How to Gain a Mental Edge to Workout

Most American adults will never be in good shape.  The truth is roughly 60% of Americans are overweight and 30% are classified as obese.  And these numbers just speak to those with large scale readings.  There’s another segment of the population that remains relatively thin but still in bad fitness.  With those numbers, you know the American psyche isn’t where it needs to be for health.

Image: sxc.hu

To persevere and become one of the few fit adults in the US, you need to have your mind right before your stomach can ever be flat.  To do this, try these tips to get your brain programmed to exercise:

1. Schedule three times a week where you must exercise no matter what.  No excuses, no meetings, no snooze button.  Just three times a week where you put your body to the test.
2. Sit down and actually plan out how much money you could save.  The surplus of money from health insurance and grocery bills might give you the dollar incentive to put down the oreos and get in the gym.
3. Write down the positive effects getting in shape could have in your quality of life.  Your clothes would look better on you, different activities would be easier, you wouldn’t sweat as much, you would have more confidence, and increased muscle tone could all be huge motivators.
4. Consider exercise to be fun and not a hassle.  There are many weighs to make fitness fun: sports, music, and partners all work.  You don’t have to settle for a boring workout.
5. Set small goals every step of the way and record them.  Realizing early goals is instrumental to winning bigger battles later down the road.  Losing just a pound or an inch in a week can give you the deep positive encouragement you need to lose 20 lbs or 4 inches later down the road.