What’s Your Workout Mantra?

I am slim and really don't need to workout...but I want to get myself in shape (i'm talking about my not-so-flat tummy and legs with extra fat) so I motivate myself by thinking about my future...'how good would I look in shorts' or 'how good would I look with that dress on me'...the idea of looking good and healthy can really motivate even the laziest person ( I am very lazy when it comes to working out). :p

I keep motivated by thinking about my future. I am only 24 years old and I want to make sure that once I have kids I will be able to run around and play with them and grow old with them. Not to mention when that time comes I want to be able to see my grandchildren grow up.

So every morning when I go to drop off my husband at 5am I head straight to the gym arriving at the gym at about 6am and I stay in the gym for a minimum of 2 hours. Not to mention the personal trainers help by motivating my confidence and having a friendly gym environment helps also.

I am 52 years-old, and it is getting harder and harder to stay motivated or find the desire to workout - and I have always loved working out. Our son, 24 years-old, drives me and my husband to workout with him. We have a very nice collection of hard-core weights in our garage. We split our workouts into body parts, and have 30-40 minutes weight sessions 3-4 times a week. I am now also including 30-40 minutes of step aerobics 4-5 times a week. Presently, I weigh 225 lbs (yikes!). When I met my husband I weighed 125. I am very depressed, but I am also looking to make a real change in my life and lifestyle.

I also go for a few weeks & work out hard, then get sick. I get sick almost every time I go back to the gym. If I don't get sick, I typically slip back into bad habits as well...:(
I've found the buddy really helps though.

My boyfriend and I keep each other motivated. There are times when I just can't bear the thought of stepping into the gym, but he reminds me how great we feel afterwards and how it helps us surf better and longer. My suggestion to anyone who has trouble staying motivated, get a workout partner ... whether it's your significant other, best friend, sister, mother.

i exercise every 2 days and it's the same schedule that i wash my hair. so that is the motivation for me to get my sneakers and move the body. why? because i'd prefer to wash my hair at the fitness shower, since the water comes out stronger than the one i have at home.

My darling husband.
After completing the police academy, he is in the best shape of his life. He is in better shape now than when we started dating 17 years ago. I have lost 20lbs and 4 sizes in 5 mos. He encourages me to take it slow, and make changes that we can all live with. We work together, it keeps me on track.
My boys keep me moving, at ages 9, 7, and 4, they love to be active with me. I am driven to cook healthy meals for them, so I reap the benefit of clean eating too.
When I feel a little sluggish, like I want to skip a work out or eat a meal I will be sorry for later, I hit the internet and go to the fitness magazine sites, they are full of all sorts of motivational blurbs that remind me how far I have come and that the road ahead is clearly mapped out for me, all I have to do is stay on the right path.

Every morning when I wake up n feel lazy to exercise, I just imagine what my day will be like if I'm not throwing my energy n emotion through the exercise work out. If I don't do the work out, my day seems so very boring n not in the high spirit. Since I work in high emotion 'eater' environment and work out in the morning really helpful to throw some emotion n energy and make me cool down whenever I face work problem. So that's my motivation, though might not work for other people, but it works out for me. Some people even say that I have more spirit to work out than to work....:-P

I find that after I've worked out, I feel so happy, but it's the will to start:-(... I try to work out at least 3 times a week, sometimes more and it definitely helps when I'm with a friend as I tend to want to compete and do my best. In the long run, it's just easier to work out to get the freedom to eat what I like with little qualms :-)

I put my workout gear in the trunk of my car first thing of the morning, so I have no excuse not to exercise after work. I also remind myself exercise is not only good for the body, but mind as well. That hour or so is "me" time & I'm doing something positive. I always feel refreshed after a work out.

I am in the middle of an intense workout program - six days a week - and I am doing it with a friend. We talk and text about it every day, which helps keep me motivated. My goal (among other ones) is to have sweet biceps, so I wrote this and stuck it on my fridge. "If you want guns, you have to work hard." Tis true, and it is keeping me focused.

When I'm working out, I think about ice cream. No joke. I remind myself that if I want to indulge my sweet tooth with the foods I crave, I have to earn them.

To stay motivated I step on the scale daily. I have a bag of stuff I need for the Jim packed and ready. I find that when I go to the Gym with friends my time there goes by faster. Having friends work out with me puts me into the competitive mode.

I go great for 2 weeks then I slip back to bad habits....HELP!!

Kerrington D.
Wow! Thanks ladies...I enjoyed reading each of the comments...especially the encouragement to stick it out...the 2 minutes and the last thirty seconds. Now...I just need to get started. Here's to all of our "SUPER WORKOUTS".
Lady K.

IF IT IS TO BE IT'S UP TO ME!!! THE HARDEST PART IS GETTING STARTED.. I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET TWO MILES A DAY IN FOR ABOUT 3-4 DAYS A WEEK. THAT IS DEFINATELY PROGRESS FOR ME. IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER!

Guilt. If I don't get out of bed soon after my dog realizes that I am awake, he starts whining. So I pull on my sweats, snap on the leash & off we go for a romp in the park. I sometimes have to remind myself to step up the pace in order to have a decent workout for me. Of course, he does not recognize weekends or holidays. But he does seem to understand when the morning weather is just too nasty and he is relegated to the backyard.

I think of all the benefits. I feel more awake every morning, I tend to pick healthier food choices, I get a high while doing it that is created from my own chemicals. If nothing else I think about how I would look in a swim suit and that puts me jolting to the gym :)

At school, I live literally ten feet away from the gym. Seeing people in their workout clothes walking to and fro makes me feel inadequate unless I go and work out as well.

I always remind myself how good I'm going to feel afterward and that usually gets me motivated enough to work out about six times a week. I also swim with a master's team, which is a great structured experience that has me swimming harder and longer than I would by myself. When I run, I try to hit the trails, since it's a natural incentive to exercise somewhere that's so pretty.

After I workout I always have a lot more energy. I do Pilates three days a week, spinning + kick boxing twice a week. I workout a lot harder when I take classes. I try to tell myself when it hurts that I'll feel better once it's over and that's always how I feel.

I always think about how good it feels after a workout ... that tingling feeling you get throughout your body and the mild soreness the next day ... the feeling that you are empowering your mind and body. I won't experience that unless I workout!

My mantra is similar; whenever I can't stand the thought of going to the gym (which occurs pretty frequently) I just think, all you have to do is ten minutes of exercise, ten minutes and you'll be better off than you were with nothing. Then, once I trick myself into doing ten minutes, I usually end up feeling pretty good at that point and doing more. The ten minute trick works (almost) every time.

I don't have any secrets for sticking to a routine, but I do know that while I'm working out, I do have a personal mantra to get me through when I want to quit: "I can do anything for 2 minutes." Or 30 seconds, or however much time is left on an interval, in a class, etc. Yep, I can do anything for _____. That gets me through.