Find your motivation

Motivation will not magically happen. Your motivation will change from day to day. You have to recommit to your goals each day, tweak them to fit changes in your lifestyle and attitude and find new ways to motivate yourself over the course of your life.

If you're sitting on the couch watching Oprah's Best Life episodes while eating Kashi cookies dipped in melted Hershey's kisses from Halloween (don't even laugh - it happens) and waiting to feel "motivated" to head to the gym, you are fooling yourself.

Motivation is not something that happens to us. It's something that we have to create for ourselves. Since each person is motivated by a unique set of factors, it really is up to you to find what will make you eat like you give a damn (Sorry, Mom).

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Does spending money in this tight economy make you feel like you have an undie grundie? Well, consider the fact that diseases caused by unhealthy living, and their necessary medications, will make your healthcare costs skyrocket! And what about the crazy costs of having to buy a new wardrobe when your "normal" clothes don't fit anymore?
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Are you a complete sucker for your grandkids? You certainly won't be able to do anything fun with them if you have no range of motion (completely inflexible) and are out of breath by the time you hit the end of the driveway.
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Thinking about starting a family? Your new baby will be your most prized possession, so do you really want to treat him/her to a 9 month incubation period filled with Krispy Kreme donuts and second-hand cigarette smoke? Not at all. You want to give your baby the absolute best from the point of conception.

These are just a few examples of how you can motivate yourself to live a healthy lifestyle by finding something else that you really, really want out of life and linking them both together.

Studies have shown, and I tend to agree, that people who give "looking good" as the sole motivating factor for exercising and eating well do not stick to healthy living as long as their counterparts who give less superficial reasons. The problem with only being worried about how you look is that you will have no motivation to make smart choices on the days that you're fitting into your "skinny jeans." Also, when you find yourself in an environment when you feel that you look better than most everyone else, you'll tend to slack off. Find something more meaningful to motivate yourself...something that you care about deeply...something bigger than just yourself.

Brought to you by Amber O’Neal, Certified Personal Trainer and Owner of Café Physique, a fitness and nutrition company specializing in studio and in-home personal training, yoga & pilates and nutrition & wellness counseling in Metro Atlanta. For more information, please visit www.CafePhysique.com.