Finding the proper motivation at the gym can make or break your fitness goals. Some days we are certainly more motivated than others, but at the end of the day we must find ways to keep going and reach our desired fitness goals. Doing so is obviously not so easy; finding ways to stay consistent can be quite difficult at times, but there are many ways that you can overcome these difficult times. Finding ways to stay motivated is the route to the problem that so many trainees experience during their fitness journeys. Just remember motivation is everywhere, it’s all around us, sometimes it’s the simplest things we do or look for that can keep us on track and give us that extra boost to keep on going. Here are 10 simple ways you can stay motivated and realize your fitness dreams once and for all, enjoy!

1. Change your Routine! Constantly doing the same things can lead to boredom, which eventually leads to a lack of motivation, causing you to quit the gym. Changing your routines is a huge part of staying motivated. In terms of getting the best possible results, having a variation in your routine is key. Instead of hitting abs 5 times a week, hit them twice a week. This will allow your abs to grow with rest and ultimately lead to better results. There is no tactic greater than body manipulation when it comes to fitness. When your body develops a routine, it knows it tends to stay at a standstill. When you throw it a curve ball and change your routine, you are giving it the boost it desperately needs. Not only will your body benefit from a new routine but so will you, keeping you motivated and excited to tackle new workouts. Each plan should be changed after 6 weeks maximum.

2. Do What Inspires You! What drives You!

Is it work? Is it your family, God, death, life, love, or maybe an athlete you want to emulate? Now I’m not saying go online and find a video of a dude curling a hundred pound weight; there is plenty of content online to satisfy whatever type of motivation you are looking for. There are a lot of tremendous athletes and normal people online inspiring others every day, and finding motivation through this avenue can be quite impactful and give you that kick start you need to get going. I myself sometimes need that extra boost!
So Whether it’s Will Smith, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Cancer victims, Navy Seals, or your Mom and/or Dad feeding your mind with some motivational lines or watching them do doing extraordinary things online,  can empower your mind.  You’ll  be more focused, more motivated, and ready to go! The internet has become a powerful tool for fitness, so be sure to use it when you need it.

3. Set Goals and Hold Yourself Accountable

Improve Your Training, Diet And Motivation. Having both short term and long term goals can be of great help in overcoming depression. The short term goal should be achievable within two weeks (i.e. I want to lift an extra 5 pounds of weight to my incline bench). The long term goal can be a contest of a photo shoot with a great physique photographer. Achieving the small goals will build up your confidence and keep you coming back for more.

4. Keep a Food Log and/or a Workout log

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Hang up a calendar in an obvious spot that is devoted solely to tracking your workouts. Every day you don’t work out, mark it with a giant red “X.” If you skip two or three days in a row you’ll be faced with all of those giant “X”s–a visual reminder that it’s time to get your butt in gear.

5. Bribe Yourself With a Treat

It’s always easier to get through something you don’t want to do when you have something to look forward to after. On weekends, plan something fun post-workout. Tell yourself you’ll stop for a pedicure on the way home from the gym, or plan a girls’ night out for that evening. That way, the gym will be just a stop on the way to something else you’re actually looking forward to.

6. SOME JERKS EXPECT YOU TO QUIT

Many of us know those people. (HATERS) You tell them that you are starting a workout program and they just roll their eyes. (HATERS!)

“Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it!” They expect you to fail and never expect to see any changes. They don’t think you can do it. You will prove them wrong and you will love to see the look on their jealous faces when you succeed.

Take a minute right now and create a list of names of these people. It may be one person or it may be many. Write them down and look at these names before deciding to miss a workout!

7. Workout with people who will Cheer you on and push you to greatness!

Having people standing behind me, yelling and jumping up and down when I’m stuck at the bottom of a heavy squat is the best motivator because it hypes me up! It also means everybody else in the gym looks over to see what’s going on, and fear of failing with that big of an audience makes me at least 20% stronger.

8. Do it for charity

Pick a meaningful organization, such as the Salvation Army, that you’ll donate your “fat clothes” to once you’ve reached your fitness goals. Or do it for Cancer. As many people are dying from this disease choose to push pass the pain of a run and raise money to find a cure!

9. Understanding Fitness

Once you understand that fitness, flexibility, speed, agility, strength, and power are all components of performing at your best, it is easier to stay motivated to work out and build the foundation needed to prevent injuries and stay in the game.

10.  Never let go of a Dream

Not all people can play sports and often it is the effort you put in off the field that will enhance your game enough to make the team. Ask any coach if they would rather have a group of hard working players with heart or a group of talented players with little heart. Hard work wins every time. Keep Pushing, Keep Dreaming and NEVER GIVE UP.

But all in all this is just advice. Do not wait till the end of the year to be motivated. Life is a gift and we need to live it and play the game daily. Greatness is within us all. The question is how bad do you want it!

Never Stop and Never Settle,

Crystal aka Barbell Barbie. NY

References:

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/health/top-ten-list-to-stay-motivated-and-build-mental-toughness

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topshal.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-zukerman/10-ways-to-stay-motivated-to-work-out_b_931603.html

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– Low Fat and Fat Free Foods

All the “healthy” fats are typically replaced with fattening
sugar and processed garbage.

Anytime you see “low-fat” or “fat-free” on a packaging label it’s a red
flag for a highly processed product that is probably loaded with
sugar.

Swap out for full fat real foods like organic cottage cheese, grass
fed raw cheese, and unflavored Greek yogurt.

– Over the counter Salad Dressings

Most are loaded with unhealthy ingredients like high fructose corn
syrup, inflammatory oils, and even trans fats.

Swap for apple cider vinegar with real olive oil.

– Whole wheat bread

Has been shown to spike your insulin just as much as white bread.

