What motivates you?

If we're being honest, it's not always easy to be motivated. Many things in life have a way of discouraging us. Comparing ourselves to others can have a dramatic effect on how we feel about everything in life; especially how we look because that's what others see and I think it's safe to say most people care what others think....which can be good and bad (See # 3).

What motivates me is to mix things up and keep things exciting:

1.)  I HAVE to have my music while running or working out. NEW PLAY LISTS keeps things fresh. Music motivates me to push harder where I couldn't if it were silent and boring. Listening to others gossip or catch up in the "meat market" at that gym is not exactly my forte...unless it's with my husband. :) And I LOVE the song "The fighter" by Gym Class Heroes because whenever I'm working out I feel like I'm "The fighter" and I can conquer whatever workout I do or conquer the sly remarks I get from others about me going to the gym. Corny? Hey, whatever gets the adrenaline pumping!

(I'll include my latest playlist at the end).

2.) NEW GYM CLOTHES/SHOES. I used to not care what clothes I wore while running and somewhat agreed with those who asked "why do people 'dress up' to go to the gym?" Those who asked this and talked about that subject, did not actually go to the gym. It wasn't until I went to the gym that I realized why people "dress up" to go to the gym. Even if you go to a gym where there is not a "meat market", it still feels good and is fun to go out an buy and put on something new!

3.) COMPETITION. I am extremely competitive with myself. And I'm not going to lie...with other girls at the gym. If I see a girl that has a hard core A, arms or legs; you can bet I will be working on that for most of my workouts throughout the week.

4.) TRYING OUT NEW CLASSES AT THE GYM. This is originally the reason why I wanted to go to the gym. I fell in love with Zumba, Power Pump, Dirty Dancing, Hip Hop, and Kickboxing. I tried out at least 8 classes each week for the first couple of months I started going to the gym (which was October of last year). I couldn't get enough of it!

5.) TRY A NEW FITNESS GENRE. I went from long distance running before getting into the gym (to lose my baby weight), to trying out the classes at the gym (but still doing some races on the side), to now training for a fitness competition in the spring and training for obstacle races like the Tough Mudder in October and the Sparta Race for next June. And I'm more into 5k's now because I've found this to be my best race. My PB was in the Memorial Race this year at 23:08. That got me pumped for more short intense workouts (especially after I realized I lost a lot of my muscle I built up this whole last year in the Wasatch Back Ragnar-which is a long distance relay race where I ran almost 20 miles). If you are into running and are getting bored, try different races. :)

6.) NEW SUPPLEMENTS. I love trying out new energy and protein supplements. I love seeing what helps me reach my full potential in my workouts AND I believe it's good to switch supplements up anyway because, even thought it's not proven and it's just my opinion, I figured using one type for a long time could probably do damage in the long run.

7.) GET A WORKOUT PARTNER. Sometimes the only way to get your butt out of bed in the morning is having common courtesy and knowing that someone else got out of bed early and is relying on you to as well. Knowing that others are experiencing the same exercise is important to some people or just having someone there to chat with or whatever can be relieving and/or motivating.

8.) CREATING A NEW WORKOUT ROUTINE. Going along with trying out a new fitness genre, it depends on what results you want and are going for. I will get to this in a few posts, but doing a little bit of research online or asking others can help you customize your workout.

9.) STARTING A HEALTHY DIET!! This accounts for at least 70-80ish% of my workout/results. I will be doing MANY posts on this with recipes, snacks, meals, and shakes I use.

10.) TRIMMING DOWN. Who doesn't want to look good in a swimsuit or having a rocking body for their spouse? Or fit their clothes better? After having spent a vacation in Cabo, Mexico with my husband, I REALLY wanted to look better for our next trip. :)

There you go. Ten reasons or ideas to motivate you to either start working out or work out harder!

The biggest thing to keep in mind and is something I am constantly telling myself is JUST DO IT! NO EXCUSES!!!

So, now I want to know WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?!

Playlist as promised:

Rihanna - Where have you been

              -We found love

Davin DeGraw -Not over you
Karmin  -  Broken hearted

Cobra Starship  - You make me feel
David Guetta – Turn me on
Calvin harris – let’s go   
Carly Jepson – Call me maybe
Gym class Heros – The fighter
Usher  - Scream
Ellie Goulding  - Lights

LMFAO – Shot Shot shot
              - sexy and I know it
Havanah Brown – we run the night
Maroon 5  - payphone
                - moves like Jagger
Katy Perry – last Friday night
                - firework
                - teenage dream
Pitbull – hey baby
The wanted – glad you came
ludicris – tonight
Flor rida – wild ones
Chris brown – forever
Train – drive by
Lady Gaga – just dance

Ke$ha – We r who we r