits each week to try something I may not normally try.  Just wish DH liked eggplant!
• Change your environment.  Yes—this one sounds really easy and silly.  But we all get used to doing our thing and we don’t really like change, especially if we were successful in the past with something.  For example, I am going to do different cardio this week.  Instead of doing the treadmill for 30 minutes (fine but boring for me now), I am going to go back to Zumba on Tuesday and Thursday.  I enjoy the dancing and the music—constant stimulation.  I know I look like a dork, but I have fun and burn tons of calories!

• Get outside!  Now that it’s warming up, get yourself outdoors to do your walking/running.  DH and I will often walk around our neighborhood after work in the summer and I will make SJ walk in the park after WW when it gets warmer.  Feels less like work but you are burning some calories! 

• Focus on your feelings.  Sounds kinda hippie-ish right? What I mean by this is think about how you will feel when it’s over.  When I finish a great workout I feel like Superwoman.  Use those feelings to push yourself forward.  Visualize an end result, such as you wearing those smaller-sized jeans or showing off your toned arms in a new top.  Or try the reverse—think about how you felt when you were overweight.  That ALWAYS does the trick for me.  When I know I have to get myself going and I’m not in the mood I think about my former fat self and how unhealthy I felt.  I realize how much I DON’T want to be like that ever again and it gets me going.

• Plan ahead.  Also sounds simple right? I can be a very big procrastinator as DH will be the first to tell you.  If I really don’t want to do something, I will find a way to put it off or an excuse for something that ‘needs to be done’.  But I have learned to recognize this and either A-give myself a break and admit I need to be lazy or B- tell myself too bad.  Last week I gave myself permission to be a bit lazy as there were a few things going on at home and I just wanted to relax and enjoy my day off.  But come this morning, I had my gym bag packed with everything ready to go so I could head to the gym right after work and get my weights done for the day. I knew if I didn’t, I would just go home and veg.  Then I’d feel like crap about it too.   If you make exercise like any other appointment, you are more inclined to follow through rather than just saying “I want to work out.”

• Find a way to make yourself accountable.  For me it’s going to WW that keeps me accountable.  The scale doesn’t lie really---if you haven’t been working out or overeating, you will know it!  But there are other ways to keep accountable without using a scale.  Try giving yourself a reward (not food related) for completing X amount of workouts in a week.  Or for each workout you complete, put $1 in a jar and then use the money for a treat for yourself. 

The hardest thing for me to realize in this journey of weight loss is that it never really ends.  But I am human and not perfect.  I will make mistakes, get bored and procrastinate. But I will also get back up and shake my booty at Zumba again and I will hit those weights hard too!  I will enjoy my Easter candy and will go to the gym the next day. 

Have a great Monday!  What is your motivation for working out?