Shed a few pounds?

[Vasiliki]

Motivation? My motivation hit when I realized that my favorite jeans didn't fit anymore, and photos of me made me cringe. It wasn't that I wanted to get fit and skinny. My motivation came because I didn't want to look like 'that' anymore. I didn't want to have to worry about my arms in photos, or how my legs looked. I wanted to have legs that I could show off and not be embarassed about. I wanted to be able to wear some short shorts instead of hiding behind my insecurity.

Motivation on my own was hard. I hired a personal trainer, who helped me through the anxiety of being afraid to fail. She gave me tools that allowed me to feel confident for a change. In fact, I even found myself taking charge of my workouts. She'll give me a new set, a new exercise or a new thing to try, and I tackle it 100%. Why? Because an hour at the gym is nothing compared to all the hours out of the gym where I'll feel sexy and good after all of this. What's some pain and aches now, compared to feeling fantastic later?

I switched up my diet now too (my trainer is also a nutritionist. Score). We loaded up on the protein, reduced portion sizes and played around with some variety. I went to my workout last night and felt better than I ever have working out. I was doing heavier weights than I had before, and as I hit my last set, I realized I could've bumped it up as I wasn't struggling like I used to.

So motivation came initially from my fear of becoming unattractive and not feeling confident like I used to. Now motivation is coming from the fact that I'm succeeding, and even exceeding my trainers expectations. We had to sit down and redo my workout program, because I had already passed her intial plan.

Once the ball gets rolling and you start getting feedback from people in a positive way to what you're doing... That keeps it going. That initial step is hard, but as long as you realize that time is irrelevant, and that everything you do now will soon be in the past, it's easy to get back into a routine and do what's good for the future you.