5 Simple Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

Motivate yourself to exercise – and reap all the many health benefits – with these 5 simple tips…

We all know exercise is important for our health, but sometimes it seems so difficult to motivate yourself to exercise as much as you should… No one wants to exercise when it feels like a chore, which is why it’s so important to find types of exercise that you actually enjoy!

Fortunately, there are plenty of fun ways to exercise – you just have to find the ones that best fit your lifestyle, preferences, and goals. Also, remember that once you make regular exercise a habit, it will be much easier to motivate yourself to exercise, even on those days when you just don’t feel like it.

Remember that it’s okay to take a break now and then, and doing so may even re-energize you and help you get your motivation back, so if you’ve really been pushing yourself lately and are finding it harder and harder to enjoy your fitness regimen, it may be time to take a short break – or switch it up and try something new. Sometimes this can allow you to return to your workouts with a renewed sense of energy and motivation.

Regular exercise is one of the best ways to not only look and feel better, but also to live a longer and healthier life, so it’s worth it to make the effort and stick with it!

Here are 7 ways to motivate yourself to exercise – and make it a lifelong habit:

1. Remember You Only Need 30 Minutes

You can workout for just 30 minutes four times per week! That’s right, no more grueling sweat sessions on the treadmill, just 30 minutes of efficient and effective movement. This is because research clearly shows that 30 minutes is the magic number in terms of activating autophagy (more on this below), and squeezing in a 30-minute workout is doable, even for the busiest of women.

2. Understand How Exercise Activates Autophagy

Think of autophagy as pressing the rest button on a cellular level. When the process of autophagy is running regularly and rhythmically (as it should be), you are equipped to cool systemic inflammation, which is what leads to myriad degenerative diseases and accelerated aging. Just 30 minutes of exercise can immediately set autophagy into action, and that’s some serious motivation.

3. Remind Yourself of Your Goals

Set goals and think of them daily. Want to prevent disease? Lose weight? Be able to run around with your kids or grandkids? Have the energy to not just survive your day, but excel at it?  Writing down your personal goals, saying them out loud to yourself in the mirror, or whatever method works for you can make all the difference.

4. Make Yourself a Priority

We women often do not make ourselves a priority, and that can have profound effects on our health and wellbeing. Even if just for a handful of hours per week, make YOU a priority. Know that by embarking on this journey, you are building strength and confidence, increasing your energy levels, preventing future disease, and allowing your inner and outer beauty to shine.

5. Pick Workouts You Love (Or At Least Like)

I want you to love exercise, not just because you see results but because when you do it, it feels good and provides you an opportunity to connect with the body that supports you.  That’s why there is never any need to choose something you don’t enjoy. In fact, forcing yourself through a workout is the sheer opposite of what you want.  When you’re stressed, your cortisol increases, which counters the hormonal benefits you’d otherwise receive from exercising.  Choosing an activity that feels pleasurable is the key to reaping results and sustaining your workouts for the long term.  Exercise that feels like a chore is unlikely to be sustainable. After all, it’s what you do day in and day out that matters most. HIIT (high intensity interval training) and RET (resistance exercise training) can be accomplished with walking, swimming, yoga, and/or lifting gallons of water in your back yard.

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