• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist

How do you stay motivated?

euphoria

euphoria

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Dec 23, 2004
Messages
8,946
It seems like my fitness and nutrition comes and goes in waves, constantly. I'll be eating really good, losing weight, and in really good shape for a few months, and then all of a sudden I just lose the motivation to do it. I'm not really sure what happens, but I just keep saying, I'll run tomorrow. I'll eat really healthy tomorrow. And before I know it, I'm right back at square one trying to lose the same five pounds and get back into the skinny pants.

I have a couple ideas of how to stay motivated like buying different healthy foods or setting a goal for myself, but it just doesn't seem to work for me all the time.

What are some ways that you guys stay motivated to reach your current goals? Whether they be fitness-related, weight loss or weight gain related, or just trying to eat healthier?
 
The million dollar question!! I'm the same way, I'll get after it for a few months, only to pick up old bad habits for a little while and negate any gains I've made. :\

The only way I've come up with to stay motivated, is just changing everything up regularly. Don't stick with the same workouts on a steady basis. I'm so sick of seeing the P90X infomercials on TV, but muscle confusion is a good thing; for breaking through plateaus and avoiding boredom.

Also, make a hobby out of learning how to cook healthy, great tasting meals. This is actually a goal of mine. I really don't mind eating the healthy, bland shit; but I'd just like to learn how to cook some tasty goods.
 
Being an ex-opiate addict it is really hard to find ambition and motivation. But I try to keep the image of my beautiful wife and kids in my mind and keep my favorite music on hand. I am currently trying to make a hobby of helping my junkie friends who want to get clean...it is rewarding and makes me motivated.
 
To me, staying motivated with my workouts and such isn't the harder part. Staying motivated with the diet is.

I take in 7 ~500calorie "clean" meals per day, which is HARD to do. You can destroy 500 calories easily at McDonalds, but when you're cooking healthy food it becomes a lot more difficult. And just finding the time to eat the meals - 10 minutes per meal (prep, eat, clean) is pushing it, and even that means over one hour each day dedicated (at least partially to) food. If I cook extravagant meals, as opposed to tuna, rice and a shake, it means much more time. If I don't do this, I lose weight and this goes against my goals.

It's hard to not go out drinking with your friends on the day before you plan to kill your legs. It's hard giving up drugs in exchange for soemthing which society makes fun of in a different way ("druggie" verses "meathead") mainly due to lack of knowledge and ignorance. It's hard when you've been lazy, your gym closes in 2 hours, and you know that you could get a workout in, but you gotta kick it into gear and it's going to feel pressured. Not everyone can enjoy bodybuilding as much as Arnold did; "bodybuilding isn't all that fun" is something I've heard from numerous people. Especially for people like me, who just are doing it as something new, and not so that we can "score" better in the clubs.

Furthermore, as "newbee gains" stop and you really need to become creative in order to add 5 or 10 pounds to a lift here and there, it can make you feel a bit defeatest. I've been squatting the same weight for almost a month now, after basically going up 5lbs/session when I first started out. You don't see it on your records, nor do you feel like you look different in the mirror. You cannot let one bad lift destroy the mentality of your workout, if the other 6 or 7 went well.

I admit to falling apart once every 4-6 weeks. It just cannot be done - either I get sick, I get too lazy, or something bad happens emotionally and I just don't feel like being in public. In the end, I just keep telling myself that exercise IS possibly the only good thing I've got going for me right now, and I should give it my all. But I admit, it is HARD to stay motivated.
 
Agreed on the exercise part being the easier of the two to stay motivated for. It's something that clears me mentally, so I find it addictive sometimes. It just takes so much effort to stay motivated to do the diet thing. Why can't I have a personal chef ;) Sometimes I just HATE cooking for myself.
 
Idk how to do this.. cause i'm pretty chunky, 5'10 190-200lbs, been that way since i was 13..

Although from pics you've posted i don't think you need to worry about losing weight.. sincerly..

I know this dosen't answer your question, but i hope it gives u something to think about..
 
in all honesty, i get stoned and listen to aggressive rap music. i know i'll never let myself take a day off, but when i'm struggling to get out the door or not looking forward to a workout, that ALWAYS does the trick.

i've been smoking (or rather vaping) and exercising for so long that it's basically a pavlovian response at this point.
 
^Hahaha you serious man? You smoke then do the kind of workouts I've seen you post?? LOL that's fuckin crazy. The track would be the absolute LAST place you'd catch me after smoking that's for damn sure.

