How many times have you gotten ready to go to the gym, or gotten home from work and just said, “Screw it, I’ll go tomorrow…”  I can’t even count the number of times that has happened to me.  My biggest hurdle to working out has always been finding the motivation to get my butt to the gym, and not be lazy and lay around the house.

I think, for the majority of over-weight, out of shape people, they have realized that its easy to be fat, it actually takes work to look good and maintain your body.  Its easier to be sedentary, and simply procrastinate until tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow, until one day, we wake up and we are 45 years old, and 100 pounds over-weight.

With the proliferation of T.V. programs such as, “The Biggest Loser”, and several others, it would seem apparent individuals would have found the motivation to start, or restart their workouts.  However this is not the case.  Taking a field trip to your local mall, you will find an over-abundance of individuals who clearly have not set foot in a gym for a long time, if ever.  In addition, this notion of modeling agencies looking for “real women” who are a little overweight is ridiculous.  I’m sorry, but women who are a little overweight are FAT in my opinion.  They are not “real women”, nor are they normal.  They are merely fat, or obese individuals.

People need to have motivation to get them back on the right track.  This weekend, for instance, I had absolutely NO motivation to do my workouts, and in fact, I totally skipped them.  However, this morning I woke up and felt like crap about myself and tonight, I WILL be working out as soon as I get home.  My motivation comes from my wife, and from deep within.  Growing up, I did not eat the healthiest, nor did my family cook healthy food.  Nearly everyone in my family is mildly overweight, which caused me to make myself a promise, to never be like that.  While I have struggled at times to maintain my motivation, I have always been able to visualize my end result, and focus on realizing that goal.

I have found that working out for the sake of working out simply does not work.  In a short while, it will become very old and boring, and you will quit.  If you have something to work towards, only then will you be able to stick to a regular workout schedule and meet your goals.  That something can be anything.  In fact, my something, for a time was a pair of jeans I wore in college, and could not longer fit into.  I went from a 32 waist, to a 34 and was pushing a 36.  Within 3 months of intense workouts, I am nearly ablt to fit back into those 32’s again.  Another month or so, and I’ll be there.

In the end, your motivation needs to come from deep within you.  Only you can force the change you need in your life to stay healthy.  While a strong support network, composed of friends and family can be of great benefit, you are the one that has to get on the machines, or perform the workouts, not them.  You have to visualize, realize and just DO IT to be successful.