I have no motivation no discipline-help

Avatar for myprecioustwo
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
I have no motivation no discipline-help
5
Wed, 01-19-2005 - 8:38am
I need to tone my body and lose just a little bit of weight, but mainly tone all around. I can't seem to get my butt in gear to do anything about it! I have 12 weeks before my vacation. Is it possible to even make a dent within 12wks? I can't get off my butt to do anything. I can't believe some of you are so disciplined! I'm miserable, but I can't myself to do anything about it. I get home so late and hvae to leave so early for work. I sit on my butt at work all day and then when I get home I have to cook and get the girls ready. Aside from that, I can't seem to motivate myself. :-( I'm too tired by the end of the night.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-18-2003
Wed, 01-19-2005 - 10:17am

How old are your girls?


Do you have a wagon? If so, are they young enough to put them in the wagon and pull them around the neighborhood?

Kim

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
Wed, 01-19-2005 - 10:45am

I have a really hard time motivating myself at home. I do much better if I force myself to go to the gym. I would not have stuck with it if I didn't have a good trainer at first show me how to use all the equipment properly. Plus I had the motivation of being recently single and dating someone who is very in shape. That helped. Once I started doing it I saw an improvement in my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms that was another motivator for me. Seeing my body looking the way it looks now I would not want to go back. Now I go to a gym that has classes, yoga, kickboxing, step aerobics, strength training, cycling, swim aerobics, etc. I like the strength training and kick boxing classes. They are both overall body workouts with some cardio, hard classes but fun. You can do A LOT in 12 weeks! I started to see muscle tone in my arms within a few weeks of starting weight lifting. I only go every other week, but I try to go at least three times and sometimes I can get in a class during the week I have dd. I mix it up, sometimes I do weight lifting and the treadmill, other times I just do a class. It keeps me from getting bored with it.

My gym has a daycare in it. I don't take dd to it because I only have her every other week, but if I had her most all the time I would. It's only for an hour and they can play in there. All gyms have trainers on site and if you get one with exercise classes, that's even better. In the classes you are motivated to not look like wimp, so you tend to stay for the whole class and give it your all (unlike in front of the tv, where noone see's if you wimp out). Trust me, if you see someone with a bigger tushie than you have and they aren't wimping out, you won't wimp out either (or if you do wimp out, you'll pretend you're just stoping to get a drink of water and then you'll jump right back in).

The few times I have been able to exercise at home I have dd do it with me. But most of the time I am so busy doing mom stuff that I forget to even think about it, and when I do remember, I talk myself out of it. What's best for me is to go to the gym straight after work. If you can, shoot to do it a couple times a week and once on the weekend. Don't plan to do it after you've been sitting home for a while, it's too easy to stay home. The other option is get someone to come stay at your house for an hour after the girls go to sleep. My gym is open until 11. If you have someone showing up then you will *have* to go out or it would be a waste of their time and your money.

Edit: There is nothing we do in my exercises classes that I couldn't do at home myself. All you need is some light weights and heavy weights (I use 2lbs and 5lbs) and a video or program to watch. I'm as sore after a strength training class as I would be if I lifted weights, so there is a lot of benefit you can from doing that if you don't have a gym. Motivating yourself may be harder, but if you start to see some improvement you will find more motivation to keep going. Just as long as you are doing something that challenges your body and is hard, you will see improvement in how you look and feel.




Edited 1/19/2005 11:36 am ET ET by firstamendment

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Avatar for myprecioustwo
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
Wed, 01-19-2005 - 11:08am
It's below zero and snowing here! LOL YUK!
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-25-2004
Wed, 01-19-2005 - 11:21am

It sounds like you need a quick fix until better weather comes and or you can move to Texas.

I think you should try to eat lower calorie foods like soups/salads - the german food is okay as long as you can find stuff that is low/lower in fat.

What about indoor exercise videos? Do they have personal trainers there that can come to your house and give you a workout you can do on your own? Somehow having someone give you a workout makes it easier to stay on track.

You can be more active with the kids on weekends - walking, skating, skiing - I am not sure what is in your area?

Finally, the last thing that comes to mind is an exercise bike - better to sit on that while watching TV than the couch.

Just staying active is good - cleaning the house burns twice as many calories as sitting (about 76 versus 38) -

Hope this helps!!

You won't see a dramatic difference in just 12 weeks but you will see a bit and feel much better.

Good luck!

Avatar for skippy1966
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Wed, 01-19-2005 - 2:43pm
I know just how you feel, hon, on both counts! It's below zero with snow coming this afternoon (UGH the cold but love the snow!), and I can't seem to get off my butt and lose my baby weight. I look "okay" but would love to be how I was pre-baby. My thing is I just don't have the time, and I SHOULD be losing weight just by the way I run my butt off doing everything all the time! HOWEVER, not that you should take advice from me, because I can't make MYSELF do it, but these other people have offered good tips and you definitely CAN see results in just 12 weeks if you do a few things. 1) Drink TONS of water. 2) Limit your portion size. 3) Cut out all snacky/sugary stuff (just for a while! You can do it!) 4) Eat lots of fruit and veggies. 5) Do a little exercise each day, and try to at least include SOME cardio--the motivation is the hardest part, but if you can force yourself, I've had most success (a long time ago!!) with working out at home with either a video or just dancing or doing stretches, toning exercises, etc. What motivates me, and I hate to say it because it sounds terribly vain AND shallow, which I'm really NOT, but it's seeing pics of really buff women on TV or MYSELF at earlier years! It motivates me to work on my body. Good luck, and btw, you're gorgeous, so don't worry!! Kim