November 16, 2010

Have you seen my motivation? I can’t find it…

Recently I’ve been trying to use my old standard tactic of setting short term goals to inspire me to lose weight. For example, I have my DIY fitness cruise coming up this weekend, which is a great reason to get in shape (so I can look good in a bikini onboard). However, even the short-term motivation just isn’t working these days.

On Monday mornings, I have to get up at 5:30am to be out of the apartment by 6:15am for my flight to DC. My gym doesn’t open until 5:30am, and I prefer not to get up at 4:30am only to try to work out as quietly as possible in my room (no blasting aerobics that would probably wake up my roommate), so I usually just do one workout a day on Mondays. Last night, however, I got home around 6:30pm, did some work for an hour, and went to dinner (skipping a pre-dinner workout). I went to a sushi place near my hotel that I just discovered but want to become a regular at – and it seems that the generous tip I left last time worked. This time, I got incredible service, and they even took extra care with one of the two rolls I ordered, forming it to look like a dragon! How cool (though how fattening, given all the stuff they layered on – that pile in the background is actually my second roll, buried under a ton of salmon roe and sauce).


While I hadn’t planned on ordering dessert, the waiter brought me a dish of green tea ice cream, gratis. Darn it! I really appreciated the gesture, but I just had absolutely no willpower to not eat it. Delicious! I figured I’d burn it off at the gym when I got back to my hotel, but I was exhausted when I arrived home around 9:30pm… and decided that it would be better to get to bed super early and work out extra the next day. Lazy!

Now, this morning I did get up and do a full 60 minute hard workout on the elliptical (7.7 miles, baby!)… but then instead of moving on to strength training, I bailed. Tonight I have dinner with a friend, and I’m really hoping I can get out of work early enough to get in at least 30 minutes of weight training beforehand. The restaurant where we’re going has a fabulous beer list that I already know I won’t be able to resist, but I’m thinking that I can drag myself through some cardio even if I’ve had a bit of beer (whereas weights + alcohol may not be such a good idea).

When I was watching The Biggest Loser at the gym today (I’m a few weeks behind, so no spoilers in the comments, please!), one thing that DID inspire me was hearing the guy who got voted off talk about his routine since he’s left the ranch. He does 90 minutes in the morning, then goes to work, then does another 90 minutes, then eats dinner, and finally finishes the night with another 90 minute workout. Grand total: 4.5 hours of working out a day! Geez, that’s like running a marathon every day… no wonder I’m not losing weight 🙂

I should point out that he probably has like 100 pounds to lose, while I only need to lose 10… but I’m hoping I can use him for inspiration. Three a days are in the plan once I get to my fitness cruise, and then after that, let’s see if I can keep it going in my regular routine!

How do you motivate yourself?

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2 thoughts on “Have you seen my motivation? I can’t find it…”

  1. hmmmm… well, when ever I need some good motivation I watch one of the Ironman Kona World championships they rebroadcast on Universal Sports Network. Aside from shedding a tear or two from the inspirational stories, it always gets me out running or biking instantly. It’s really good pre-race too.

  2. You know, I really think you’re onto something with this “fitness cruise”….I could actually imagine a trend like that catching on for some people! (Unless it already is a trend….in that case, pardon my ignorance).

    Let me know if you’re spending any extra time in the city….I’d love to get to meet you!

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