Saturday, January 29, 2011

Where do you get your motivation?

I have been flicking through some of my old fitness magazines recently… and it got me wondering – what do others do to keep themselves motivated?

I used to buy fitness magazines regularly. I have a huge stack of old Oxygens, Muscle and Fitness Hers, Fitness RX, and Womens Fitness and Health. I even bought a few running mags too, back in the day :)

I went “off” fitness magazines a few years ago though. I don’t know, I guess my priorities changed. At the time, I started buying pregnancy magazines instead! I have to say, although I still buy the occasional fitness magazine here and there (or have a flick through them at the newsagent), they just don’t do it for me anymore, or else they are not what they used to be. I suspect it’s a bit of both.

So what do you use to give yourself that extra kick of motivation?

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I've had an ok week - not perfect by any means. Everything was going well, but on Australia Day I decided to blow off my training in favour of a sleep in, and then a day down the Gold Coast. We had other stuff to do down there, so only spent about half an hour on the beach (little miss was overdue for a sleep by then, but she loved the water!) and then spent over an hour stuck in traffic trying to get home... grrr!! All the while Skye was grizzling and crying in the backseat... enough to set your teeth on edge!

I kept my food clean though (taking my own chicken salad and water with me) but then treated myself to a glass of wine to celebrate Australia Day (and because of the stress of listening to a screaming child in the car for an hour LOL!). Back on track with training on Thursday morning though - except I'm now a day behind - oh well.

Feeling really good and starting to see some definition coming back in my upper arms which is nice.

Yesterday was my birthday (thank you to everyone for your kind emails, texts and FB messages!) and I still dragged my butt out of bed at 5am for an hours cardio. The older I get, the more I begin to realise that its just another day. Bit scary to think that I'm 36 now - eeek!

So last night we had take-away chinese for dinner and I had a few glasses of wine, which I have to admit I didn't enjoy as much as I was expecting. Then we watched a movie - 127 Hours - which I've been wanting to see for a while now. (About the American mountain climber Aron Ralston who got his right arm trapped by a boulder, and after 5 days had to amputate his own arm in order to survive) It was quite harrowing but fascinating to watch at the same time.

Anyway, thats it for another week. Time to go do some housework!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am hearing you on the sacry age of 36 Hils! But it actually is driving me to be fabulous during this pregnancy and then see out my remaining "30's" in spectacular style. I am determined to ROCK!

As for motivation unfortunately for me I seem to get the most motivated when I am in the city or at the beach (both rare occasions) and see hot mummas! I admire women who can keep themselves in awesome shape while also being amazing mothers and playing with and nurturing their kids :)

I rarely buy fitness mags anymore because I know what the models in there (on the whole) have to do to maintain those physiques and that is not how I choose to live my life.

I promise I will update my blog soon ;)

rene xxx

Nicole said...

Grrrr to being stuck in a car with a grizzly/screaming child! That is something that I just don't tolerate very well at all!

Motivation? Hmmm... Mine seems to have gone missing since I had Eva and if it does come back it's there for a couple of days and then disappears again! LOL

I too used to buy heaps of fitness mags but like Rene mentioned, cause I know what a majority of them have to do in order to maintain that look, it puts me off buying them. I now buy the odd mag but not very often.

I guess I am trying to find something new to motivate me now :)

Talk soon

Nicole xx

Shar said...

Mmmmm common theme amongst us new mums? I no longer buy fitness mags either, although a running one may be purchased as soon as I've had this bub.

At the mo my motivation is not great but normally I'm motivated by a goal / event etc.

Xxx

Liz Nelson said...

I'm not into fitness mags either, but I love great fitness photography.

Kristy said...

I'm no longer into fitness mags either Hilary...

My motivation I think comes from knowing how much better I feel getting up at 5.20am each weekday morning for either a walk or run. The 2 or 3 days I skipped, I felt really crap at work and it effected my moods...

Magda said...

Fitness mags .. same old, same old. The same stuff rehashed over and over. I'd die with a leg in the air if I read something new and learnt something from it so I too have stopped buying them for quite some time now.

What motivates me? ticking off my running training sessions; proudly reporting in to my coach that I've done so; seeing the scale number go down; visualising where I want to be with weight / fitness; knowing that I'm taking care of me.

Bug's Mumma said...

Ditto to the above! I no longer buy fitness mags and havent in a long time. In fact, I ditched all of mine when we packed up the house.

My motivation now? Being a role model for Ava. That's enough to get me moving :)

xoxo

Miss Positive said...

Rene, the beach is a great place to see fit and healthy mums! In one way I miss going to the gym, because there was always someone there who inspired me. Interesting how many of us no longer read these magazines too :)

Nicole it sucks being stuck in a car with a screaming kid doesn't it? Skye is shocking in the car, always has been. I'm so jealous of mums whose kids sleep in the car - never happened for us!
I'm trying to find something new to motivate me too :)

Yep Shar there seems to be a bit of theme here doesn't there? An event goal is a great way to keep motivated.

I agree Liz, I have a picture beside my desk of a fit chick walking along the beach - the sun highlights her abs - awesome shot!

Doesn't look like many of us are anymore Kristy! I love that feeling of satisfaction when you've done your exercise for the day too, makes you feel great doesn't it?

LOL Madga, so true! Wasn't the common street name for "Muscle and Fitness" actually "Muscle and Fiction"?

Thats a good idea Alicia - I'm not quite sure why I'm hanging on to all my old mags - might be time for the dump too I think! Being a mum is the biggest role-model job in the world!