How to trick yourself into workout motivation
December 19, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments
You might call it a mess.
You might even call it “clutter”.
(“Hi, my name is Ashley, and I intentionally don’t put my workout toys away each day.”)
But, me? I call it my foolproof plan for staying on top of my cardio and slaying my strengthening game.
See, over the past few years, I’ve developed a bit of a reminder routine with my workout items. Specifically, I leave ’em scattered around my abode. And it hasn’t failed me yet. I work out pretty much every day – no if, ands, or butts in need of lunges and weighted squats. Why? It’s not ’cause I’m awesome. It’s ’cause I leave those squat weights around, so they’re waiting for me when I get home. In fact, you can do it too. Have dumbbells? A yoga mat? Some fabulous trail sneakers? Same here. And… did you spend a good deal on each of them? Samesies again. So, why not make them worth the money we spent on them – by optimizing their functionality? By making them not only act as tools – but reminders to motivate us to actually use them – we reap the benefits of all those weight-loss goals we had in mind when we first purchased them.
And how do you do this in the best possible way? Well, I don’t want legit clutter, so I do some strategic arranging. I turn all of my body movin’ accessories into visual alarm clocks, planted in a place that’ll effectively remind me I need to do a certain activity. Example? Unlike most yogis I know, I don’t roll up my yoga mat all neatly and respectfully. Rather, I leave it out on the floor – right in front of my bed – like a giant, jade, rubber rug. Why? Because that way, when I reluctantly wake up in the morning not wanting to use my body or brain at all, I’m reminded that that’s the absolute first thing I need to do before I can go procure my caffeinated reward. Granted, these days, doing yoga daily is a habit for me. But I guarantee that if I were to stop keeping out that mat, that little bit of extra effort in the morning might slowly make me fall out’ve aforementioned habit. Give this a try and just see if it doesn’t make you a little more willing to unwind your waking body at the top of each morning.
Next is the shoes. I’ve recently done a great clutter culling in my apartment. And with that’s included included shooing away the shoes from beside my front door, and organizing them in the closet neatly. My only exception? My trail kicks. These badboys eternally reside at the underside of the chair right by my front entrance. When you do that, it’s a reminder to hit the gym, trail, or pavement sometime that day.
And finally, there’s those dumbbells I mentioned earlier. See, I don’t belong to a gym (because I spend so much money at my local dojo, punching things #worthit). So, instead of investing in machines, I’ve bought a couple’ve dumbbells that I use not only for toning arms, but also to add weight for my leg or ab working routine. They’re fantastic for the strengthening level I’m seeking. The problem? I’ve got a very selective memory when it comes to my “need to do” list. (And, by selective, I mean that the things I don’t want to do, I tend to “forget”). Especially after a long, willpower draining day. However, if you have a reminder sitting out there in neon blue (at least, that’s the color of my girly azz dumbbells), when you come home at night, it effectively guilts you into doing your routine before you hop in the shower and grab dinner.
“It was just sitting here, taunting me as I filled my sauvignon goblet.”
In sum, some of these little clutter reminders just might help you stay on track with your weight-loss goals.
(The trick? To have zero other clutter around, so it doesn’t get lost in the trash shuffle.)
Because where out of sight means out of mind, in sight means an out of this world body.