How I... Stay Motivated Going to the Gym

I look at myself in the mirror.

…Just kidding! That was probably a very negative and demeaning thing to say about myself haha.

Seriously though, that was the very first step in even wanting to go to the gym. I noticed that I didn’t look the way I did when I was 18. I know, I know, it’s really tough keeping a specific body type throughout one’s life. I know no one expects me to look the same until I’m dead. But then I think about all the women in my extended family. Their maximum weight gain after high school was maybe 10 pounds. My family just doesn’t really gain weight.

So I want to lose some weight.

I’ve definitely gained weight since high school ended. I didn’t gain any weight during my 4 years at University. It was after University graduation that I saw my increase in poundage.

I’m setting realistic goals; I want to lose about 15 pounds. I am by no means obese. I am within a normal range for my height and age. However, I get winded after running for 10 minutes, get a little huffy after 3 flights of stairs, and I used to have abs. Where did they go!

So I rounded up two friends who I’ve known since I was about 5 and we’ve all agreed we’d like to be more in shape and now we try to go to the gym together once a week. Ideally I’d go 3 times a week but I just don’t have the time.

The gym… What a love-hate relationship.

I love that it’s available, pretty centrally located, and has good equipment.

I hate that people hog machines, don’t wipe them down, and how completely exhausted I am after I get home.

To be entirely honest, how I avoid stopping/slowing down on the treadmill, how I keep going on the elliptical, and how I pedal faster on the bike is this:

I imagine that I am being chased by fast zombies.

Not the slow zombies in certain movies and shows, but the quick, creepy ones that can figure out how to climb, crawl, and creep under and around things. How nerdy is that? Regardless, it works. I put on fast-paced music on my iPod, and haul ass.

I mean yes, you do need to suspend your judgment on this one and just play really convincing pretend, but if you get into the mindset that your life depends on you outrunning zombies, you will outrun zombies. You will push yourself. You will try harder.

So the key is (a more universal key than zombies… what if you’re not afraid of zombies?) convincing yourself that your life depends on being in good physical shape.

And realistically, that isn’t too far from the truth. North Americans are overweight. It’s the truth. Whenever I travel to Asia, Europe, wherever, no culture is so singularly overweight than Americans. We stuff our faces and have terrible health habits (or lack thereof) and complain when we have no energy to do anything, or no stamina.

Well, duh.

We’re slowly killing ourselves through our inaction. So get up on a machine, cardio or weight training, and remind your body that it’s capable of (and made for) moving and shaking and running and pushing.