Motivation Needed

Ok, I NEED to get to the gym. My mind knows that this is an important part of the WLS process, but I just can not get motivated. Any tips on how to motivate myself? I know that the results should be my motivator... but I just can't seem to find it in my to go! HELP!

M.M. This is what I usually do to get motivated. First I look at the clock and think to myself, 'Hmmm. If I left now, I could be through with my work out in 40 minutes and wouldn't have to worry about it again for the rest of the day.' Second, I go and dress for the part. Once I get on my tennis shoes, my mentality starts to change and I know I am on my way. The hardest part for me is the 'beginning to sweat' stage. It is so icky feeling. The icing on the cake is when I am done and I can look at myself in the mirror and say that "I did this for me". Hope you may find some of this helpful. I am done for the day.

Great suggestions!! I will think of this.........

Hi M.M.: I don't think this is the kind of motivations you are looking for, but I hope it will make your day lighter: A Fairy told a married couple: "For being such an exemplary Married couple for 25 years, I will give you each a wish." "I want to travel around the world with my dearest husband" said the wife. The fairy moved her magic stick and abracadabra! two tickets appeared in her hands. Now it was the husbands turn. He thought for a moment and said: "Well......this moment is very romantic, but an opportunity like this only occurs once in a lifetime. So....I'm sorry my love, but my wish is......to have a wife 30 years younger than me" The wife was deeply disappointed but, a wish was a wish. The Fairy made a circle with her magic stick and.......abracadabra!... Suddenly the husband was 90 years old. Men might be *******s But Fairies are Female! Best regards Alex

LOL I loved that!

Hey I am right there with ya. I have worked out 2x since surgery. I have to do it in the am so I don't have to have my daughter in daycare all day and I just stay in bed. I am soooooo flabby it is disgusting, really I am terrible! When do you go or attempt to? Maybe we should be accountable to each other like with a phone call or something? I am so in the same place as you! Let me know what you think! Wendi

Part of my WLS Program was to have exercise evaluations both before and after surgery. I had to make goals of exercise and light weight training and then record my activity. I have a treadmill at home, so that is my main form of exercise. Before surgery, it was so hard to get motivated to get on the treadmill ...not to mention how hard it was ... my legs hurt, I was out of breath, etc. But I did it maybe 2 times a week to have something to record on my exercise log ... I felt I was accountable to someone. I was probably about 2 1/2 months post-op before I felt I had the energy to start exercising. I had a visit with my exercise therapist after surgery and I was embarassed to tell her that I hadn't been exercising. So I started exercising and now its not something that I dread. I am exercising 4 times a week now. I had my final evaluation last week and the therapist was really pleased with my progress. I had to take a 6 minute walking test both before surgery and at my last visit ... not only did I walk further and faster on the final visit, but my heart rate was lower. I was pleased with myself too. I'm hoping that now that I don't have the exercise evalations, that I will still stay motivated, but I've been challenging myself each week by increasing my speed and time by small amounts. I teared up the other day as I was walking ... just knowing that I could never have walked this much before surgery. And the benefits are good too ... I feel better and my weight doesn't seem to fluctuate as much. Now I'm working up the motivation to start some light weights ... I can tell my upper arms are really getting flabby. I asked the therapist if exercise could help at this point and she said definitely, so now that is my goal. The point of my long rambling message (sorry) is that maybe if you create an exercise log and then you could have someone monitor your progress on a weekly basis. Being accountable to someone other than just yourself might help to motivate you.