15 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Fitness - Part 2

As promised, here are the remaining items on the list..

     6.    Magazines

Reading fitness magazines and looking at possible workout moves motivate me. 
Yes I am aware that most are perfected by photoshop and some are probably genetic freaks, but being a visual person, fitness models and their workouts motivate me to work harder. 

Fitness mags for PinayFitness geeks.

Besides, cut outs are a good addition to one's Vision Board (hmm.. might do an article on that one time)

     7.    Blogs

I know that reading blogs inspire me. This is the same reason why I decided to bring back the habit of writing in my blog. It gives me accountability to my readers and who knows, I might be inspiring other people with my PinayFitness Journey too.
Until I have figured out the "subscribe" button, please feel free to visit my blog anytime. lol.

     8.    Success Stories

If a fitness website has success stories, for sure I will go back and read inspirational stories. Showing the ups and downs they go through is such a learning experience.

     9.    Instagram

Those catchy memes in Instagram really helps me in getting back on track. I usually download them and make them my wallpaper or share in the PinayFitness Facebook Page.

     10.  Forums and Facebook Groups

Talking about one’s fitness concerns and sharing ideas in a group full of like minded people would definitely help your fitness goals. Check in daily. 

Interact and post : PinayFitness Facebook Page

Post and interact. It really helps. Be part of the PinayFitness Facebook Group and share your thoughts on fitness too!

     11. Rewards

If you exercise for a few days, give yourself a reward! Progressed to a week? Add another reward. Do it often during the start of you “Balik Alindog” Program.

Stickers and pretty stuffs are my rewards. How about you?

In my case, my “rewards” are stickers. I am a member of a planner community & it gives me pleasure to put stickers in my monthly planner, knowing that I got it done. Weird, but that’s how I roll.

     12. Stress Reliever

Work. Home stuff. Life in general. Yup. All stress producer. Exercise = stress relief.

I also use exercise to regenerate and refresh myself as a form of rest.

13. An exercise log / graph

Writing it down makes a whole world of difference. Monitoring your progress in you planner, writing what you ate, how many glasses of water you took in (hydration is very important!), you body weight and tape measurement – then graph it at the end of the week for four weeks. You’d be pleasantly surprised once the month ends.

Graphing my one month progress was a great motivation for me!

14.  An exercise class

Golds’ Gym Bootcamp, Cardio Martial Arts, Yoga. These are my favourite combination. I have fun working out with my kiddos, laughing at each others moves during the class, and eventually putting in that workout for the day. Invite your friends to join you for a class and for sure, you’ll be motivated to go there and workout.

     15. A day at the beach or a Class Reunion.

Yep. You know how that feels.

Last December trip. Good thing I was beach ready!

So how about you? How do you motivate yourself?

15 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Fitness - Part 1

MOTIVATION

 a ten letter word that is so hard to keep up. If this specific word has a gender, it probably is a lady that is super high maintenance.

We all can relate to writing resolutions at the start of the year and planing to work out – actively tackling it on the next few days, only to stop after a week or so, then trash it all and go back to the same old rut. It is the second month of the New Year, so how are we with our goals and plans?

But, how does a regular pinay with lots of things in her plate, find motivation to exercise when you feel that just thinking about it makes you tired already? I ask myself this million peso question every now and then, and I know that I’m not the only one.

Image from the net

Yes I have days when I struggle with putting in a workout in my schedule. I know that I should start making it a habit until it is part of my PinayFitness Routine, but the "M" word  is needed until the habit sticks and that, is where the challenge begins.

Recently however, I felt so happy because after lots of failed tries,  I was able to actually work on my goal – I was able to find motivation that was needed to make the habit stick. 

In this post, I am sharing what I did differently and what had helped get back on track.

The happiest loss of all. Loss of excess body fat.

Feel free to see if you can make some of these ideas “your own” so you can start working on your fitness goals..

Motivation 101

There are days when you feel like you just want to do anything.. at. all.
During those times, motivational quotes really help out a lot.

Sharing with you quotes that I love reading.

*  70% of ALL PEOPLE who start a FITNESS PLAN QUIT.
    EXCEPT YOU. NOT THIS TIME

* Go do something that makes you SWEAT.

* TRY HARD EVERYDAY.

* I train because I want to defeat the me who couldn't do it yesterday so I can be better today.

Image from the net

.* Your body can do ANYTHING.... you just have to convince your MIND.

