It seems that one of the hardest things for people to do in today's society is to eat a salad or get off of the couch and move. I mean, salad does not always sound as satisfying as a big slice of New York cheesecake or a few chocolate chip cookies, and sometimes staying in and marathon watching Pretty Little Liars or the Harry Potter Series sounds better than spending an hour or two at the gym, but if you want to be healthy and get your body into the shape it should be in and deserves to be in, then you have to be able to motivate yourself to do those things. Motivating yourself to go to the gym or eat a salad is really difficult for some people, but I am sharing a few tips and ideas that will help motivate you to live the healthy lifestyle you should.
1. Download motivational fitness apps onto your smartphone.
Almost everyone has a smartphone. Our world basically revolves around technology now, so utilizing your phone is an easy way to motivate yourself. There are hundreds if not thousands of apps associated with fitness. One of my favorite apps is Daily Water Free. If anyone has ever told you anything about fitness, you have heard that drinking water is an essential element to health. The app Daily Water Free and other apps similar to it let you enter a daily water consumption goal. Throughout each day, you can track how much water you have drank, and it will alert you through notifications when you need to drink water. There are also apps for counting your calories and looking up exercises. In these apps, you can also track your weight, the specific foods you eat, and the exercise you have done for that day. My personal fave that does all of those things in one app is My Fitness Pal.
2. Wear a fitness band.
This is not the cheapest option considering the good quality fitness bands start around seventy dollars, but they, in my opinion, are really worth what you pay for them. The most popular types of fitness bands are the Fitbits. My personal favorites, however, are the Garmin vivofits. I wear mine every day. Not all of the bands have all of the same features, but there are many different aspects to these fitness bands: they track your steps, track your sleeping, show the time, show the date, and some show your heart rate and burned calories. I am a fan of the vivofits because when you have been stationary for too long, a red line will appear across the top of the screen, and that red line is notifying you to get up and move around, and it will not go away until you do.
3. Change your electronic backgrounds to fitness related pictures.
A great way to get motivated to go to the gym and eat healthy is to constantly be looking at what your goals are. People look at their computers and cell phones everyday, so why not change their backgrounds to something that will inspire you health wise? You could make your background just a picture of the gym or a person who is in the shape you want to be in. You could also throw in an inspiring motivational quote. For me personally, I have a fit woman sweaty and lifting weights as my laptop's desktop background, and my phone is a picture of a woman's fit abdominal section with a quote that says, "Sweat is fat crying."
4. Follow fitness related social media accounts.
There are hundreds of fitness related accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. You name it. Find at least three to five of those accounts that you find most motivational and inspiring and follow them. My two personal favorites are the Instagram account @massy.arias and the Twitter account @FITNESS.
5. Don't make yourself do it alone.
Take your friends to the gym with you or cook healthy meals together. Living a healthy lifestyle is not something that you have to do on your own. In fact, it is better to do it with other people. Other people will give you support and encouragement to push and do your best. They will also be there to be your accountability partner, to make sure you stay on the track you need to be on. Some people will use the excuse that they don't have any friends willing to go to the gym or eat healthy with them. That is just an excuse. It may not be your closest friend who will live this lifestyle with you, but there will always be someone out there. You would be surprised at how friendly people can be at the gym. After all, everyone is there for the same purpose, to be healthy.
