Welp…someone had to say it.
I read this quote the other day on Pinterest…& man oh man did it resonate.
Like, there are so many people out there who are waiting for someone else to do it.
You know the type? People with their heads buried so deep in the sand so they don’t have to face reality?
Ya.
The truth is that in fitness…( & life ) no one’s going to bust your ass for you.
Sigh…
I know, I know, I wish I had like, two muscle-y men to come fetch me out of bed every morning to carry me on a king carrier/litter to the gym whilst feeding me plump grapes & green juice….
But newsflash (!!): no one’s going to carry me to the gym, or hold my hands at Pilates, or force my ass out of bed for a beach workout.
Boo.
Ok so, here’s my advice: keep.yourself.accountable.
How the hell do you do that? Well:
1.} Google calendars: just, seriously the best invention ever. Scheduling your workouts in your calendar does something crayyyyy to the subconscious. Don’t believe me? Try it.
2.} Plan on working out seven days a week. Trust. Read more here.
3.} Workout with a friend. If I plan a workout with friends, it feels like a date that I can’t stand up.
4.} Be realistic. For me waking up at 5 am & going for a chill, lil 9 mile run isn’t my cup of tea. I prefer late afternoon Pilates or 9 am barre class. If you work 9-5, then schedule your workouts to work with what is easiest for YOU. Just because your co-worker goes to gym at 5:30 pm, doesn’t mean that works for YOU. Maybe you’re a morning person? IDK. Doing whatever works for you is a no-fail plan.
5.} Lay your workout clothes out. Ya. Like in 5th grade. It seriously is a game-changer.
6.} Ultimately: “it’s your ass. You move it.” You can’t hire someone ( unfortunately ) to move your ass. So if you’re waiting around waiting for you butt to shrink, it’s not going to shrink on the couch. Move it or lose it.
BTW: it’s not always easy. There are so many days I want to be a lazy shit & sit on the couch & watch “Housewives.” But laziness never got anyone anywhere, so I drag my ass out of the house. The hardest part is always getting to the gym/studio/etc. I don’t want to be one of those fitness bloggers that’s like a cheerleader jumping up & down with excitement about the gym. It’s not RA RA, all the time. I totally have my off days…
On that note, anyone else have any fitness tips that help you stay on track?
Ok, now go sweat!! x L
Winter has been tough in MN to go to the gym. What works best for me is going over my lunch at work for a 45 Tabata or shred class. I can’t get up earlier in the morning (don’t want to) and too many excuses after work. Plus I get to warm up my car over lunch lol! Love your fitness and food posts, keepem coming and can’t wait to read you’re book.
Yes! It has been such a rough winter that my motivation to get up and out is dwindling by the week now! Suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder over here!
I actually started taking vitamin D to supplement what nature is begin stingy with, and it’s helped tremendously! I’m beginning to feel normal again… Add that to pumping some endorphins through my body via a great workout and I may just make it through until Spring 🙂
Make the most of the time you put aside. On the days I just don’t want to exercise but make myself do it, I think “ok, you’re only gonna do 30 minutes today so you better BUST YOUR ASS and make it count” – and I do and it works! Up inclines, resistance, weight, whatever! Just do it!
so true its only 30 minutes you can do a lot in 30 minutes!
man oh man did I need to read this or what!? Today was my first day back in the gym after the weekend and the last thing I wanted to go was go to the gym after but I just went…..as much as I didn’t want to. You just need to get your butt in gear….or at least that’s what I tell myself all the time. Great post needed the extra push to prepare for tomorrow.
My best girlfriends and I are not geographically able to get together for a workout all the time. So, we are virtual fitness buddies. We have an on going message of our days specifically about our workouts and food choices. It keeps us accountable without being annoying to the rest of the social networks and allows us to motivate each other and ourselves, especially on off days.
Meg!!! Love this idea. Soo inspiring & cool. Keep up the amazing work!
love this! sometimes everyone needs to hear this!
Love this! Holding yourself accountable makes you feel so much more satisfied as well. There’s a joy that comes out of knowing you are responsible for your health and that you are making the choice to be healthy. It feels incredible, good enough to boost mental health as well! 🙂
xo
Great advice! I think planning your workout schedule for the week and for me starting the day with working out is most effective! A quote I love from Master Pilates teacher Jay Grimes is, ” You can’t talk a body into changing, you got to move.”
http://www.inallofhersplendor.com
Great advice! I find planning the week ahead and making it as early in the day as possible works best for me. As Master Pilates teacher Jay Grimes said, ” You can’t talk a body into changing, you got to move.”
http://www.inallofhersplendor.com
I love these!!!! They make my ❤️
Yes! I find it so so hard to leave the house even if the pool is only a 5 minute bike ride away! My advice would be to incorporate exercise whenever you can e.g the old take the stairs trick or cycle to work if possible, create a mini home gym (I live in a one-room apartment with my boyfriend so we have some weights, exercise bands and DVDs, am thinking of buying some ab apparatus and a mini trampoline that we can stick in a cupboard but ultimately, your body is the best workout tool and a great weight to lift!) and finally to try and convince yourself that you love pain… that one hasn’t worked 100% for me yet!
