The winter before last was when I tested my willpower and inner strength. I became motivated by reading Bruce Lee's books. Something just clicked and I began doing cardio with bodybuilding. I have been bodybuilding previously for half a year, but then I decided to go full steam ahead with some of those crazy workouts. I'm actually amazed with myself that I was in full control of my body and mind. I'm normally a fairly late sleeper, but I somehow disciplined myself to get up as early as 5 am to jog, run, and do a full body workout. The biggest challenge was eating right, because my body was under constant stress from the 1h 30 min - 3 hour daily workouts I did. I remember having to eat 6 small meals a day with lots of eggs. The other problem was keeping the muscles I gained from bodybuilding because of the fairly excessive amount of running I did every morning. I honestly think that if it weren't for Bruce Lee I wouldn't be able to force myself to run 3 kilometers on a -21 c day, through knee deep snow. Once you lose sight of your goal, you become lazy. Looking back, I realize that even a single day of laying off any sort of fitness will cause me to lose discipline. Has anyone else been motivated enough to become fit?
My mother just turned 50 last week and she started participating in 5k races this year and can now run up to 10 miles a day. Seeing her be able to do this has really motivated me to get off my butt and start getting healthy again. I am a very healthy weight, but I could use a little exercise in my life to be more healthy. Like you, something just clicked and now I really enjoy running and weight lifting. I think that you can read and read about fitness and eating right, but until you actually want to change, nothing is going to help. When I see my progress I can't even imagine not sticking to my routine and going back to being a couch potato.
Yes, I have a motivator to inspire me. He's my late father. He passed away at 80. Up to 70, he was still running in the annual marathon. He didn't win any gold medals but he always finished the course. And he was still able to walk up to the very last day. That's what inspires me to keep myself fit.
It may sound a little strange, but I think the best motivator for physical activity, is ourselves. Surely we can find someone else in a pattern of conduct that can serve us as an example, but the key is to love ourselves. In my case, although I'm still young, I began to strenuous exercise from Billy Blanks videos. With Tae Bo sessions discovered my true potential and take a serious training routine. Over time, I began to broaden my horizons, and although I'm not an athlete, I think I have an interesting rhythm of exercise. These figures serve as gurus, are indispensable in many cases and help make the exercise more enjoyable.
I love Bruce Lee and find him quite motivational. He was awesome. I was motivated to start losing weight when I saw myself on video. I looked horrible. That motivated me to lose weight!
