What gets you motivated to exercise?

[2ironfrenzy]

My swing keeps getting better, now that I have lost my pot belly!! been juicing, and avoiding anything non-organic and not touching GMOs with a 20' pole... 28 and healthiest I have ever felt.  Love being able to carry my clubs 36 holes and not be in pain for 2 weeks. 250 to 195 in 2yrs.

PS I Love Skiing, and it helped a lot as well.

[tomvk77]

well my hdc is dropping, that gets me motivated to try harder.

i'm now at 7.0 want to get it to 5.

[Lihu]

Originally Posted by avmech

The heart attack I had a year ago, plus the 55 pounds ( changed the way we eat, exercise, all also worked to get my blood work good, also before my heart attack) I lost before the heart attack. Had it after finishing my workout, 3 stents put in my RAC.

You are really lucky, I had a friend who went mountain biking and had one and did not make it.

I hope you can exercise a little bit, again. Just enough to get healthier.

[avmech]

Thanks Lihu! Heart attack was one year ago this past Saturday (June 8). Had a stress test in May, passed with flying colors. Have been doing my best to hit the gym 3 times a week and riding my bicycle as much as possible, eating right. Biggest thing was I recognized the symptoms and did not waste any time, even though my brain was saying I can't be having a heart attack since I had lost 50ish pounds and exercising a lot. Did not have to do cardio rehab since what I was already doing was more then rehab would have me do. Out of 4 meds given afterwards, I am off of one, and scheduled off another one at the end of June. Not having another one, no fun at all!!

[MackJL06]

- Fat people ( As a former fat person, I'm allowed to say  this)

- Seeing people struggle to walk around the office building

- Going to the salad bar at lunch and seeing people build themselves a nice, healthy salad...and then topping it with a pound of cheese

- Women

[bplewis24]

Hot women.

[Dave2512]

Yep pretty much a vanity thing for me, necessitated by what I eat. Lately my diet discipline is crap. Something about golf and beer pairing up nicely.

[Yukari]

LOL!!!

Deep down, I would think majority of the people are motivated by this at least at some level.

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Hot women.

[pholmes]

Yeah, I think most people start out working out for girls, or to just to gain self confidence. After a while, many people actually start enjoying the process. I guess the golf analogy might be like enjoying practice, enjoying the process of getting better.

[Mr. Desmond]

As one gets older and more sedentary ... at least I work out to clear the mind. It also makes me feel more confident and active. And if you're middle aged, it helps you avoid death, injuries and illness - always good things to avoid.

[RonTheSavage]

I dont wanna be the fat dad showing up to my kids school. I want my sons to say "My dad can kick your dad's @ss"

[LucasBP]

I'll be honest, it's a vanity thing for me. I don't want to worry about taking off my shirt or anything like that. Plus my fiance is tiny (barely 5'), so I want her to feel safe around me. My father played college football and since then he's let himself go a little, so with him being my role model, I hope to not have to have the weight issues he's having to go through now.

[TJBam]

Right after I inject a ton of steroids

Might as well go to the gym and work them into muscles

[Kletus]

Originally Posted by avmech

The heart attack I had a year ago, plus the 55 pounds ( changed the way we eat, exercise, all also worked to get my blood work good, also before my heart attack) I lost before the heart attack. Had it after finishing my workout, 3 stents put in my RAC.

Interesting.... I lost 65 lbs last year and ended up having a mild heart attack this past January at 35 years old.  (bad family history).

Ended up with 7 stents but no permanent damage.   I thank God for every single day he gives me and I've made it a goal to make the best of every single one... which includes eating right and getting as much exercise as my body can stand.

[avmech]

Dayum, way too young for that! Glad you are doing well, keep up the good work, you have many years ahead of you. Mine was at 56 years old. Wife says I now have 2 birthdays, my real one and the day I survived my heart attack. I work out 3 times a week and also ride my road bike as many days a week as I can, anywhere between 14 and 35 miles, whatever my schedule allows. Doc told me to keep my heart rate at 130ish, 140 max. I was at riding up to a heart rate of 160ish before my attack. Had stress test beginning of May, passed with flying colors, very little damage to my heart, a good thing! Off the ACE inhibitors, should be off the Effient (same as Plavix) sometime in July.

[SoundandFury]

The ever-present desire to not be a fat ass.

[mdl]

I've never had a ton of trouble motivating to stay in at least decent shape.  Not that I'm some kind of triathlete champion or ultra-ripped gym rat or anything.  I just feel so crappy if I skip a whole week that I'll get out and exercise the next week.

One thing that really helps me is to try to get as much exercise through fun activities as possible (instead of through straight exercise like running, lifting, etc.).  Through the years I've gotten my exercise through obsessive surfing, hand-balancing classes, partner acrobatics classes with my wife, yoga classes, a trail running phase, regular intense tennis sessions with a good buddy... You get the idea.

If you play, say, two physically demanding sports, each once a week (and you push yourself, being the chubber who doesn't play defense and just sits around on offense and heaves up threes every once in a while doesn't count!), you only need to find one other activity a week that gives you great exercise and you're on a sustainable 3x a week path.  Toss in a P90X style strength workout and you're in great shape with only one "workout" each week!

[joekelly]

Yea, i enjoy sex too much to lose body control. We gotta have good peripheral arteries to pump it up and that takes a strong heart and minimal plaque buildup in the big arteries. So less red meat, no butter fat, less alcohol, more cardio and more yoga.