Lucy xxx
La Lingua : Food, Life & Travel in Italy
After years of training several hours a day five days a week Ive been having some time without consistensy at all. Right now im trying to get back on track. To help me stay accountable to myself i use this app called Hab It! Its so easy; you just type what habit you want to start/quit (ex. Go to the gym) and then every day you fill in if you did it or not. You either see a lot of green colours Or red. The best part is that you can see how many % of the time you actually go. I use this app to set goals, last month i wanted to go to the gym 30% of the time, this month i aim for 40%.
Try it! I use it on Android.
/Isabel in Sweden
Downloaded the app just now. Love it!
I only wish they would offer a “middle” color for light workout days. (Or do they have one? Haven’t tried it yet)
You really don’t need to leave the house to get a good workout… I give my clients ” homework” on days when I don’t see them… usually only need a good 25 min to work up a killer sweat and on those days when you don’t feel like working out, put your favorite tune on and start dancing! I promise when that song is done you will feel like crushing your workout!! Keep on keeping on!!!!
Fab post, and on a day I really needed to hear it!! I’ve got way too good at excuses recently as it has not STOPPED raining where I live…
Sophie
http://what-sophie-said.blogspot.co.uk/
xxx
I actually wrote a post not long ago about getting organized and make time. I lay out my workout clothes the night before and pack my bag if I’m going to work straight after. It doesn’t take that much to make it happen!
x
http://be-sofit.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/get-organized-make-time.html
It is really nice to schedule your work as it helps in catering time for some other activities as well. really nicely done.
Bring your gym stuff with you and change at work…that way you don’t go home and sit on the couch because once that happens you now you’re not getting back up that’s for sure.
When I really don’t feel like going to the gym I sign up for a class. I know that if I’m just not in the mood to get in a good workout I’ll probably be a little lazy if I’m the one navigating my workout. Putting it in someone else’s hands ensures I will get in a good workout no matter what.
LOVE this! It’s so true, friends is such a good one stops me from backing out at last minute! We’re currently blogging about all the different exercise classes available at the gym, now I HAVE to go to all of them! If you fancy take a look here – http://www.chick-chat.co.uk/2014/02/workout-wednesdays-let-games-begin.html
Love these ideas! For me, its all about planning to workout 7 days a week. Like, its part of my routine. Of course there are days where shit happens and I absolutely can’t. Well, guess what? I’ve already been 6 times this week. It’s cool.
Thanks for the other tips!
xoxo
Jenn
For someone perhaps in grad school and always bogged down with readings/assignments like I am, I make a point to wear my workout clothes to class so that I have no excuse not to hit the gym right after. This way I don’t go home to change and end up justifying staying there.
All awesome advice!! My power yoga studio has an app where you can sign up and reserve your spot in a class in advance…that also makes a huge diff for me! I somehow feel like the teacher is counting on me to be there since I signed up, and I’m not about to stand up my workout like that.
This is a great ‘tough-love’ approach!!! Love how motivated you are!! Thanks so much for this post!! I make wayyyy too many excuses when it comes to exercise!!
lol, this is all kinds of awesome.
I am in love with your blog and only just saw the link to your Youtube Channel! I am saving the videos for later when I finish my reading for class <3. This post is great, you are right, it's better to aim for seven days. Love from Ireland x
I work 8-5 (and usually longer than that) and I have a two hour round trip commute so it’s difficult for me to motivate myself to workout before or after work. I found that what works best for me is to workout during my lunch break, like someone above mentioned. I actually look forward to working out that way because it’s a reason for me to get out of my office and move around. I also found that I’m not very motivated to push myself in strength training so I signed up for a class with a trainer that focuses on that twice a week. Then I run on the treadmill (or outside if it will ever warm up here) at least twice a week, 3 times if I can get all 5 work days in. I had to get over being a little disheveled for the afternoon at work but it’s so worth it over the gross feeling I have when I don’t work out. I just told myself that no matter what we have planned in the evenings I will feel better being a little messy from a workout but healthy and fit rather than looking totally put together but being a lazy blob, so no excuses! 🙂
i love your posts i am very dedicated to the gym and i agree 100 percent!!!
Love this post! Love how it is real talk, but with a sense of humour too it.
I’ve been wearing workout clothes to class like you talked about and it really does help to get my workouts in. I have exactly an hour and a half between classes 3 days a week and it helps me for sure!
Love this post, some great tips in both the article and the comments. I think the one that I find best at the moment is scheduling workouts. Realistic scheduling means that you are more likely to keep that time free for your workout than if you just keep it as an idea in your head.
I have heard of the ‘Pact’ range of apps, where you log your diet and workout plans, then if you don’t stick to them then you pay money to the people that do. But is this really something that people would need to resort to?
Another option instead of laying out your workout clothes is put them on for bedtime. You wake up and all you have to do is put your shoes on and go. It saves time and you have no excuse except laziness.
Love your blog :). Very motivating.
http://thelastcleantshirt.com/2014/02/27/a-day-in-laguna/
I work in a very fast paced, high stress job every day until 5 so many days coming home and working out is the last thing I want to do. And I am not a morning person so getting up at 5:30 is not even in my realm of reality. What motivates me is to tell myself it’s just 45 mins out of my day and then I reward myself with a nice dinner and a glass (or two!) of wine. I always tell myself that no one ever regrets working out!
Wau.. Lauryn! Good job on the website. I just adore the atmosphere here.
Hey good article. i like the way your write. it really inspires me to workout. thanks for this.