* A workout is a personal triumph over laziness & procastination.

* When you're struggling, REMEMBER THE OUTFITS YOU WILL WEAR.

* WORKOUT AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. Because it does!

* BEAST is someone who gets up even if they can't.

* This is not what Barbie looks like.     This is not what Fashion Models look like.
   This is what FIT looks like.  This is what being HEALTH looks like.    This is sexy.

* When in doubt, WORKOUT!

How about you? What are your favorite motivational quotes?

Urban Legends: Fitness Myths Vs Facts

In the fitness world, there are lots of urban legends you’d hear in the gym locker room.

Statements like, “I don’t want to eat sinigang or sisig because ingesting pork fat will make me fat!” or “I stay away from those heavy weights because I don’t want to look like a She-Hulk”

Image from the net

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true. As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story’s veracity, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.

- Wikipedia

As we embrace the fitness lifestyle, it is our responsibility to question these statements and find out for ourselves if these are categorized as what we all know as “fitness” urban legends.

Below are some of the Fact vs Myth statement that I stumbled upon and would like to share with you.

Please feel free to add some more.

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Myth: High – carbohydrate, low fat diets works best.
Fact: People are becoming fat from carb overdose.

Myth: If you exercise, it doesn’t matter what you eat.
Fact: If you exercise, it matters even more what you eat!

Myth: Eating right means three big meals a day.
Fact: Eating  nutritious balanced meals with the proper portion is the way to go.

Myth: Weight training is only for young athletes.
Fact: People of all ages should do weight training.

Myth: Muscle grow while you’re working out
Fact: Muscle grow while you’re resting and recuperating, AFTER a good workout.

Myth: A certain number of sets and reps gets the job done.
Fact: High-intensity efforts produces the best results.

Myth: Aerobic is better for shaping up than weight training.
Fact: To transform your physique, you must train with weights.

Myth: If women lift weights, they’ll get “bulky”.
Fact: Resistance exercise helps women create lean, toned bodies.

Image from the net

Myth: You need to drink water only when you are thirsty.
Fact: Your body needs more water than it’s telling you.

Myth: Pinays are weak and dependent
Fact: Pinays are Positive Independent Natural Adaptable andYouthful!

So, now that all the myths and urban legends are debunked, care to share what have YOU heard through the grapevine?

How to Workout During the Rainy Season

So you want to work out but its raining really hard outside.

Running is not an option and going to the gym is too much hassle because of the heavy traffic.

From the net

That’s fine.  However, that's no excuse for you not to work out.

The good news is that you can burn that extra jiggly fat, start being lean, and have a great workout with just using your existing furniture at home and your body weight!

How?  Let me introduce you to Body Weight Circuit Training.

Completing one exercise right after the other without stopping a set  is what’s known as “circuit training”.  This builds both lean body weight and give you a great cardio workout.

So why does it work, you ask me?

In these exercises multiple muscle groups are used to complete the movement. These challenging movements get your heart rate pumping and in effect helps with the caloric burn that we all want.  With this in mind, studies showed that Circuit Training burns more calories than interval training — which actually burns MORE calories than steady cardio.

Efficient use of time is important for me and spending hours of running on a treadmill is not how I envision my time spent.  Here is a sample basic  workout that can be completed at home, in the park, or even in your office during lunch break.  

In a circuit routine, you’ll do each exercise in sequence without breaks in between as much as possible. 

Once done, you do it all over again.  If you can still do a set after the 2nd set,  try one more for third.

Note that it’s better to stop and take a break than to do an exercise incorrectly.  If you can’t do all three set of circuits without stopping, then you have yourself a goal.

As in any physical activity, WARM UP before starting.  Elevate your heart rate by running in place, jump rope, or jog up and down your stairs.  After the warm up,  start the circuit by doing the following movements:

Air Squats. 

Livestrong.com defines Air Squat as “an effective exercise for both the beginner and the advanced athlete. It uses just your body weight to tone and strengthen the muscles of your buttocks–gluteus minimus and maximus–and your thigh muscles, the hamstrings and quadriceps. Air squats also increase flexibility in the hamstrings and glutes. This exercise is great for women as it targets the problem areas of the butt and thighs. It’s also effective for people on the go who might not have access to a gym or weight-training equipment.”

Yes, you read it right! It’s GREAT for women as it targets butt and thighs.

Try to do 10- 15  repetition per circuit.

Here’s another great move for you.