MOTIVATION

"I have no desire to get fitter or healthier, I never have and I never will"   this is a sentence that you have probably never heard anybody utter before. At least not truthfully. But you have probably heard people say "I just don't have the motivation!" or "I just don't have the time!" on countless ocassions.

The problem is not the lack of desire, but surely this should go hand-in-hand with our goals and motivation. Perhaps this coming year we should not merely begin a new fitness craze because of new beginnings or feelings of regret from the lack of workouts marked on the calander we are soon to place in the bin. This time we need to evaluate what motivates us and be one-hundred-percent honest with ourselves. It may seem vein to be motivated by how we look but if that is your motivation then be honest about it, because you will not achieve your goals unless you are clear about exactly what you want.

Remember to use positive wording for your goals, rather than saying (thinking) "if only I wasn't so fat, I'd be much happier!" you should enjoy how it will feel when you achieve your goals in the present moment. Think to yourself "I feel fit and agile at seventy kilos (or whatever your desired weight is)" or "I am loving the attention from my peers having reduced my waist line to x " make sure they are positive, specific and of course realistic. It is good to be ambitious, but you can always move the goal post later once you have achieved your short term goals. Having said this it is best to acknowledge your achievement and bask in your glory for a little while, before instantly moving the cross-hairs onto the next target. This is how people become unhappy with themselves by being way to critical of all the good work they have done so far and playing it down. Moving the goal post is great for staying motivated, but so too is enjoying your spoils!

Maybe you believe your motivation is nothing to do with how you look, but maybe it's more about pushing yourself or performing better in a sport or activity. Activities such as sports are a great motivator in themselves as it is easy to judge results (improvement in that sport) and more likely to make it a shared experience (sociable and also the motivational benefit of keeping up with or besting your peers and rivals).
However, people often get side-tracked into the additional benefits of their hard work and dieting such as a flat stomach and extra attention. This does not mean to say that you shouldn't enjoy the fruits of your labour or bask in the confidence boost but do not forget why you got into the game in the first place.

In short, if you are wanting to become a professional athlete and that is your motivation then spend more time evaluating your performance than measuring the circumfrance of your thighs - because you risk losing what your really working for (and therefore you may lose motivation altogether.)

Maybe your motivation comes from a desire to be heatlhy and live a longer, happier life. This goal should be shared by everyone, and makes the common excuse "I just don't have the time!" somewhat ironic doesn't it? You will not have the time for anything if you can't stay motivated through the knowledge of your very own mortality.

Having said that such a goal is hard to achieve when it is placed in such vague context. What does it mean to be 'healthy'? Is what you consider a healthy lifestyle the same as fat Bob's who lives next door and only venture outside to bin his take away packets? or Mrs Higgins who lives three doors down and hasn't seen a morsal of food since she picked a shred of celary from her teeth three days ago? Probably not.

If general health is your motivation then you need to educate yourself in terms of what is healthy for you from reputable sources (avoid word of mouth because they are often myths) and certainly add some more specific criterea as to what you are aiming for. In this case you can add goals that relate to your appearance and fitness performance aswell as these can be good indicators for your level of general health as well as indicators outlined by your GP (such as blood pressure etc.).

Futhermore if general health is your ultimate goal then it is also advisory that you do plenty of research into the activities you pursue as those that on the extreme end of the spectrum (such as powerlifting on one end of the spectrum and frequent marathon running on the other) can often have many side effects along with the benefits (such as joint problems, or extreme spikes or deficiencies in hormones).