Sticking to an exercise routine

Change your perspective

Shift your thinking from couch potato mentality to thinking like an athlete. This may sound like a big challenge, but it’s not as big a leap as you think. Essex, Massachusetts mom April Bowling, 33, stopped using her busy life as an excuse not to exercise. After the birth of her children (now ages 5 and 3), Bowling started viewing exercise as a way to set a strong example for her kids.

“At first I looked at it as time away from them, but I realized kids do what they see you doing,” she says. “Now both kids are very physically active.”

Bowling started thinking about her workouts at odd hours as a blessing rather than a sacrifice. She also found inspiration in others—looking outward for extra motivation. “Take inspiration from everyone you meet—even people who can’t be physically active,” she says. “It reinforces why I’m lucky.” Whether you need to hang an “I’m lucky” sticky note on the mirror, or you can see the power of health in your children’s eyes, committing to a fitness routine begins in your head.

Set a goal

There’s nothing more motivating — sometimes even scary — than that first 5K looming in bold letters on the calendar. Register early and commit to an exercise program that will get you in shape by race day.

“Set realistic goals that include clear milestones, and as you progress toward your goal, you’ll find a ripple effect occurs and things fall into place in your work, home life and health,” says Stacy Fowler, a Denver-based personal trainer and life coach.

The goal doesn’t even have to be an organized race. Maybe it’s a mission to fit into that bikini by the annual beach vacation or that old pair of jeans buried in your closet. Whatever it is is, define it, write it down and revisit it daily.

Make sure it’s realistic and you can actually adapt your life around meeting the goal, says Philip Haberstro, executive director of the National Association for Health and Fitness in Buffalo, N.Y. Otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure. Bowling started with a mini triathlon in 2006 (250 yard swim, 10 mile bike ride and 3.5 mile run). This year she completed Ironman Wisconsin (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run).

Schedule a regular workout time

Some of the most committed exercisers do it every day before the sun comes up or late at night when the kids are in bed. Sit down with your weekly schedule and try to build in an hour each day to be good to your body.

Tamira Cole, 24, a graduate student in Clarksville,Tenn., was motivated to exercise regularly by the energy boost it brought to her day. “It’s easy to stay in bed. But you have to set an alarm and take the extra initiative,” she says. “Then you’ll find you have more energy and can be more efficient throughout the day.”

If you convince yourself you’ll fit in a workout some time after that last meeting, once the kids go down for a nap or when your spouse arrives home on time, failure is certain. Chances are a last-minute invitation will come along; weather will foil a bike ride; or the kids won’t nap. Write your workout on your calendar, set up daycare, and rearrange things around this one hour as if were any other important appointment you have to keep. Or use technology like daily e-mail reminders, workout journaling websites or iPhone applications to keep you on task, says Haberstro.

Think fun and variety

By nature, humans need change and variety to stay motivated. We also need to have fun — even while we’re working hard. Do both!

Whether it’s a toning and sculpting class that changes choreography every week or a trail run that changes scenery every season, design your exercise routine around a variety of exercise methods. Make sure you include activities you truly enjoy and look forward to doing. Think movement that's more like recreation and makes you forget you're working out — like dancing, hula hooping or playing sports with family and friends.

Listen to your inner voice when choosing the best workout for you, says Fowler. Cole found a hip-hop class that satisfied her passion for dance. “I had more energy from dancing than I did from running,” she says.

Workout variety also challenges your body in unique ways, which may introduce you to new muscle groups you didn’t even know you had. Consider disciplines that give you more bang for your buck, suggests Haberstro. Ta’i chi and yoga, for example, serve dual purposes as mental therapy and physical activity. Or try a workout DVD to help you shake up your routine.)

Reach out to others for support

In America, some tend to have trouble asking for help, says Bowling. Yet in order to stick to a fitness program, we need buy-in and encouragement from other people.

“Exercising is built into our family life," Bowling adds. “We view it as a necessity. Sometimes it takes the place of watching TV together.”

For others, it’s finding a friend with a shared zest for running, and planning scheduled workouts together. It’s easy to hit the snooze button when it’s just you, but much harder to leave a friend waiting at the track.

Consider joining a social networking site or online community with fitness trainers and nutrition experts — and support from other people trying to lose weight and maintain healthy eating and exercise routines. People who get this kind of online support are proven to lose three times more weight than people going it alone.

Lobbying your workplace to offer on-site fitness, yoga or Pilates classes will also support your mission for a healthy lifestyle, Haberstro points out.

So start thinking of yourself as an athlete, and not a spectator. Set a goal, enlist a friend, mark it on your calendar and have some fun. You’ll be setting yourself up for a lifetime of better health, more happiness, and more energy for everything else in your life.

Bottom of Form

 Make It Cost You

Even if you already have a routine and know which machines to use and how, pay for a personal trainer. Since most of them charge you if you cancel last minute, you’ll be less inclined to recline on the sofa watching Wife Swap instead of hitting the gym like you'd planned. Sure, times are tough for most of us financially. But that means you should be cutting back on unnecessary costs—and your health doesn’t fit the bill. 

