What Motivates You?

I've thought about this question several times lately, and it's amazing what my answers seem to be. Healthy eating, going to the gym, making outdoor choices when it comes to recreation, running, feeling fit, and the list goes on. Has my answer always been of this nature? Absolutely not. In fact, it was quite the opposite. My motivators were at one point based on food or feel good moments or what I thought brought me joy but in all reality was just a cover up, a band-aid.

It wasn't until I started to change my life and explore the new me that my motivators changed. Every little step counted along the way. It was as if the more time I spent exploring what my body could do, the more I craved what I was learning. It's so easy when we start a new regimen of any kind, especially losing weight, to focus on the scale changing each week to be the motivator. Anybody ever fallen into that trap? This is great maybe for a week or two but what does your brain do when the scale doesn't move for a while but maybe the inches are moving and or the brain is changing? Do we start to get discouraged? Do we panic? Do we inch a little more towards wanting to throw in the towel? I think what happens is we get fixated on the number on the scale and if it doesn't move, our motivation can so easily be tampered with. I guess the message I want to get across is don't let that happen to you. Keep going. Every day is worth you giving it 100% on your journey. Plus, yes the scale is helpful and lets you know you are making progress but that is only a very TINY part of the problem you've gotten yourself into in the first place. In order to change we need to look and think of ourselves in a different way. We need to come up with some self motivators that are healthy yet helpful.

What are other things you can do to motivate you throughout the week? Here are a few Paige ideas:

- Talk to God about what you're up against each day

- Plan ahead - avoid rush

- Get with a friend and share your goals/exercise together

- Write down ahead of time everything you will eat that day

- Make a chart or graph and track your progress (progress can be with eating, exercising, weight, inches, etc.)

- Pick some healthy new recipes to try 

- Keep a journal/blog and write your thoughts and feelings

- Share your progress with someone else (I know this sounds a little odd but I didn't really do this until after the fact and to see what a blessing it has been to share my own story and pay-it-forward has been a huge motivator to me to want to continually help others I know on their own journey.)

- Get a cute or fun water bottle that you enjoy filling up several times a day. 

Don't stress and think about what you have to do to lose that 1-2 pounds this week (or 5 -10 if you're brain is currently thinking unrealistically). Think about what you can do to motivate yourself to become the best you you know. And in all reality, maybe you don't know who that person is yet and that's okay too. ( I met her along the way myself.) Plant some seeds now and you will build within the walls of your frame a person whose motivation is built on an active lifestyle and a desire to be healthy, not just by dieting, getting skinny, and watching the numbers on the scale go down just to gain it back when you think you're ready to be done with this latest phase or way of thinking.

Whatever it may be that will motivate you, find something and stick with it, even when the going gets tough. Motivation is not only how we feel but even more so how you think. If you can train your brain to be healthy and remind you of the potential that is within you, everything else will come so naturally. 

Your body is an amazing creation and can do amazing things if you will but motivate it and tell it what do to. Think of your body as waiting and wanting to hear from you each morning on how you're going to work together, to become the best team you possibly can. You can do this!