5 things to do to get your motivation back

It happens to all of us - we fall of the wagon with exercise, lose motivation and straggle to get back on. If you were in the groove and had to stop your program, even if the reasons were legitimate - injury, crunch time at work, unexpected travel, illness, you name it, - it is immensely frustrating! But, as the rule goes: what you resist - persists: if you focus on that frustration, you'd only prolong the time you are not working out. Instead, we need to work out tricks of getting over the frustration and getting ourselves back on track and into the groove.
Here are the things that I find helpful to re-acquire motivation for fitness :

- Watching an inspiring movie where hero/heroine saves the day (or the world) by being physically prepared for a challenge. My personal favorite is Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in Terminator 1, or Ashley Judd in Double Jeopardy (remember how she runs in the prison yard while Queen Latifah looks on? "Sheer hate drives you, girl", Queen Latifah says, or something to that effect. )

- Comparing myself to a celebrity close to me in age, who are known to exercise and look good. Demi Moore is a reliable one, she never yo-yos, always fit as a fiddle. She even does P90X!

- Looking at "before" and "after" pictures of people who successfully lost and kept off weight and went on to build impressive set of muscles. These are plentiful on the web, and very inspiring!

- Scheduling a reunion with old classmates or extended family. When you know you have to impress people, it gets you back on track in anticipation! Make sure you are not trying to get in shape in 10 days, that's not neither practical nor healthy, but give yourself 2-3 months to do it! Peer pressure is good for that!

- Meeting new people who are excited about getting fit and making a commitment to them and yourself to do it! The old ditty "Tell me who your friends are and I tell you who you are" is very true: chances are you perform slightly better than some or slightly worse than others of your closest friends. If you surround yourself with people who exercise regularly and are excited about healthy lifestyle, you will follow their example!

By employing these you can make sure that your down time shrinks to minimum! Happy and healthy works to you!

What even five figure fitness program cannot do for you

Over the weekend I picked up a free magazine Energy Times which featured Arnold Schwarzeneger look-alike Roland Kickinger. On the cover this Austrian body-builder, actor, certified personal trainer and nutritionist is proudly flexes huge guns while smiling angelically.
I could not help but to be impressed with this guy looks and his portfolio – he can, among other things, sword-fight and dance ballet! But when I read about his personal business – a three week fitness emergence for his clients –that’s when my eyes truly glazed over… His guests stay over in his guest house, work out every day under his supervision and eat 5 super-clean low-carb meals a day prepared by this gentle giant! Understand that it is hot and sticky humid in New York, and I feel a little unmotivated to slave over the stove, and am scraping the bottom of the motivation well for my daily workouts. Let’s face it: I am sweating without moving, so... Oh, how wonderful would it be to have a fitness authority figure prodding me on, telling me what to do and when, so I can just blindly follow the instructions and eat perfect meals put in front of me! It is a day dream I want to hold on to for as long as I can, but wait – how much does this experience cost? The article says vaguely: five figures. I have to strain my overheated brain to process that. “Five figure” means… anywhere from $10, 000 to $99,999! What??? The day dream evaporates. No way can I afford either the time or the money! And what is it that he does that I cannot do myself? I am capable of measuring portions, counting calories and following the recipes, of packing my lunches and snacks, and as far as exercise I have all the instructions I need from the best in fitness business: Tony and Debbie, Chalene and Shaun! I have it all now; I am empowered by knowledge, the method and the system! I don’t need to be rich (and idle) to be in the best shape of my life at any age! All I need to do is follow the program! And that even a fitness and nutrition guru like Roland Kickinger cannot do for me. He says as much himself: ”Ultimately, you have to take action; no one can do this for you. You can take all kinds of supplements, you can pay a trainer a lot of money, but you still have to take responsibility and act. They can only give you a key, but you have to go through the door yourself, on your own.” From his lips and into my ears!