At the beginning of our weigh loss journey we are intoxicated with motivation. It seeps throughout out body, taking over all thoughts. We’re consumed with healthy recipes and an impulse to workout. Like all drunken states this fades away and the sobering reality of life hits. How do we maintain that motivation? How do we life in the reality of a world ripe with distraction?
This is something I struggle with each day. I have to find motivation each day to do the things that help me along my path. Much like someone struggling with addiction (really I am struggling with addiction to making bad health choices with my food/exercise habits) I have to take it day-by-day. I feel like I should break into song here.
Each day is a new challenge to find motivation. Today it was money. After a long workday I sat at my office desk thinking about curling up on the couch and watching last night’s “Once Upon a Time.” That’s all I wanted to do after a long day of frustration and a weekend spent traveling. I just wanted rest. I wanted to treat myself. The last thing that felt like a treat was the gym. Then I thought of those gym fees. Every two weeks those gym fees deducted out of my bank account. I paused thinking of that money being drained from my account for no reason.
So, often I’ve seen friends go months paying for a gym membership they are not using. That’s money that I could use on groceries, pay the electric bill, or buy myself a present! That’s money I am wasting on nothing. There is no result. At least, with a night of binging on frozen yogurt I have a memory of that sweet taste. With this I have NOTHING. The idea of my money going to nothing was enough to drag me to the gym.
I got every dollar worth working out for 90 minutes. It was the motivation that I needed to get me there. Tomorrow I am sure that I will have to muster up more motivation. Each day the challenge will be in maintaining the motivation that I was drunk with at the beginning of this journey. Motivation can be fleeting. It’s important to remember that and look for new motivation throughout this journey.