Let's talk a little bit about mentality. For me, this is more about commitment and discipline rather than motivation. Let's face it, we are not always going to be motivated to exercise or eat what's best for us. That's where commitment and discipline come in. It's a matter of keeping our end goal in mind, but focusing on the short term goals that have been set to keep us on track. We aren't perfect and we do fall off track occasionally. That's ok. Discipline will tell us to get back on track in the shortest amount of time possible given our circumstances. If we go out to eat and completely fall off track with our nutrition, we have the ability and discipline to get right back on track. If we don't make it to the gym as often as we should, we have the ability and discipline to get right back on track. With discipline and commitment, there is no room to continuously beat ourselves up over what we can't change. We acknowledge that we fell off track and jump right back on. If we were relying solely on motivation to keep us on track, we would be finding all sorts of things to do rather than go to the gym or keep our nutrition where it needs to be. I'm not saying that motivation is inconsequential. Motivation is fantastic and incredibly helpful! What I am saying is for those times when we "really aren't feeling like it", discipline kicks in and we do it anyway. So how do we achieve discipline? By making a conscious decision to do better for ourselves. To understand and realize that we deserve to be happy, healthy and the best version of ourselves that we can be. Nobody else is going to do it for us. It is completely our choice, our responsibility to be an active participant in our health and fitness levels. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and what keeps you showing up for yourself!
