How I motivated myself to get fit and stay active

How I motivated myself to get fit and stay active

Being fit and healthy has always been something I’ve been interested in, but unfortunately isn’t something I’ve necessarily ever been good at.

I’ll usually start a new fitness plan and lose motivation around the 4-week mark. This time though, was different – and here’s why…

 

1. Convenience.

I found a fitness workout, which I enjoyed and could do it in the comfort of my own home. Kayla Itsines 12-week bikini body challenge is an easy to follow exercise plan that you can do without barely any equipment and can be done anywhere.

To purchase her exercise guide was a total investment of $69.97, the equivalent of a dinner for two, and definitely paid off for me.

2. Got inspired 

In an effort to get inspired, I read an article recently titled “How to be Happy”. It was about a yoga instructor Sammy Veall, who overcame a serious injury and found happiness in yoga. She teaches yoga at a Melbourne studio, but it’s not your regular yoga – it’s hip-hop yoga! Her story was truly inspiring and motivated me to try it out.

As I read more on the article, I discovered that Sammy also had a clothing line. After visiting her online store I was immediately drawn to the collection, particularly one t-shirt that had a big TO BE HAPPY slogan across it!

3. Set a goal

I did some tough bargaining and made a deal with myself. I decided that if I bought the workout gear that I could wear it once I finished my one-month training! I was serious about it too – I threatened myself that if I didn’t complete this goal that the clothes were being sent back.

4. Challenged myself

By giving myself the challenge to complete one-month of training and having new clothes as a reward, provided me with a mental and physical challenge. This little personal challenge really did motivate me to wake up in the morning and exercise – all because I’d feel too guilty wearing the new clothes without having completed the challenge. By the time I set out to do my first hip-hop yoga class, I had a new outfit to do it in!

I have beaten the month habit and I am in my 4th month of exercising regularly every week. I have completed my 2-week trial for Hip Hop Yoga class, as it was on my #30daysto30thbirthday to do list.

4. Find something you enjoy

I am a person that bases a lot of things on “vibes” and when it comes to my surroundings and walking into Yoga 213 studio, I felt “GOOD VIBES” instantly. The light on the wall say “to be happy” and had pineapples everywhere… I was destined to love this studio! I travel 30-45 minutes to the other side of the city to attend a class. It’s completely worth the hike to enjoy yoga to chilled out hip-hop tunes like Blackstreet’s No Diggity, what a combo! My advice, find something that you enjoy, not necessarily something you’re good at and it will make exercising a whole lot more fun.

 

5. Encourage yourself

It’s funny to think that buying a new outfit was the key to motivating myself to get into an exercise routine again. Fitness can be hard work so it’s good to have interim rewards for yourself. Getting results isn’t always immediate and having smaller goals along the way can help encourage to you to achieve long-term ones. Remember to be kind to yourself.

 Conclusion

I think it’s important to come up with your own motivational tools to help push and drive you to live and healthy lifestyle. It’s too often we let it slip out of our schedules for other matters and make up silly excuses. Now my fitness workout routine does not only involve Kayla Itines workout but also Hip-hop yoga, biking and 1-2 hour long walk every Sunday!

Once you start and break past a month of working out you actually want to continue working out because you begin to see the benefits. For me, exercise makes me happy and that’s the ultimate goal in life, to be happy…

* Picture from my instagram feed – follow me there for my daily inspo @hellokikiphotos *