Why is it so Difficult to Motivate Yourself to Exercise?

Even though you may know how beneficial exercise is for your health and that it can help you control your weight, finding the motivation to actually do something that gets you off your backside can still be a challenge. Despite all the apparent incentives to exercise – being able to live a longer, healthier life; getting a toned, fit body; eating more without worrying about weight gain – these sometimes are not enough to make you want to exercise. You may dislike the thought of getting hot and sweaty in front of other people or simply prefer to spend your time doing something else.

You get into a routine of going to work, sitting in an office all day before coming home to a cupboard full of junk food and a television that is just sitting there. Your favourite programmes are on and you just want to sit down and watch some television. You can't be bothered going to the gym or going for a run when it means you have to get changed into your workout gear before exerting yourself physically. When doing exercise requires you to alter your routine you may choose to ignore the benefits and concentrate on the negatives instead.

Not only does exercise take time out of your schedule; it also means you have to be seen in public wearing clothes that hardly flatter your figure whilst puffing and panting running down the street or lifting weights. If you feel self-conscious when exercising and are more worried about what other people think about you than all the positive aspects of keeping fit, of course it is going to be a struggle to motivate yourself to exercise. By doing exercise on a regular basis you will be fitter and leaner than most of your non-exercising acquaintances, but you don't necessarily consider this.

After all, it is far easier to simply make excuses about why you cannot exercise. Lack of time is obviously a favourite, whilst not being able to afford gym membership or exercise equipment is another – despite the fact you can get a workout for nothing by going for a walk or run – even then, though, you can blame the weather for your lack of exercise, since how can you possibly be expected to do anything when it's raining outside?

At the end of the day, however, you're the one that misses out. It might be difficult to find the motivation to exercise, but when you do actually put the effort in, you will feel so much better for it. Exercise promotes the release of chemicals that help you feel more positive and so after a workout you are better able to appreciate how worthwhile it is to get some exercise. You then have to work on making sure exercise becomes part of your everyday life, so that you can experience these same positive feelings regularly.
 

Why is it so Difficult to Motivate Yourself to Lose Weight?

If you don’t enjoy being overweight, the obvious solution would be to lose weight. Many people find themselves in a situation where they’re carrying too much weight, which makes them miserable about the way they look and could be at the root of their health problems. Everyone knows that you have to burn more energy and consume fewer calories to lose weight, yet why is it so difficult to put these simple measures into practice? It is one thing to want to lose weight, but actually taking the steps to make changes in your life can be more challenging, so that it becomes impossible to find the motivation.

It doesn’t help that you cannot concentrate solely on achieving your weight loss aims. Life still carries on as normal whether you’re trying to lose weight or not and sometimes events and people make it more difficult to focus on losing weight. If you have a stressful job that requires you to work long, irregular hours it is obviously going to be a struggle to make time for exercise and to prepare calorie-controlled meals. If you are experiencing relationship troubles or have other issues that are worrying you and it is food you turn to for comfort, again it will become difficult to stay focused on what you need to do to lose weight.

Motivation can be hard to come by when there are so many other things going on in your life, especially when the people around you are overweight and do not even regard your weight as an issue. If you’re the only one bothered about your weight and being overweight is normal within your social circle, it may seem that there is no reason to lose weight, since losing weight will ultimately interfere with your life. If you live with an overweight partner, you may end up eating separately from him and cooking for yourself, so that it also becomes more difficult to eat out with friends and family. If you become single-minded about losing weight, other areas of your life may suffer.

You have to be extremely motivated to lose weight because, despite how simple the process of losing weight sounds, it can actually be rather difficult. Unfortunately, when you already know this it becomes even more challenging to motivate yourself to get on with your weight loss plans. You don’t want to have to change your lifestyle when you’re comfortable with the one you’ve got; you don’t want to have carefully monitor what you eat and make time for exercise when your schedule is busy enough as it is. Unfortunately, this is precisely what you have to do if you want to lose weight, which is why you need to focus on all the benefits of losing weight, so that you can find the necessary motivation.