How To Stay More Motivated For Your Fitness Journey — Intuitive Eating Can Help!
If you’ve found yourself struggling to stay motivated for fitness, you’re not alone. People share with me all the time that they either don’t like exercise, they don’t have time for it, or they do great with it for a while but then fall off track.
They want to exercise (or at least, they want to realize the long-term health benefits of staying physically active), but they struggle to make it stick and they’re not sure why or what to do about it.
If that’s you, keep reading because I’m going to share some key mindset shifts and other tips that can help you get—and stay—moving!
When it comes to motivation, your relationship with movement matters
Toxic diet culture doesn’t just make it hard to have a happy, healthy relationship with food. It often harms our relationship with fitness as well and is one big reason why I often see people struggling with motivation for exercise. If you don’t like exercise or find yourself frequently thinking it won’t “count” unless it:
Lasts a certain length of time
Earns or burns off a specific number of calories
Meets a certain intensity level
Leaves you dripping in sweat
Leads to weight loss or a desired change in how your body looks
These are all signs that your relationship with movement may benefit from some healing. One of the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating offers tremendous insight on how you can go about doing this, but let me share a few key reframes now that can help you get started and then we’ll get to some other helpful motivation tips.
Throw out the “rules” and step away from your scale
Diet culture trains us to look at exercise primarily through the lens of trying to control our weight and/or body shape and size.
Not only does this rob you of the joy of moving our body, but it also overlooks a bunch of other awesome reasons to move. Plus, it can trigger an all-or-nothing mindset, where you may decide that if you can’t meet the ideal diet culture standards for exercise on any given day, then there’s no point in bothering to work out at all. Or, alternatively, you may decide that if you’re not losing weight or not losing it as fast as you’d like, exercise is a waste of your time.
To overcome these mindset blocks, here are some ways to challenge your thoughts about exercise.
Rather than viewing it as means for weight loss, practice thinking of movement as an opportunity for self-care.
Throw out any rigid rules or ideals about how you’re supposed to exercise or what counts and remind yourself that anytime you’re moving your body, even if it’s just for 5 minutes or with some light stretching, it’s a win for your health and wellbeing.
Resist the temptation to measure your success by the scale. There are so many other awesome ways to measure your progress or evaluate the benefits of exercise including:
Increases in cardiovascular fitness
Increases in strength
Improved flexibility
Better balance
Better moods
Improved sleep
Reduced stress or anxiety levels
Number of days you were active
Better digestion
Improvements in lab markers, and others
To Boost Exercise Motivation, Know Your Why
On that note, it’s also helpful to know WHY you may want to be physically active in the first place. Yes, we know that exercise is good for your health, but I encourage you to go deeper than that.
I typically walk my nutrition and Intuitive Eating coaching clients through an exercise to identify both their short and long-term why when it comes to movement.
You can do this too. What are the reasons you might want to move your body today? How can it enrich and improve your quality of life today? For example, maybe it will get you outside in nature, put you in a better mood, help you sleep better, enable you to spend time with a friend, or give you a much-needed break from your kids or your job.
It’s much easier to stay motivated when you’re going to realize an immediate benefit.
That said, it’s also helpful to know your big-picture, long-term why. Think of your why like your compass. It can help steer you towards the exercise habit you’re trying to build. Why do you want to get—and stay—active?
Perhaps you want to stay fit enough to travel as you age, or nimble enough to help care for or play with your grandkids, maybe you want to lower your risk for a certain disease that runs in your family or manage your mental or emotional health. Spend some time reflecting on or journaling about that. When you need a motivation boost, let your why inspire you.
Make It Fun
This one may sound obvious, but diet culture tends to take a very punitive, “no pain, no gain” attitude towards movement or it encourages exercise to earn your calories or compensate for something you’ve eaten. Fun is rarely part of the conversation.
Even the term exercise may sound punishing to some. If so, try thinking of it as movement. Then, instead of considering what you’re supposed to do or what you should do, ask yourself, what do I WANT to do? What sounds fun?
Think outside the treadmill, elliptical, or weightlifting box if those aren’t your thing. Choose an activity that genuinely sounds pleasurable and give it a try. The more enjoyable it is, the more likely you are to stick with it.
Wondering what’s the best exercise? Simple — the one you’re going to enjoy and stick with!
Some ideas to get your creative juices flowing are dancing, bike riding, yoga, golf, tennis, pickleball, hiking, skiing, walking, jump roping, swimming, rollerblading, roller skating, kayaking, paddle boarding, basketball, kickball, kickboxing. The options are endless.
If it sounds enjoyable and within your abilities, give it a try!
Pair Physical Activity with Something You Do Enjoy and Look Forward To
Sometimes, even if we know our why and choose activities we like, we still need an extra boost of motivation to exercise. Pairing it with another activity you’ll look forward to is a great way to give yourself that extra added incentive.
For example, try scheduling a workout with a friend so you can get in some social time. Listen to a good audiobook or podcast that you want to hear while you work out or catch up on your favorite tv shows while you’re at the gym.
Set An Obtainable Goal and Find Your Tribe
You may also find it helpful to have a clear fitness goal. For example, maybe you want to be able to run a 5k, hike a specific mountain, work up to a certain yoga pose, be able to walk up a certain number of flights of stairs without getting winded, ski a particular mountain, or play in the local kickball league.
Concrete goals like this can help motivate you — just be sure to choose activities that will help train you to meet your goal. Is there a group you can join that’s working towards similar goals? If so, the social aspect may also help keep you engaged.
Much like with Intuitive Eating, there’s no one right way to be active. Find the way that works for you and have as much fun with it as you can.
Know also, that if your relationship with movement has been really damaged through dieting and diet culture, you may find it helpful to pause and get support to heal your relationship with food and movement. I’ve helped hundreds of people break free from toxic diet culture, learn to eat intuitively, and prioritize their whole health with gentle nutrition and sustainable, enjoyable self-care. I’d love to help you do the same! To learn more, you’re invited to book a FREE Whole Health Strategy Session with me where we can chat about your goals and how I can help you meet them!