*Weed gives you motivation...shit ain't right
 
I was in the same pitfalls for years when going to the gym/working out. I'd get frustrated because I wasnt seeing the results of my work or I'd just get bored. What I've found over the last few years is passion. Passion for snowboarding and passion for improving my snowboarding. A couple of years ago I did yoga before snowboarding season hit and I had a great season of riding. Long story short, my passion for snowboarding has translated into other activities that I have told myself will keep me in good shape for snowboarding season.

Simply put, I cross train into seasonal sports and goals. In addition to running and going to the gym, I also mountain bike and took up Krav Maga late last year. I've also discovered a passion for cooking and actually loathe eating out. The only meal I eat out with regularity is lunch because of work. I stopped setting hard goals in the gym and just enjoy the work out and endorphin rush after. Cast in a different light or perspective, workouts become a labor of love and will make other activities more enjoyable. Not sure if any of this helps or makes sense but I wanted to share. haha
 
KStoner6tb said:
^Hahaha you serious man? You smoke then do the kind of workouts I've seen you post?? LOL that's fuckin crazy. The track would be the absolute LAST place you'd catch me after smoking that's for damn sure.

*Weed gives you motivation...shit ain't right
Click to expand...

most workouts and about half my races.

something about exercise and weed really works for me. but i also just have a really high metabolism and capacity for exercise, so i've always loved pushing myself. adding a psychedelic to an already pretty motivated state i makes it that much more intense. and on long runs and really nasty track sessions, the synergy with runner's high is awesome.

i dunno. there have been days where i've come home from a real long day. and i'll start thinking "well, maybe i'll just take a day off today. i know i probably should anyway" . . but then i have a few hits off the vape w/ lil wayne on and i just know there's no chance of that actually happening.
 
I know what you mean though double ewe. When I did cross country, I found it a lot easier to get into that runner's zone when I smoked before a race or practice. I could get my breathing and legs going in a rhythm, and my brain would competely zone out and before you know it the race was over. I think a lot of the time, I want to quit early because I'm bored of working out. It's almost half mental half physical for me.
 
I just don't get it. I mean, I smoke some weed (one or two hits, for example), and I'm all like:

"I can't feel my hands"

"I'm having trouble breathing"

"I think I'm having a heart attack"

"Nothing is real"

"And now I have to go on a long ass run"

...Just doesn't add up.
 
oh believe me . . i've always known it's less of a "weed and running are good together" thing than an "i'm kind of crazy" thing.

it's like there's a part of my brain where i keep all of my motivation and endurance-related insanity, and weed helps me access it. there's not really any difference in my performances whether i smoke or not . . and by the time i get to the last 400m repeat or mile 19 of a long run, i'm there regardless of the pot . . but i'm always a lot more excited to get out the door when i'm stoned.
 
Last edited:
The trick to staying motivated is to not let a slip or 2 give you reason to keep skipping. We all have days when the thought of going to the gym just doesn't excite us. If you miss a gym day, don't be so hard on yourself. I try to go 3-4 times a week. But I went to the gym on Monday of last week and then not again until Saturday. So I went Sunday too even though I usually give myself a weekend day off. Now I feel like I'll be back on track for this week. I'll go Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday or Sunday. Not going to the gym for 4 days left me feeling like crap, so that was my motivation to get my ass back in there.
 
Get a buddy, to come and pick you up at a specific time, and you change over, every other time-picking him up. It makes a huge difference!
 
Yeah I've been lifting weights on and off again for the better part of 6 years I think. What usually happens is I end up getting sick (I shouldn't be living in a cold climate, I have terrible sinuses) and lose my appetite and can't lift for a week or so and don't eat enough and lose all the gains I made over the last couple months.

I get depressed very easily so I need to keep on top of my sleep, diet, and exercise or I tend to fall apart. As long as I can squeeze out a few more reps, or add a few pounds to each lift it keeps me going. I also tend to check myself out in the mirror a lot at home, the results keep me going, its always nice to notice a little definition or size that you didn't have before.

My problem is that I'm really thin, currently I'm about 143 at 5'10"1/2 or so, the heaviest I've ever been, without exercise my body drops down to 133 or 135 in a matter of weeks. After I had the flu last fall I was down to 128. It's hard to get in as much food as I need to maintain or gain weight. I like to eat healthy so just fitting it all in to my stomach is hard to do, basically having to eat a meal every 3 hours from waking up to going to sleep. At my weight, finding girls who are interested is extremely hard, no one wants to fuck a guy whose built like a junky. So aside from maintaining my sanity, sex is a pretty strong motivator. Both sides of my family are thin so I'm really fighting against genetics which makes it that much harder. I'd love to get up to 175 some day but its going to take a huge amount of effort and dedication.

They say it takes about 3 weeks to make a habit or to break a habit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top