I have been doing Barre3 for a few years now, and I love it. This is not an exaggerated statement. It keeps me motivated. I've made friends there and really enjoy seeing those same them every week - I usually go 4'xs a week. Also the workout itself is combines pilates, barre and yoga with a cardio component using hand weights. I also do a vigorous walk 1-2'xs a week.

The other thing that keeps me motivated TBH is that I pay $125 a month for the membership, so I'm getting as much use out of it as possible.

I love to exercise and its baked into to my daily routine at this point so that's a constant.

Harder for me is diet. I hate restricting and counting calories and my discipline in that area ebbs and flows. The past few months I've allowed myself to fall off the wagon a bit and starting to feel a little puffy. I'm trying to get back on the wagon now, been doing pretty good so far.

I just tell myself every morning "you got this" and "don't let everything you've worked for slip away". I've started making an effort to eat cleaner and track my macros.

And when all else fails, I look at the IG accounts of bikini fitness competitors. Surefire way to make you feel like a whale

Anonymous wrote:I signed up for a couch 2 5k app on my phone. It has done wonders for me. I was NEVER a runner and now I can run 20 minutes. I'm not done with it but I love running. When I'm not running, all I think about is running.

Yay! Runner here, and your post made me smile so much! You are awesome!!!

What do you like to do, OP and what will hold you accountable? For me, I like group classes with fun music, so I signed up for a neighborhood fitness/weightlifting class that we have 3x a week on a regular schedule. I pay monthly and it's with the same group who are now my friends. If I miss a class, then I'm missing not only the workout, but hanging out with friends. I also hate disappointing people so ultimately, it's the peer pressure that forces me to stay committed.

It has to become a part of your lifestyle…
Who you are. Then maintaining for health is easy.

I started with walking. (30 min per day). Then I added strength training 3x per week. I loved the way it made me feel so I increased the length of time of my strength training sessions. For the first time in my life, I worked out on vacation this year. It truly is a lifestyle shift.

Anonymous wrote:I got a hound. If he doesn’t get a run or a long walk he is a total mess and eats my socks. I got sick of buying new socks and pulling strings out of him, so I run.

This is hilarious. Mine’s a bird dog and it’s shoes she goes after if she feels she hasn’t been properly exercised.

Anonymous wrote:I signed up for a couch 2 5k app on my phone. It has done wonders for me. I was NEVER a runner and now I can run 20 minutes. I'm not done with it but I love running. When I'm not running, all I think about is running.

Oh and also getting a Fitbit or step tracker has made it really fun. I love seeing my stats.

I signed up for a couch 2 5k app on my phone. It has done wonders for me. I was NEVER a runner and now I can run 20 minutes. I'm not done with it but I love running. When I'm not running, all I think about is running.

Routine and an "accountability buddy." I struggled with workout motivation for years, which always felt odd to me because I felt like I *liked* working out. I finally committed to a set time, every day (well, 5 days a week), and told myself that I would challenge myself to do something active at that time every day for a month, then two months, then three, and then it was just...part of my life at 6am everyday.

Also I learned that my sister was working out at the same time. So now we text one another, "just got to my gym! enjoy your workout!" kind of stuff. Because I'll be damned if I'm going to let my kid sister "beat" me by working out when I skip a day.

What motivates you? I am really internally motivated, so getting up to work out each day is motivating in of itself for me. But is there something that works for you???

The only thing that worked for me is exercising with a friend. And Catholic guilt. We both have the peloton and when she schedules a class for us to do, or I schedule something, I feel guilty about blowing it off. That truly is my only motivator. I have 2 friend groups for this.

Anonymous wrote:For me, the only thing that lasts is making it part of my routine. Every Monday, I do strength videos after my staff meeting. Or whatever. So you don’t choose to do it anymore than you choose to eat lunch.

I just posted above about habit-stacking, and this is a great example of that. The staff meeting is a habit (or a requirement, depending on you how you look at it) and PP is leveraging that to introduce new healthy habits

It's not necessarily discipline or will-power. Those things are hard to define and measure.

It's about creating habits, and there are some great tricks to create new habits.

There's a book call 'Atomic Habits' which teaches how to form new habits and dispels some myths around habit forming (like that it takes 90 days; it depends on the habit and frequency, etc).

For example, you can try habit-stacking. Take something you normally do (like morning coffee, or tooth brushing, or even walking the dog) and add an extra additional activity to it.

For example, when you brush your teeth in the morning, also do 10 push-ups. Do it every time you brush your teeth.

So you're taking a habit which is already formed, and leveraging that to build a new habit (the push-ups).

The book is filled with great strategies on how to build habits into your life.

Essentially, the book says you are a product of your habits and your environment. So create the right environment (ie put the ice cream in the basement fridge, not the kitchen fridge) combined with the right habits, and you'll find the lifestyle you want

Focus on duration. I require myself to do 30 minutes of moderate cardio 6 days per week. Some slow jogs I label as bookmark workouts in which the goal is just to show up and put one foot in front of the other. Simplicity makes consistency easier.