How to Stay Motivated to Workout

Now that it’s April, this is about the time of year many people quit their fitness-related new year’s resolutions, if not before due to the current circumstances of COVID-19.

But for once, not for me!

I set fitness-related new year’s resolutions every single year and never stick to it past February or even two weeks into January. This is the first year where I have kept going strong and have put myself on a weekly routine, and I feel insanely proud of that.

Now after 23 years that I have finally found the motivation to keep up with working out regularly, I wanted to share my story with you all today and give you all some inspiration to keep going as well. (Thanks Stralthy for submitting this question!)

SO many different things inspired and motivated me to keep going with working out regularly this year and I hope my story inspires you as well!

1) Following the Fitness Journey of My Favorite Blogger on Instagram

One thing that really motivated me to work out regularly this year and keep with it was following the fitness journey of one of my favorite bloggers on Instagram, Danielle Brown! I have followed Danielle for some time now on Instagram and absolutely love everything she shares. Not only is she the cutest human on the planet, but she is also the most positive person I’ve followed and the content she produces has inspired me so much to improve things in my own life to overall live a better life.

She shares her daily workouts she does with her personal trainer on her Instagram stories, and also shares her at-home workouts she is doing now due to the current circumstances. Her transformation from just a year of regular workouts each week is actual goals and showed me just what regular exercise can do for your body and your overall health. She seriously looks amazing and after following her for so long and seeing her photos on my feed each day, I always thought to myself, “dang, I want to look like that!” and that really motivated me so much to start my own fitness journey.

I could literally write a whole post on social media cleansing, but long story short, I cannot stress enough to follow people who bring you joy or inspire you even if that means unfollowing a lot of accounts you already follow! At the beginning of the year, I did a huge social media cleanse since I realized how many accounts I was following that did not bring me joy. It’s ok to unfollow if certain accounts bring you down or make you doubt yourself, or whatever the case may be, etc.!

But, moving on …

2) My Apple Watch

Since getting my Apple Watch as a graduation gift after graduating college last year, I don’t think I’ve gone a single day without wearing it. It comes in handy so much if I receive text messages or phone calls and don’t have my phone on me at the moment, conveniently telling the time, weather, etc.

But besides its phone connectivity, the fitness tracker aspect of the watch has motivated me so much as well.  The watch notifies you each hour to stand and move a little bit, can record a ton of different workout activities to track your calories burned, heart rate, how long you exercised, and more.

There were so many days for the first couple of months I had the watch where I hardly did anything, and seeing that low activity on my home screen every single time I looked at my watch was super discouraging and defeating. I hated seeing those empty circles for not standing enough during the day, not being active enough throughout the day, and not burning as many calories as I should for the day. Seeing that every single day for the first couple of months was a huge motivator there. I would start thinking, “Wow, am I really that lazy?” I wanted that to change in 2020!

3) My Dog

Having a dog helps SO much with living a more active lifestyle and I’m so glad we have her for that! My dog Charlotte is 7 months old which means tons of puppy energy, and also more exercise for me. My boyfriend and I take her on walks multiple times a week and even on weekend hikes once or twice a month.

I remember sometime around early January when she was finally at an age where she could go for longer walks rather than just around the block, we took her for a 6-mile walk and I just about died from it. And that made me feel horrible about myself! I did nothing for the rest of the day from how tired I was and couldn’t believe just walking made me feel that way. But now after keeping up a regular workout routine for just 4 months, walking my dog for 2-3 miles about 5-6 times a week and occasionally taking her on weekend hikes is nothing and I always feel great after walking her!

4) Listening to My Body + Seeing my Body Change

As I’m getting older and heading into my mid-20s, I can definitely see and feel my body changing. I can’t eat the same as I used to be able to as a teenager, I gain weight easier than I ever did as a teenager, and all that stuff that comes with adulting.

Even just seeing photos of myself from just two years ago in college compared to more recent, I can see the weight that I have gained from not working out and continuing to eat like a teenager. I did not like that look at all and knew if I didn’t do something about it now, it could get a whole lot worse real quick and the worse that it would get, the harder it would be to do something about it. That’s what scared me the most.

Things I saw and felt changing: I noticed my thighs got a little bit bigger (not in a good way), I started to get flabby arms, my love handles had gotten a little bigger, etc. I did not like the way my body was looking, especially when thinking about the outfits I like to wear during the summer months. I knew I needed to get fit and toned and really work on that summer bod.

5) Working a Full-Time Office Job

Transitioning from being a college student working a part-time job that required me to be on my feet for hours to all of a sudden working 40 hours a week sitting at a desk really changed a lot for me as well. Now after almost a full year of working a desk job full-time throughout the week, I really look forward to my workouts and taking my dog out so I can get up and get moving, and enjoy fresh air and time away from a screen after sitting all day staring at a computer.

6) Overall, I Feel Better & Stronger After Working Out

Working out regularly every week since January really has helped so much in feeling better about myself overall and feeling stronger. Of course, I still have my lazy moments. But after working out in the morning, I don’t feel guilty at all for having a lazy movie night or night of binge-watching my favorite shows and snacking since I still feel just as strong. It really is amazing that working out has that effect! And your body will definitely thank you for it!

Even though the adjustment from working out in the gym to forcing myself to do at-home workouts was a bit rough at the start of COVID-19, now really is the perfect time to get started on your own fitness journey with all of this extra time during quarantine!

There are so many great free workout videos on YouTube or articles on Pinterest you can view to start your own workout routine. I do Fitness Blender workouts on YouTube 4-5 days a week and they’re such great workouts and don’t cost me anything which is a total plus! I’ll also switch things up every once in a while and look up some workouts on Pinterest to do as well which are also free!

You can easily shop today’s outfit and get outfit details below:

Thanks for reading and I hope this post gave you some inspiration for starting a workout routine and sticking to it!

 

XX

Kelsie