If you have a hard time motivating yourself to work out, here's a little trick. Every time you exercise, whether you go for a run, a hike with a friend, or hit the gym, mark that day with a little star in your calendar. It'll give you a quick general overview of how often you've been working out that month so far, plus it'll serve as a visual reminder of how long it's been since you last worked out.
If stars don't do it for you, then draw a big X, smiley face, heart, or a little flower. You can even use different shapes or colors to show what kind of activity you did each day. It's definitely a great feeling when you can look back in your calendar and see all those days marked off. For even more motivation, reward yourself every time you get 20 stars.
Nica
Miss Avant Premiere
Hogan
This is a good idea, especially if you need visual motivation. I don't really need extra motivation to work out, but sometimes it's nice to give myself a little incentive for getting off my butt and working out.
1While I don't do it all the time, sometimes I keep a fitness journal when I'm trying to reach some specific goal. It's the same idea, but it also has details that help me see my progress and well as what's been neglected. It's a great motivator, since I always want to do a little more than last week.
2I use the foil star stickers you find at office supply stores and a muscle car calendar. The whole thing cracks me up at the end of the month.
3i do this... it helps motivate me to work out if i see that i've been slacking lately.
4Fantastic idea: I don't know why I did not think about it before!
5I started jogging a some weeks ago using the "couch to 5k plan" that I saw on fit sugar. I am now trying to run 20 to 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. I also started a journal of my daily intake of food. Since then I started to lose a bit of weight: this system would a great to keep motivated and consistent.
Thanks for the tip!
I totally do this!
6I keep a specified schedule of my workout (I call it my workout log). I exercise 6 days a week (with Saturday being my day off) and I write down exactly what I did. I plan ahead so it keeps me focused, and I don't get bored often since I change my routine constantly.
7I've been doing this for the past month and it's a great motivator.
8I do this! I actually use different colors for different workouts: yellow for running, green for swimming... I also write down what I did. I like to look at the calendar at the end of the month and see how much I did.
9I do this, too! My friend gave me a set of cute little rubber stamps for Christmas last year, and I didn't know what to do with them until I thought of marking the calendar. Now I love the sense of accomplishment I get from looking back on my month
10I do this as well. I'm a very visual person and this is uber motivating for me. I love seeing all of the X's on my calendar:)
11I've been doing this for years, I love it! I use different color pens for weight training and running, and actually write how many miles or what I did. It is great for motivation, but it is also great for those days when I am just a lazy blob and start feeling bad about myself - I can just look at my calendar and see that I am, in fact, sticking to my workout schedule, and then I don't feel like I'm sliding into un-fit habits just because I'm taking a day off.
12I've been doing the sparkly-star sticker thing for about 6 months, and it's great! You can look at your calendar at the end of the month and count up all of the days that you've worked out. It makes me very proud of myself, and I'm less worried about taking a day off to rest because I can see that I've been "on track" the rest of the time.
13I do this, too. For me, it's about knowing how many times I've worked out (per week), and to give myself adequate recovery time. Truthfully, I do this to help me slow down, as I have a tendency to over-exercise, and my body would suffer from it.
14This is a great idea!
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