How to Get Motivated to Exercise (When You Just REALLY Hate to Exercise!)

A lot of us who are struggling with weight or had been told to lose it for health's or wedding's sakes ask the eternal question: how to get motivated to exercise?

Many of us who are overweight or obese dread the thought of exercise. For the men, they have to get their pudgy big tummies to the health club and workout alongside their muscular (think: ripped muscles, definition in that perfect body they dream of) strangers. For women, their strangers are clad in flattering jazz pants, tank or camisole tops, and that shell of defined skin and muscle that is worthy of the hot women in showbiz.

All those "perfect bodies" have something in common: being considerably quicker and more skilled than their portly counterparts. They usually do pushups better than them and march more quickly. That can put a downer to their lives.

But the associations with that dreaded word exercise that give fat people the willies don't stop there. They are strapped with time (work, school, and so on), fatigue, and money to do so (read "Top 5 Exercise Excuses" for more on those silly excuses).

The adults are not the only ones making lame excuses to not exercise. The kids are preoccupied with catching up with pals on the phones of social networking sites, watching their favorite shows, and playing video games. Also, they are slower and more susceptible to being picked last during team games or teased in physical education classes, especially if they are fat!

There are a lot of benefits to exercise, and it's not about only doing it to lose that extra spare tire.

Exercising makes you feel younger and better, even at midage. Also, when you do this, especially with cardiovascular exercise, you decrease your risks of hypertension, stroke, and other heart diseases. Your lung function will improve, you'll sleep more soundly, and you'll be able to think more clearly. Exercising improves your mood and reduces stress.

The best way to know how to get motivated to exercise is to drop the word exercise. Just call going to the gym "active meeting with friends." If exercising at home, call it "move my body time." It's that simple.

Just take a flutin' walk - that's all. If you live in an area with a lot of sidewalks and the weather is great for that, walk around. (Do it at a brisk pace, even when wearing those cruddy sweatsuits that you regret wearing out of envy towards shapely, tank-top-clad women.) At home, you can walk (or jog) in place and maintain it for at least 30 minutes. How easy is that?

If you regularly sleep at your conventional bedtime, set it an hour back and wake up an hour earlier. It would have you get up and going to your workout session in no time. Even better - put your workout clothes and sneakers at a place you would see them when you wake up.

There are a lot of perks on morning exercise. Not only does it save time for you when you do it as the first (physical) activity, you'll burn more fat, especially when it's done before breakfast. Researchers from Belgium found out that when men exercised the day after eating a high-fat meal, they burned the fat they ate previously.

Nothing is more motivating than taking a "before" picture of yourself. Make copies of it if possible and place them in places where you would see them. If you have exercise equipment, tack one photo of you at your heaviest so you would be more inclined to exercise and see how far you come. Ideally, take it every week.

Conversely, take a picture of yourself at your thinnest. It can be a daily moment or a vacation photo. They'll remind you that you can go back to your former self!

You sigh when you see somebody in that muscle shirt or tank top and bike shorts while you sweat out in your sweatsuit. Well, stop that envying!

Some people look towards fitness models or celebrities for inspiration. But no matter how you tone your body - be it via Pilates, strength training by free weights, or a simple brisk walk - you mostly can never get that same physique.

Ditto for that time when working out at the gym. You can never run as fast or pedal hard as the person next to you. Listen to your own body if you have to slow down if pedaling too fast or doing too much in the aerobics class.

Better yet, exercise at home. You'll not only save money by not going to the gym and using all that you have to tone up your body and burn fat. You'll save a lot of grief from self-comparison to others.

That upcoming vacation, wedding, or high school reunion is a great motivator to exercise, but be realistic. Write them down in specific terms, such as, "Should I lose X pounds by X date, I'm going on a cruise!"

Use your recent doctor's visit or a recent emergency of the family regarding the health effects of obesity, like a morbidly obese child being admitted to the hospital because of hypertension. Tell yourself, "I can change my life as I am doing to my son so we can live longer."

While those above are long-term goals, short-term goals can also be written to keep you motivated. They range from walking X miles a few and increasing the duration each time to increasing the weight load.

While exercise time adds up quickly, think about the smaller rewards, too. Don't make them food-related - make them something to look forward right after a health club stint or a long, brisk walk. If you've completed your circuit training, reward yourself with a visit to a theme park or a manicure.

If your brain thinks of exercise as something that would tire you out, just tell yourself that it's going to energize you. Tell yourself that you have energy, you are strong, and you get happier if you work out.

The Emotional Freedom Technique is so easy to do - just tap on certain parts of your body in a certain order. First, tap the side of your hand and say that even if you don't want to exercise, you completely and fully accept yourself as is and how you feel about it. You can repeat your sentence either 3 times or say 3 different sentences.

Then, tap on the eyebrow, side of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, under the mouth, inner collarbone, under the arm, and top of the head. Then, repeat the process, starting with three sentences that would say that even if you have some resistance left over, you are ready and willing to exercise as you tap on the side of the hand. Then tap on the other body parts in the same order saying things that are good about working out and how you'll have fun with that.

Tell yourself that if you hate exercise, you simply have no choice but to just do it. You may have short of a few hours before that Sunday Mass and your cousin's christening party, but if you can squeeze in 30 minutes instead of your usual hour of working out, it's better than nothing. Tell yourself that if you don't exercise right now, you're going to be fat and you'll suffer from it.

Activewear doesn't mean all tank tops and jazz pants! Despite the fact that you feel that you'll be confined to T-shirts and sweatpants as you work out, don't be afraid to shop for cool workout clothes! Short on money? I suggest that you go to your local craft store and doll them up (but not too much, as you need something comfortable to wear in order to move around so much).

Whenever you have to exercise, your relative orders you to come to the gym with her or him, or if you are out of shape, think of ways to find working out fun, interesting, and reasonable. You'll never know what will come up in your life, such as an upcoming cruise, wedding, or avoidance of an obesity-related death that someone close to you died of. Mainly, you're exercising for health and life, so find ways to get the fitness vibe going!