Chances are, COVID-19 has meant gaining the COVID-15! During this time of self-quarantine, a lot of us have turned to junk food to cope — on top of gyms being closed for business. Our way of life has been shaken and turned upside down. We’re out of our regular routines. For some of us, sure, there have been positive changes. For others, we’re struggling. Your diet is in the trash and your usual avenue for exercise has been gone for at least three months.
Getting back on track, whether with diet or exercise, is tough. Once you lose your momentum, recapturing that same energy is hard. Because let’s be honest — we enjoy the instant gratification of not exercising. We enjoy kicking back with Netflix in the air conditioning rather than braving the summer heat for a tough run.
Even if we know the long-term benefits of regular exercise are worth it, finding the motivation to follow through isn’t always easy. If you’ve found your motivation to exercise waning, here’s what you can do about it.
5 Steps to Renew Your Motivation for Fitness
1) Combine Short and Long-Term Goals
Neither short or long-term goals alone do the trick when it comes to exercise. On one hand, setting a goal of losing 50 lbs this year can be too daunting — especially if you’ve been wrestling with weight loss and setbacks for some time. On the other hand, the goal of “exercise today” is too narrow and short-lived. What about tomorrow?
The key is to have overarching, long-term fitness goals in combination with short-term goals that break it up and culminate in that long-term success.
If you fell off the fitness wagon, be okay with baby steps. If you got out and ran, biked, lifted, or swam...you’re one step closer than you were before. Maybe you have a long-term weight loss goal. Don’t make every goal weight-related, though. Set goals that help you grow faster, stronger, and more confident. Use your body to get to new places. Try new trails, new exercises, and new equipment.
Build on your success, little by little, to accomplish that big picture goal!
2) Set Up a Routine
Once you’re out of routine, getting back into it is almost harder. If you broke your fitness habits, you likely feel a level of shame and defeat over your “failure.” Remember: whether in life or fitness, you only fail if you stop trying!
Now, solidifying a routine is often easier said than done. That’s why I believe in motivating yourself to follow through with small choices. For example: when you wake up, put on your workout clothes. It’s difficult to take them off having never worked out! Or say, “I won’t have my morning shower until I work out.”
Or, “after work, I’ll put on my gym clothes.”
Establish a routine and an order that ultimately led to your exercising. This extra structure in your day, saying you can’t do x thing until you’ve gotten your exercise, helps reinforce and sustain a new habit.
3) Be the Example
We all have our individual reasons for working out. For some, it’s a matter of self-confidence. For others, it’s a matter of personal health. What motivates one person may not motivate another, but here’s my encouragement to you: find a relational reason to prioritize fitness.
Maybe you want to be able to run and play with your grandkids. Maybe you know your own children are watching how you act, learning good (and bad) habits from you. They’re watching. So what will you teach them? Maybe you want to be healthier for the sake of your significant other, or a family member. Allow your actions to be motivating for others. See the relationships in your life. Then see how your fitness habits — or lack thereof — have an impact on those relationships and their future. Trust me, it is a powerful motivator!
4) Give Yourself a Treat
When you’re chasing a carrot-on-a-stick, the carrot has to actually be there. Now, in time, exercise itself will become your carrot. Because the endorphin rush associated with exercise feels so good, it alone will be enough of a motivator in due time. But in the beginning, the idea of exercising probably isn’t a motivating factor. Reinforce in your own brain that exercise is rewarding by giving yourself a reward.
Now, we have to be smart about what that reward is. No rewarding yourself with ice cream! Maybe your reward is a refreshing drink or a trip to your favorite store. Maybe it’s buying an item off of your Amazon wishlist after a week of consistent exercise.
There are a lot of ways to reward yourself outside of food. While exercise seems more like an obstacle rather than a joy, having a different “carrot” to motivate you can be just what you need to see it through.
5) Measure Your Progress
Where fitness is concerned, we can have a rather narrow understanding of progress. Progress isn’t just what the scale says. If you focus only on one measure of success, a lack of movement in that area is going to be demotivating and disappointing. Instead, look at the whole of your success. Do you feel more energetic? Sleeping better? Running faster? You’ve lost weight, sure, but what about inches? Do you feel stronger?
Exercise not for one specific goal, but with the understanding that there are more ways than one to measure success and progress. This can prevent you from feeling “stuck” or unaccomplished when your primary measure of progress doesn’t seem to move as quickly as you’d like.
What motivates you to get back on the fitness wagon after you’ve fallen off? Share in the comments.