Challenge:   I Can’t Find the Motivation to Exercise

Solution:    It’s hard to get motivated to exercise. But part of this is because we feel so lousy and exhausted in the first place. Ironically, this is largely a result of not exercising! A great way to get yourself moving is to think about the fact that after about 5 minutes of exercise, your body will wake up and you will actually feel more energized. Anyone can motivate themselves to exercise for five minutes. And since the ReEvolution cardio and weight lifting programs only ask you to move for 3 to 8 minutes at a time between rest breaks, getting and staying motivated is easy (sign up for your free ReEvolution Fitness Action Plan for a personalized program). Plus after a few weeks of exercise, you’ll start feeling better all of the time.

Another reason we feel so listless and unmotivated is that our poor diets of fast food, processed food, and especially sugar and white flour burn out our cellular energy reserves, and leave us with our needles on empty. Many people find to their delight that after a week of two of eating better (check out Simple Enjoyable Healthy Eating), starting an exercise program is easy!

Action Steps

1. Carve Out 20 minutes 3 Times Per Day, Just One Hour Per Week, for Exercise

We can’t stress it enough – just one hour per week is enough to start making changes in your body (and your mental and emotional outlook as well!). And not only will your hour of exercise per week start to change your body right off the bat, it will also get you in the habit of exercising, and help you find the time and motivation to add a bit more in down the road. Take a look at our Quick and Easy Workouts. These workouts are designed to take about 35 minutes, but if you only have 20, cut out the weight lifting portion, and just run through the warm up and the cardio sections. 

2. Buy some organic brown rice and two or three types of organic beans

Brown rice and beans may not sound exciting, but both foods are easy to spice up into a wonderful variety of tasty dishes. Even better, they’re loaded with nutrition, and you can easily prepare a meal for four (much less one) made out of organic rice and/or beans for less than five dollars. See our Tasty Healthy Food Menu for suggestions.

3. Don’t focus on losing weight, or changing the way you look -- focus on how you feel.

After beginning an exercise program, most people notice improvements in their energy levels before they see any change on the scale or in the mirror. This increase in energy is a sign that your metabolism is waking up, and a more active metabolism will result in your body burning more fat. Once you start feeling more energized, it’s a sign that weight loss is just around the corner.