*An Article previously published by Katriza on Mommy Engineering blog

We are halfway through the year and I just wanted to ask you, how well are you doing on your new years resolution? One of my new years resolution is to go to the gym consistently. I will be honest and say that I’ve had to recommit to this resolution twice already. So how do you keep yourself motivated to go to the gym and keep at it? Here’s 10 tips to help you keep at it!

10 Tips on How to Stay Motivated to go to the Gym

1. Set an appointment – Like you would a doctor’s or dentist appointment, set a time and be there! Make it part of your daily routine by arranging your schedule to have that 30 minutes or hour break to go to the gym.
2. Have an accountability partner – A friend who you report to everyday and be accountable to about your gym commitments. Make sure it’s someone you will be honest with. When choosing an accountability partner, make sure it’s someone that will hold you to the standard that you need to be. This person needs to be able to confront you when you screw up and encourage you to do what you need to do.
3. Have a gym partner – A gym partner can help keep you going to the gym. Make it like a date, an important business meeting you cannot miss. Your gym partner doesn’t have to be perfect, just someone to motivate you to go and vice versa.
4. Sign up for classes – change up the daily routine and sign up for a fun fitness class. Often times gyms have free classes for their members to join. It can be anything from yoga to zumba. It’ll help to try something new and different.
5. Get a personal trainer – they also have great advice on how to stay motivated. Plus, I to think of having to meet with a personal trainer like it’s an appointment and I can’t miss it. It’s also good to have a personal trainer critique your technique and point out where you struggle, what you need to work on and give you some helpful constructive advice.
6. Be a good role model for your children – You want your kids to see the importance of being fit and staying healthy. By showing them that it’s important to take time out of the day to exercise, you are being a positive role model for your children to follow in your footsteps when it comes to taking charge of your health.
7. Change up your exercise – When I work out with my husband he has a very specific exercise schedule and routine he does that works for him, I don’t. Doing his routine every time didn’t help me achieve what I wanted to achieve. Trying different exercises helped me understand what my body needs.
8. Try something new – It’s hard for me to try new things in general but it keeps you from doing the same mundane exercises and it’ll keep things fresh. I’ve always been intimidated about the gym’s machines and make it a point each week to try something different. This will help me feel less intimidated and to work out different parts of my body.
9. Meet a new friend at the gym – It’s likely that if you go to the gym the same time every time, you’re probably not the only one and you’ll find the same people are always there with you. At least you’ll have someone to talk to, someone that could help you with those awkward machines and help pass the time during your rigorous exercises.
10. Reward yourself – don’t forget to cut yourself some slack, don’t be so hard on yourself. It takes patience and dedication to achieve what you want.

I’ve struggled with being healthy and fit all my life. I have never been overweight, actually I’ve often been underweight. I’ve had major corrective surgery on my spine almost 10 years ago and although they have fixed the curvature in my spine, my body still tilts slightly to the left. This is because my body’s muscles are accustom to this tilt and those muscles have become very strong to compensate for abnormal weight shifting. I’m working to tone those muscles and build up other certain muscles to strengthen my core. My body has very little muscle tone anywhere else and my physical therapist believes I might have a certain disorder that makes me quite flexible. It makes keeping my body aligned long enough to work on other muscles in those areas really hard.

I’ve struggled with my body since this surgery and the problems only got worse when I started having children. By the third trimester of my first pregnancy, I had a lot of pain in my hip area making it hard to walk, impossible to go up the stairs, or even get up off the couch or bed by myself. My second pregnancy, I was having these same issues at 6 weeks! Physical therapy was my best friend! I admit that had I taken care of my body after my surgery, I’m sure I would’ve saved myself a lot of pain! This is why having a strict, consistent dedication to the gym and my health is important.

What’s your favorite tip from above?

How are you doing with your Nee Year’s Resolution?

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