Rise to the Occasion

Literally. Get up an hour earlier three days a week and work out first thing in the morning, before work. If you plan to go after work, it's a lot easier to tell yourself you had an especially exhausting day and throw in the towel. 

Have a "Lazy Day" Backup Plan

Invest in the basics for a quick at-home workout: an exercise mat and two 5-pound free weights. That way, when you really don't feel like making the trip to the gym, you'll have the resources to spend 30 minutes flexing your muscles at home. Even if you do fewer crunches, lunges, and bicep curls at home, it's better than skipping out on your workout altogether

Keep a Log

Hang up a calendar in an obvious spot that is devoted solely to tracking your workouts. Every day you don't work out, mark it with a giant red "X." If you skip two or three days in a row you'll be faced with all of those giant "X"s--a visual reminder that it's time to get your butt in gear. 

Bribe Yourself

It's always easier to get through something you don't want to do when you have something to look forward to after. On weekends, plan something fun post-workout. Tell yourself you'll stop for a pedicure on the way home from the gym, or plan a girls' night out for that evening. That way, the gym will be just a stop on the way to something else you're actually looking forward to. 

Dress the Part

You know how when you get new shirt or dress, you're in a better mood to go out on a Saturday night? Well, the same can apply to working out. Putting on the same sweats and sports bra day after day can get old fast and become just another reason not to motivate. So once a month, treat yourself to a new piece of fitness fashion. Before you know it, you'll be in such great shape, you'll find yourself in the dressing room trying on those itty bitty Spandex shorts you swore you'd never be caught dead in. Because damn, you look good in them. 

Buddy Up

You've no doubt heard it before: Having a friend to work out makes you more apt to stick to your fitness plan. So do it. And for extra motivation, make a pact: Each one of you sets up an "I'm lazy" jar. Then, whenever someone bails, she has to put $5 in her jar. When her jar gets up to $20 (four missed workouts), she has to buy you a gift with the dough. And vice versa. 

Keep Your iPod Fresh

There's nothing worse than going through an hour-long workout in silence. Except maybe suffering through bad music that the gym blasts over their speakers. Or the same old music that you've had on rotation on your iPod for weeks. So create a high-energy playlist of stuff you like on your iPod--and remember to change it up every week to stay motivated. 

Steer Clear of the Scale

Fitness experts will tell you not to weigh yourself regularly--when you build muscle, your poundage may go up before it goes down, which can be frustrating and motivation killing. If you know that, then you probably already tossed your own scale out the window. Yet there it is, the mother of all scales, mocking you in the locker room at the gym. This one, you can't get rid of. So just treat it like a cheesecake: If you must indulge, do it only once in a great while. Like, once every eight weeks

Shake Things Up

Most gyms offer group classes in everything from yoga, to spinning, to hip-hop to African dance. Tell yourself you'll try one new thing every week, to break up your normal routine. Yeah, you may end up hating belly dancing, but by the time you're at home saying, "I hated that belly dancing class," you'll have 60 minutes of cardio under your belt. 

Chart Your Progress

Weight loss is serious business. Treat it that way. Weigh yourself every morning--a study in the Annals of Behavior Medicine shows that people who do daily weigh-ins are more successful losers--and write the number down. If you're even vaguely computer savvy, it's a snap to create a chart with a fever line that shows the pounds dropping away over time. When you get discouraged--say, you haven't lost a pound in a week--seeing your long-term progress will boost your motivation.

Face Your Reflection

When you feel fat you probably shun mirrors. Turns out you should do the opposite. A study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that mirror-exposure therapy--staring at your bod in the mirror and stifling the usual criticisms of your thighs--can improve body image, which, as we said in rule 10, can help keep you committed to healthy eating. Try it: Speak to your reflection without using any negatively charged words. For example, instead of "I have a huge butt," say, "My waist looks smaller thanks to my curves."

Lift The Weight You've Lost

A great way to keep yourself from sliding into what-the-hell eating mode when your weight loss plateaus: Use dumbbells that correspond to the number of pounds you've already dropped. You can't possibly forget how far you've come when you're straining to complete three sets of triceps kickbacks with a 10-pound weight. Feel how much you're struggling to lift? That used to be on your butt!

Make A Promise

It's really hard to blow off a commitment you've made to lots of people. If you join an athletic event to raise money and you default on your training, you're not just letting yourself down but also the charity and everyone who sponsored you. Go to stepbystep-fundraising.com and click on "Athletic Events" to find one near you. (Triathlon, anyone?) Some groups (below) even provide free coaching.

Keep a food diary.

A simple pen and paper can dramatically boost your weight loss. Studies show the act of writing down what you eat and drink tends to make you more aware of what, when, and how much you're consuming -- leading you to ultimately take in fewer calories. One study found that people who kept a food diary six days a week lost about twice as much as those who only kept a diary one day a week or less.

Get help from family and friends.

Getting support can help you reach your weight loss goals. So tell family and friends about your efforts to lead a healthy lifestyle. Maybe they'll join you in exercising, eating right, and losing weight. When you feel like giving up, they'll help you, keep you honest, and cheer you on -- making the whole experience a lot easier.