There are also a few studies showing that today’s modern wheat
can potentially cause inflammation and increased cholesterol levels.

Swap for Ezekiel 4:9 bread from Food For Life®.

– Breakfast cereals

Typically packed with sugar, refined carbs, and chemicals.

Swap for steal cut oats (throw in some protein powder and raw
nut butter with a little stevia—YUM).

– Granola

Highly processed and loaded with unhealthy sugars and oils.

Swap for Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Cereal from Food for Life®.

– Roasted Nuts

Although raw nuts are one of the healthiest foods on the planet,
roasted nuts are a totally different story because most of them
contain sugar, corn syrup, and unhealthy oils.

Also, the roasting process destroys the benefits of the healthy
fats found in nuts.

Swap for raw nuts instead. You’ll know because the only thing
you’ll see on the label will be the name of the nut itself.

– Fruit Juices

MOST fruit juices don’t even contain REAL fruit.

Even if they do have some real fruit, all the fiber has been removed
leaving nothing but the liquid sugar.

There are a few rare exceptions, like swapping fresh squeezed non-
pasteurized grapefruit juice (shown to improve insulin sensitivity), but
95% of all fruit juices are terrible for your health and belly fat.

EVERY single one of these so-called “diet foods” can cause chronic
inflammation that destroys your health and robs you of your youth.

Remember, REAL FOOD doesn’t need a label because there
should be only ONE ingredient… the food itself.

However, it’s not always easy to get your daily 5-7 servings of fruits
and vegetables in, which is why most people turn to these convenient
(yet very unhealthy) choices.

Truth be told: it’s a lot of work!!!

Your friend and Coach,
Crystal aka Barbell Barbie. NY

References:
http://www.healthsourceofportlandnorth.com/Talking-Health_305_Eat-This-Instead-7-Food-Swaps-That-Will-Leave-You-Feeling-Satisfied-.html

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/01/16/virgin-diet-drop-7-foods-lose-7-pounds-in-1-week.html

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If you’ve dated, more likely than not, you’ve been dumped, or have dumped someone.

(For all of you love birds who have been together since the first day you laid eyes on each other and have been inseparable since, this article is not for you. However, as a courtesy, please forward this link to your friends who haven’t been in relationships for awhile. Thank you.)

As the saying goes, breaking up is hard to do. Depending on the reason as well as the current standing of your relationship, it only gets more difficult. There are different varieties, such as The (very rare) Amicable Break-Up, where you just universally stop wanting to entertain a relationship one another, or the It’s Not You, It’s Me, which usually means it’s something they don’t like about you anymore. There’s also the volatile Emotion-Fueled Break-Up, starter pack including a deceit, distrust, and/or a solid object of which someone threw at the other’s head as they set all of their belongings on the front lawn. Home-wrecker sold separately.

The by far worst break up, though, is the one you don’t expect, because you aren’t even really dating. Singling-Mingling-You starts out really excited to start seeing someone, but after you hang out once, they start dodging your calls, texts, or you altogether. You feel like crap, not only because you really thought you could be with them, but also that you don’t even know if you were exclusive to each other. Doubt sits on your shoulder, whispering, “what if they were seeing you and four other people and they liked you the least?” (This is what I like to call The Weakest Link effect.)

Dating nowadays can be rough, because you have to swim in multiple pools. That whole “there’s more fish in the sea” analogy? Yeah, there are more fish, but, you gotta catch a couple and weed out the one you want by process of elimination. What if you thought you were ready to commit to this fish, and it turned out to be poisonous? You can’t just go one by one by one when you’re out in the dating pool, because truthfully there’s too many heads to comb through. Also, more likely than not, you’re not sure what you’re looking for, but with budding technologies and a variety of people with different expectations, you end up finding all the things you could care less about.

I swore to thirteen-year-old self that if I ever broke up with someone, I would never get back together with them. Now, no one is perfect, and of course I’ve aimed to get back into the gathered graces of my exes with a little fooling around along the way, but I can proudly say I’ve never said had those “getting-back-together” plans follow through, whether it be the universe or myself to thank.

Now, being past recalling being dumped or doing dumping before, I can admit those experiences have made me a better person. Getting dumped doesn’t always mean the end of the world. As cheesy as it sounds, you get to date yourself by putting your needs before anyone else’s. You get to ask yourself the questions other’s may not have thought to, like what you truly want; what do you want to be, what do you want to do, what do you want to improve? The possibilities are endless. You are free to try new things, be as much of yourself as you can muster, and you don’t have to worry about anyone holding a microscope to your actions they might not like.

The transition to a party-of-one from a tandem-twosome can be less-than-stellar, but for a lot of people I know including myself, the best thing that could have happened to them is being dumped by someone who they realized later was toxic to their well-being. After you get dumped, you realize how truthfully awful that person was. Sometimes you realize, “I was the best part of them, and they chose to let me go.” Other times, you come to the realization that you can now do that thing you always wanted to do but never had the opportunity to when you were in that relationship, like dyeing your hair green or taking up fencing. Being dumped can be rewarding if you just remember to pick yourself up out of your own sadness. For those of us who are in love with our own griping and moaning, a good friend and an activity you enjoy can do a world of good on a damaged heart.

Also, a great way to get over a break up is to take up another activity, such as the timeless solution of exercising. There is no better revenge than being happy, healthy, sexy and successful. As a spite-driven individual, I aim to better myself on all levels just so they can peep my graceful ascension into greatness via social networking and suck it. Regardless of your motivation, remember that you can always improve yourself, and getting dumped might just be the kick you needed.

How do you feel about being dumped? Would you rather be dumped or put the final nail in the coffin yourself? What’s the worst break up you went through, where are you now, and how did you handle it? Let us know in the comments!

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