So I decided to join the gym last week.. so far its been pretty good but I can see the novelty wearing off pretty quick so I'm considering gym motivation. Something that I can look at or think about that will push me to keep going. Any ideas? What helps/helped you to shed a few pounds? I need to lose a few pounds and generally get fitter so hopefully joining the gym will help and the support of you EC folk will push me further! Thanks for the support guys!
Get a work out buddy. This makes it 100x easier I promise. Just try and get someone on a similar level physically.
Gotta Ask yourself why you want to lose weight and imagine your life having achieved that goal! Seriously, try to picture it and focus (like a laser)! If that's not gonna motivate you maybe losing weight isn't actually that important to you (which is fine by the way)? Good luck
While working out, listening to music always motivates me. If you haven't already, make a workout playlist. It really does push you to keep going. As far as continuing to workout, like Pleione, asking yourself "Why?" definitely helps.
Being fit feels good. The sense of vitality and self-care you get when you can feel your muscles growing and your energy and stamina increasing is very pleasant. Don't exercise to lose weight. Exercise to feel healthy.
Not going to the gym... Seriously, the only exercise you need to do in order to lose weight is basic cardio, that can easily be done outside the gym. Take a long walk, jog, or get yourself busy in the house. For losing pounds, calculate your BMI, count calories... proffit.
Going to the gym will help you tone muscles and become more lean... But as shinji said, you need cardio to actually lose weight. Both cardio and strength work will make you healthier, but strength work is going to give you muscle, making you heavier than you started out as. Muscle is much denser than fat. I am 5'1" and 125 pounds. For someone with a female body, that's pretty heavy. But I'm in no way fat. I do cardio and strength work, which has made me heavier than the normal 5'1" person because of the muscle. Both will make you healthier. Cardio will help you lose weight, though you will gain a bit of muscle from doing it. Strength in the gym will make you buff, but you'll also be considerably heavier. Having a balance between both will make you very fit and healthy. People say they want to lose weight, but in my opinion, losing visible fat, gaining muscle weight, and becoming healthier while doing it are more ideal.
Actually the only thing necessary for weight loss is a negative calorie intake (as shinji already pointed out). I've lost 45 lbs just by eating less and not lifting weights anymore (about 165 lbs now but i'd like to lose another 15). First week of eating less was challenging but now i'm fine, you'll get used to it edit: i wasn't obese btw
This so much. I love the feeling of being fit and strong and that's motivation for me to exercise. Though I tend to run and cycle on my own I always go gym with friends so it's a social thing and you motivate each other to go because you don't let each other down. It's very important to have good gym buddies! Also set yourself targets like beating a certain time for a run or lifting a certain weight or doing a number of reps. I've got a dream of a sub 16min 5k crosstrainer run and a 5min plank and being able to bench 1.5x my body weight I will get there!
You know, I always feel incredibly self-conscious at the gym. It's probably a subtle form of social anxiety, but it's depressing when all the other guys are toned, fit, know each other and know exactly what exercise regimen to do. While I'm there trying to lift some (fairly light) weights, looking like a fish out of water. But you have to start somewhere I guess.
