Help me get motivated to exercise

[Rainydays55]

Since being back in the office I’m really lacking the motivation to find time to exercise and I can feel it, I feel a bit sluggish and my clothes feel a bit tight, I want to loose 6/7 pounds but also want to feel fitter - please give me your top tips of getting into an exercise routine and to stop me being lazy!?

It’s not about motivation, it’s about discipline- make a plan and stick to it. I get up early a few days a week to exercise before work - alarm set, roll out of bed and into trainers. I never feel motivated at the start.

Hire a PT, that's what I did. Now I'm forced out of the house 2 days a week.

PT here too, can't avoid them!

I'm not a morning person and my working day starts quite early so exercising before work doesn't work for me.
I exercise as soon as I get home in the evening. I either put dh in charge of dinner, have something pre cooked that just needs reheating or put a jacket potato in the oven so that it's ready when I finish. I always thought I'd be too knackered after work but once I got into the routine of it I found it fine and I look forward to "my hour," it's my time to de-stress.

Energise with Sam . Co .UK
Home workouts

Buddy up with someone else if you can. I've been doing home workouts with DH for the past 3 months and he is a lot more motivated than me so we end up doing them on days when I'd probably just not bother if it was just me.

Also (and this has really worked for me) short workouts. I'm currently doing 30 min barre online classes which is the perfect length for me. Any longer and it becomes a chore that I'll try and get out of.

I make myself do a Body Project workout every day... I'm motivated by the fact I feel horrible about myself, I've gone over 12 stone and I'm only 5'4.

I find that just putting my running gear on is a great motivator, because once I’m standing in my living room looking like a promotional campaign for Nike, I’d feel a bit daft if I didn’t get off out and go for a run!

If you don’t feel like exercising, tell yourself you’ll “just do a really short run / a few sit ups / a few reps on the weights.” It feels manageable that way, and you’ve started, you’re a lot more motivated to keep on going.

Put your kit on, don’t even think about it. Just make a plan and stick to it. My mantra when I need it is “you never regret going” (for a walk or run/ doing that class/ lifting those weights)

Do the C25k
DSis and I started in January and both thought we were going to keel over after 3 minutes running
We’ve both now run 5 k twice ( age 59 & 61 ) our best time was around 32 minutes

In the winter I was using my exercise bike in the mornings: I would set out my workout clothes the night before, put a bottle of water in the fridge and have something picked out on Netflix to watch while I did it. Then get up and go.

Now the weather is a bit nicer I tend to go for a morning walk or run, still get everything ready the night before, and I use strava so I can track my progress. I usually listen to an audio book while walking and upbeat music when running.

If I really can't be bothered to go, I tell myself I'll just have a ten minute walk and set a timer, 9/10 I carry on after the timer is up.

Thank you everyone 😄

@onemouseplace please can you link the barre class? Really appeals but worried they may be rubbish

@Duckduckduck123 I'm currently doing Meetyouatthebarre on boon.tv. She's got a couple of free classes up I think so you can try them and see if you like them.

@onemouseplace thank you

Find something you love and long to do. I don’t need discipline to skate, if anything I need discipline to not skate and do other necessary tasks.

I work full time but still currently from home and likely to mostly stay that way, so I appreciate this might not help. Things that work for me are:

1. Building it into my routine. I now do the school drop one more day and work an extra hour at the end of the day so I can run after drop off. I have a couple of these plans throughout the week where it's a scheduled part of my day.
2. Going with a friend - if I've made that plan with someone earlier in the day, while I'm feeling energetic, I'll stick to it whether I feel like it or not. And it's great to chat on the way round!

Oh! I also spend the day in my gym clothes so I kind of HAVE to go...

My alarm goes off at 5am 3 times a week so I can fit exercise into my day before dh goes to work.
This might sound gross but I don’t really care because it’s such a time saver but most importantly it saves me from procrastinating in the morning... I sleep in my CLEAN running sports bra and tshirt! Leggings and socks are on the floor in a pile next to the bed, I literally shove them on, take a small sip of water and head straight out the front door less than 5 minutes after waking up.
I plait my hair the night before so it’s not in the way.
I used to not bother with this prep but the amount of times I ended up not going because I couldn’t be bothered to get undressed and redressed in the morning, or I would go and brush my teeth and see my unplucked eyebrows in the mirror and decide to deal with them instead... just excuses
It soon becomes a habit and I sleep better because of it. I still can’t say i enjoy it at the time but I feel good about it all day after.