My wall of motivation

This week as been a challenge. In my last post I wrote about recovering from my Las Vegas trip by eating clean and maximizing my workouts for the last 2 weeks of my P90X program. I have been sticking with my workout schedule and my diet has been great.

Tonight I will be watching the Cavs playoff game (I am a Cleveland gal). I love watching the Cavs play, not because I am a huge sports fan, but because of the incredible athleticism of the players, especially our very own LeBron James.

Dana Bail/Cavaliers, photo

James is a huge inspiration to me. Not that I have much in common with him (ok, actually nothing). It is less about identifying and more about aspiring. I look at him and think “he must work really hard to be that strong”. And I can identify with the variety of his workouts. Not only does he do strength training and cardio, but he also does yoga every week.

This whole line of thought brought me what motivates me. Not the immaterial concepts like vanity , (though that is a huge factor) but the things I look at every day to  keep myself going.

I have a whole little corner that I think of as my “motivation”. It consists of a few pictures of my ideal look and a mirror. She-Hulk has some great abs!

I also put little post it notes, which are extra workouts. When I finish one of the extra workouts I crumple up that little neon paper and do a happy dance. And if I am sticking to my goals, it will not look like the Truffle Shuffle. It is helpful for me to have these concrete reminders of where I want to go.

And while aspiration is a big one for me, there are many ways to motivate yourself to work out. I love the list of 31 Ways to Motivate Yourself over at ZenHabits. Here are a few of my favorites from Leo’s list -

How you feel after a workout. I always feel great after a good workout. It’s a high. And I let that motivate me the next time: “You know how good you’re going to feel, Leo!”

Calories burned. If you count calories (and it’s really one of the most effective ways to lose weight), you know that the more you exercise, the more calories you burn — and the bigger your calorie deficit.

Magazines. It motivates me to read fitness magazines. Not sure why, but it works.

Blogs. I enjoy reading blogs about people who are into running, or losing weight. It can show the ups and downs they go through, and you can learn from their experiences.

Rewards. If you exercise for a few days, give yourself a reward! A week? Another reward. Do it often in the beginning.

Fitting into new clothes. Wanna look good in a smaller size? Work out!

A workout partner. Best thing I’ve done.

An exercise log/graph. For some reason, writing it down is extremely important. Really. Do it for a week and you’ll see what I mean.

Your before picture. You often don’t realize how far you’ve come. Take pictures.

Reaching a goal. Set a goal for weight, or your waist measurement, or a number of days to work out, or a number of miles to run this week. Setting and tracking a goal helps motivate you to complete that goal. Make it easily achievable.

Posting it on your blog. Tell people you’re going to lose weight or exercise daily, and report to them. You’ll make it happen.

Others commenting on how good you look. When someone notices the changes in your body, it feels good. And it makes you want to work out more.

An upcoming day at the beach, or a reunion. Nuff said.

What about your motivation? Is it one thing, or several things? Does any of these work for you?

A lot of these are things I use to motivate myself. Mostly it’s vanity