When you roll over at some obscene hour in the morning, look at the time and immediately hurl obscenities at your alarm clock…you need motivation.
When you open your cupboard to grab some quinoa and notice it’s sitting beside a box of extra chewy, chocolate chip cookies…you need motivation.
When you’re at a restaurant with your friends with the intention to order a salad and the person to the left and the right of you both order burgers (with extra cheese and bacon)…you need motivation.
I got to thinking about motivation early this morning as I woke up (I use that term loosely as I only sleep in three hour spurts due to you-know-who) and thought to myself, “To heck with my workout. I’m sleeping in today.” Oh and I didn’t use the words “to heck with” but I’m trying to make this G-rated.
But then I looked over at my dresser and saw my workout clothes all laid out nicely…waiting for me.
Who cares, I thought.
The clothes will still be there tomorrow, right?
But then I thought about heading into work without having spent a half an hour in the morning with undivided me-time. I started to think about how good I feel when I get off the treadmill dripping with sweat. Or how happy I get when I see the “Cool Down” portion of my kettlebell DVD (
www.kettleworx.com). And how accomplished I feel when I “earn” my yogurt parfait breakfast (go to
www.drjoey.com for help with your meal plans).
And guess what?
I dragged my sorry butt out of bed, put on the workout clothes, wrapped up the baby and trekked downstairs. Not only did I get through my run…I pushed myself harder than usual during my interval sprints. Sometimes I trick myself when I’m really unmotivated and I say, “Listen Tracy, all you have to do is get on the darn thing and walk on an incline. That’s it.” And those are usually the mornings when I end up going faster and pushing harder than usual.
I guess it’s all in the psychology.
As soon as I know I can rack it down a bit I get competitive with myself and rack it up!
So the point of all this is to say motivation is all about figuring out what makes you tick.
Is it the thought of doing less work? Then get up and just do less.
Is it the thought of fitting into some skin-tight jeans? Then lay them out where you can see them every morning.
Like most of us, I’ve been in every situation I mentioned at the start of this blog.
Want to know how I handled each one?
Situation #1: I’m tired and it’s too early.
I make my morning routine a no-brainer by simplifying everything. My breast pump is beside the bed and ready to go (I pump before I workout). My nursing pillow is beside me so I can top Eva up before I work out. My workout clothes are left where I can see them before I go to bed. I try not to think too much and just do. That tends to work best for me. By the time I’ve realized that I don’t want to work out I’m usually halfway down the stairs and thinking to myself, “Hey, what happened? Oh well I’m here now. Might as well go for it.”
Situation #2: I want to eat junk in the house.
I have thrown out all the junk in the house.
My cupboards are so sad and pathetic I have to buy junk on my cheat days. This is the way it has to be for me. Halloween was hell because we had a huge stack of candy just sitting in the pantry. We’re also toilet training Sidney and bribing him with candy so I have to keep the stuff hidden because out of sight, out of mind. So when I reach for the quinoa the only thing beside it is some chai tea and decaf instant coffee. Try and get fat off that.
Situation #3: We’re at a restaurant and my friends are ordering junk.
I order junk too.
Probably not the answer you were expecting but guess what? Life goes on regardless of your diet so I schedule my cheat meals on days I know I have social plans. This way Lio and I get to have a drink together like old times without me worrying about breaking my healthy lifestyle. I’m a huge advocate of the cheat meal. It keeps me on track throughout the rest of the week. And I don’t feel out of control when I cheat because I actually schedule it. And here’s a little secret: even my cheat meals are getting healthier! This week I ordered a burger (yum) with a side salad because I didn’t feel like fries! I also had a glass of white wine and had plans to order dessert but didn’t feel like it in the end.
I…didn’t…feel….like…dessert.
Can you believe it?
Don’t worry I made up for that little piece of crazy by chowing down on above-mentioned Halloween candy when we got home.
Here are some of the other weird ways I keep myself motivated:
*I sing on the treadmill. Okay not really sing because everyone else in the house is usually sleeping and that would just be rude. So I lip sync the parts of the song I really love. I look nuts but it makes me happy. When Eva is old enough to understand what’s going on she’ll surely disown me.
*I schedule a weigh-in once a week – just like I’m part of some weight loss club. My weigh-in keeps me honest and always gives me a goal to work toward. It often keeps me on track.
*I cheat. See above for explanation. In short, knowing I can have that brownie next cheat day allows me to hold off on eating it when I really shouldn’t.
*I work on television. Motivation is seeing your bum on TV. A wide screen. At least 45 inches in width. Need I say more?
*I love coffee and quiet. I tell myself after my workout I will brew myself a nice cup of coffee and savour the few minutes I have in silence before the entire house wakes up and starts demanding things of me. Any mommy will tell you that this alone-time is golden.
*Your tweets. There are mornings when all I have to do is tweet, “I don’t wanna workout today…” and guess what. You guys tell me to get up and get going and remind me of how good I’ll feel during and after (but mostly after). I love you for this.
What motivates you?
You can email me now at this email address and let me know:
contacttracy@cityline.caOh and finally if you’ve already made a pledge with the Chatelaine Fresh Start Challenge make sure to update your progress on the website. If you haven’t it might not be too late to pledge to work on your health, home, money or love life and win over $10,000 in prizes. Go to
chatelaine.com/freshstart to take part.
Tracy