When Motivation Fails You

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Happy Training Tuesday! Today I thought we could all use some motivation. Motivation is the reason a person engages in a particular activity. Motivation only gets us so far and then at some point fails us. It could be tomorrow, next week or next month but at some point we lose our motivation and it's a battle to get it back. There are millions of tips, tricks, hints and advice on how to regain your motivation, which is why I decided not to make this blog a list. I thought I'd just share my personal experiences. 

A couple of months ago I started a new weight training regime. It was fantastic. I loved it and I managed to follow through for an entire month. This was HUGE for me. However, I made a mistake. I decided to change my routine. Not the days, not the location, just the specific exercises. I don't know about you, but if I'm honest with you (and more importantly with myself), I do not deal with change gracefully. In fact, I get downright miserable. It doesn't matter if the change is good or bad it affects me. I've known myself for almost 32 years....you'd think I would remember I don't cope very well with change. 

For the past month I've been struggling to get into this new routine. I managed 2 days per week for 2 weeks and lost 2 weeks. Tonight I forced myself to work out. I've been feeling crappy because when I stop working out any healthy eating also goes out the window. I realized what it was about the "new routine" that had me avoiding working out. I don't like changing the weights by doing a heavy set and a light set. That's why I didn't last long with Body4Life either. I admit it...I really enjoy lifting heavy! 

This is what I don't get about myself...I KNOW that I will feel better if I weight lift 3 times per week. I KNOW that I have more energy and have more confidence. I KNOW eating better makes me FEEL better. So, if I know all this then why can't I seem to do it? 

The one thing that does seem to work is FORCING myself mentally to work out. I convince myself that I cannot miss today's workout. I usually still drag my feet and end up lifting weights at 9 pm (because working out before bed seems like a good idea...sigh).

What do you do when motivation fails you? I'd love to hear from you!

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