Getting motivated to exercise

just looking at my back side in the mirror! It looks terrible. I just started this week working out on our eliptical machine that we have at home. I'm trying to be consistant and work out for at least 30 min. 5 days a week!

When I do Zumba my daughter tries to do it with me!  When I Do Jillian Micheals 30 day shred she tries to do it with me (she is too cute trying to do jumping jacks!)  It is actually very fun to do these things with my 4 1/2 year old! 

Things that have helped me:

* Joining a gym with 2 hrs/day of free childcare. :) Getting that break and having a place to go (esp when it's too hot/cold/rainy to play outside) is GREAT motivation for getting to the gym!!

* Doing the Dukan Diet. It was more extreme than I initially wanted to do but I went through a long phase when Weight Watchers, calorie counting, etc., weren't working for me, even with working out on top of it. I did Dukan and lost 10 lbs in 4 weeks (my goal was to lose 11); ended up losing 13 and was really happy with it.

* There are tons of delicious, "skinny" recipes around; experiment with ones that will help you feel satisfied, like you're not giving up anything really good. I've come to love roasted curried cauliflower more than french fries, garlic parm mashed cauliflower more than mashed potatoes, spaghetti squash *almost* as much as pasta ;), etc. The skinnytaste blog and the chocolatecoveredkatie blog have some great recipes you could try.

That is a good idea. Maybe have a dance party in the living room for 30 minutes or have them jog with me around the inside of our house (you can walk in a circle in between the kitchen, living room and dining room :) ). 

That is a great point.  My kids love to excercise with me and it is great to get them active too.

And if children seem to be an issue with trying to get into a routine, see if you can get them to join you!  My daughter is 4 1/2 and I jokingly call her my personal trainer!  She will do the Zumba with me, and when I am on the AB Rocker she likes to sit on me!  But then I get to spend time with her, and still get my work out in!

Thanks for asking this question...I am in the same boat as you :)  Great advice.

Thanks for all the advice so far! 

I agree with this one!  When you go to eat something you know is not good for you, ask yourself do you NEED to eat this?  I thought about counting calories, then watched my SIL count calories!  I can't do it!  I can't count calories, it is tooooo much work! 

I understand the getting discouraged when you don't lose a lot of weight in a month!  I lost 8 pounds in a month!  Every day I went to the gym and jogged on the treadmill for an hour and 15 minutes on the ab machine they had!  I would go back later in the day to swim and only lose 8 pounds in the month! 

Set yourself a regimen, switching types of exercise!  And make it fun!

Mine is:

Sunday is rest day (Unless I did not do what I do on Saturday)

Monday AB Twister rocker

Tuesday Treadmill

Wednesday Zumba

Thursday Treadmill

Friday Zumba

Saturday 2 mile walk at the Mall!

If you check out the Biggest Loser Thread I put what my regimen was and that I changed it to this one!  And Change it up!  It gets boring if you don't!  So far this is the longest stint I have been able to keep with!

I wish I had some advice... I have such issues with this as well~

I am one of those people who is obssessed with exercise. Not in a bad way but just really really enjoy It (plus I'm also a personasl trainer!). I guess what I would say is keep mixing it up a bit. Yeah go out for a run (I find that if run in a beautiful area, feel like can go for longer). Plus you could go the gym or maybe join a sports club? There are mny options!

Another thing I would say is deprive yourself! Say to yourself: as a reward for running or going to the gym, I can have that burger or whatever! I've also had people say that if train them, then they wouldn't be doing any exercise! sorry for the rant!! haha!

My biggest issue is finding the time to exercise. My daughter and I like to do yoga together (she's 6) but my son (2), seems to think its a game of mommy is a jungle gym. "Look! She's in plank pose, lets see if she can keep it up while climb up and sit on her shoulders!" (I cant). I don't count calories or do diets, but I make sure not to have on hand or bring things into the house that I will eat uncontrollably (like cookies or chocolates) and I steer clear of starbucks. I like to ride bikes a lot though and I like to walk so whenever I can I chose to walk or ride places instead of driving. Whenever I feel like I need to come down in weight (which has been an issue ever since I had my daughter 6 years ago) I make a concerted effort to ride and walk more.

I do have this internal guilt meter about my level of exercise, it kicks in whenever I see someone else walking or riding bikes places when I'm in my truck, because seriously the grocery store is less than a mile away and I'm driving there??? In the winter though, I give myself a break, if its colder than 20* I have every right to drive... at least that's what I remind myself.

Try to think of it, not as a move away from something negative, like a weight you're not happy at, but as moving toward healthiness.  Start thinking of health as something that you earn and maintain, not something to simply obtain and be done with.  Instead of counting calories, drop crappy foods from your diet and move toward more whole foods. Find fun ways to exercise.  I think it really takes a shift from thinking of health as goal oriented to process oriented- there is no "health" to achieve, but you can become more fit and healthy.