How To Motivate Yourself For A Run

This post isn't about how to go for your first EVER run - I honestly have no idea how that started. It was something I was always going to do tomorrow, but tomorrow never came. Then one day I found myself in my running gear outside doing stretches, and before I even knew what was happening, I was running! Not very far or fast to start with, but I'd started!

This post will be about how I make myself go for a run on those days when its really the last thing I want to do. There are always days like that, especially after a good weigh-in, when you think you can do without it for a change. 

FIRST THINGS FIRST - I need my iPod when I run. Partly its the distraction, partly the fact that it makes the time go faster, and partly the fact that a regular beat or rhythm helps me sync my paces and breathing. I know some people run on machines at home or at the gym, so you can probably make do with background music or TV, but if you hit the streets like me, a little music goes a long way!

Now, as I've said before, my current route is 4 miles long, or about 6.5 kms. Sometimes the prospect of doing that seems dreadful, so I break it down into small, manageable steps, almost to 'trick' myself into doing the distance! Here's how.

- Just do your warm-ups. Don't fancy a run? Feeling stiff and awkward and tired? That's ok, you don't have to run - just do your warm-ups! I find that stretching out my muscles helps to wake me up, raises my heart-rate just a little, and generally makes the idea of a run slightly less horrendous than when I've just tumbled out of bed.

- Just put your running gear on. Still don't fancy that run? Then don't think about it. Just put your gear on. I know this sounds silly, but sometimes I literally have to just say to myself 'I'm just getting dressed, even you aren't too lazy for that!'

- Just go get some fresh air. I'm all geared up, but the thought of running 4 miles still seems awful. That's ok, just pop outside and get some fresh air! No harm in that...

All this just to actually get me out of the house and ready to run! Its not always this hard of course, but as someone who spent years with absolutely no exercise, I still have to sometimes take myself by the scruff of the neck (a bizarre image - who's grabbing whom?), and force myself to not be a lazy so-and-so!

By this stage I'm outside, warmed up and in my running gear, and some mornings that's enough - I can almost go through these stages on autopilot, so that before I've had time to weigh the pros and cons of having a run, I'm already outside and ready to go.

Another useful 'trick' I use is the fact that my 4-mile route has the shape of two figures-of-8. From my starting point, I basically do 4 loops, each a mile long, that bring me back to where I started after each mile. 

The benefit of this is that I don't have to muster the enthusiasm for a 4-mile run. I can tell myself that if I want to, I only have to do one mile, and then I can quit. Heck, I can even say only do a half-mile. By that stage, its a half-mile to home, so I might as well run back. By then, I've warmed up and I'm into my music, so just one more mile doesn't sound so bad (boom, 2 miles). By this stage, if I feel like quitting, I can tell myself that if I just do half the distance again, I'll have gone three miles. And THEN, once I reach the 3-mile point, I use the first trick again, and say 'just add another half-mile'. Once that's done, there's only a half-mile left until I'm home, so screw it, might as well carry on running till I get there!

I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous, and I'm sure 'normal' people who exercise regularly and are in good shape have none of this difficulty. But I'm not there yet, and I still have to make a real effort to fit in the exercise I do. And some days, of course, I'm absolutely pumped and can't wait for my run! Some days...

So anyhow, that's what works for me. If anybody out there has any little tips or tricks that they use, please do share them - some of us need all the help we can get!

Weight Loss Tips 3

In these posts I share any useful tips or ideas that I have found worked for me - they may not be best for you/fit into your own plan!

3) Exercise in the morning

Now this one is very much down to personal preference, as some people simply won't have time in the morning, and there is even some ground for saying your metabolism is more primed for exercise later in the day. But I prefer to do my exercising in the morning where I can, and I will outline my reasons why below.


- Getting it out the way. I like to try and exercise every day, either running or doing my weights, and doing it first thing in the morning gets my day off to the perfect start. I can go through my day knowing that I've already done my exercise and burned off some calories, and I don't have the need to exercise later looming over me (and potentially interfering with social plans, which invariably occur in the evening).

- Get your metabolism going. By exercising first thing, I force my body to 'wake up' and get into calorie-burning mode right from the off. I then know that all systems are active and running in the morning, which gives me more confidence when eating during the day.

- You get a second chance! Ever plan on working out in the evening, but by the time you've finished work/Uni/whatever, you're just too whipped and can't quite muster the enthusiasm? Well, exercising in the morning prevents this. Also, if you wake up and are still too tired to face it, you have the rest of the day to 'catch-up', and still have plenty of time to get some exercise in later. Not only that, but you'll probably have had an extra hour or so of sleep, so you'll be primed for later exercise, you'll perhaps be angry with yourself for slacking off and are then more likely to follow through with your plans in the evening, and best of all, if you DO exercise in the morning then suddenly feel the urge to do more, you'll have done DOUBLE what you planned!

- There are fewer people around. This one is perhaps most personal to me, but I'm still of a size where I get embarrassed passing someone when I'm out on a run, with body lumps flailing around and sweat pouring down my chubby red face. The streets are pretty much empty in the morning, if you go early enough, so you have the city/town/village pretty much to yourself! I've even been known to, *cough* sing along with my iPod if I'm feeling particularly energetic...and there's nobody around to see!

- It's cooler. Especially useful at the moment here in the UK, where its particularly warm. I get hot enough when out on a run without having the sun beating down on me too. In the morning the air is fresher and the temperature lower, perfect running conditions!

- Less time wasting in the evening. OK, this one isn't really a benefit, more a useful side-effect that has been especially good for me. If I haven't exercised in the morning, doing it later effectively 'wakes me up' by giving my metabolism a late jump-start, and I find it harder to sleep. By doing it first thing, I'm nice and weary come bed time, so I sleep better, and don't spend as much time faffing around with things like checking emails, watching TV etc.



I'm sure there are more that I've forgotten about for now, so will update the post if any other benefits spring to mind!

Weight Loss Tips 2

In these posts I share any useful tips or ideas that I have found worked for me - they may not be best for you/fit into your own plan!

2) Drink water - and plenty of it!

This is so straight forward that it may not sound like a tip at all, but just common sense. However, I NEVER used to drink enough water, and once I started I could not believe the benefits I felt.

Some days I would get through 3-4 double espressos, just to try and shake the cloudy-headed fug I seemed to be in all the time. They never worked - all I experienced was a faster heart rate. But when I started drinking water, guess what? Fug gone! There is also some evidence that caffeine works against you when you're trying to lose weight, by increasing insulin resistance, increasing appetite and contributing to food cravings, so if you were thinking of trying to get over your caffeine dependency, now's the time!

I keep a big 2L plastic bottle in my room, and generally try to keep it filled. That way if I feel thirsty, I can't make the excuse of 'the kitchen is too far'. I also take two 500ml bottles to Uni with me each day, and refill them as necessary during breaks. That way, I'm never too far from water, and have no excuses for not drinking enough.

Besides the main benefit I got (helping me feel more awake), there are other reasons why drinking more water might be a good idea, especially during weight loss:

- A cold drink of water first thing in the morning is a great idea, perhaps a better idea than a coffee. It rehydrates you after a long night, and drinking icy cold water has an added benefit - you have to use energy to heat the water up to body temperature, so that means calories burned! The first thing I do every morning (after weighing of course!) is to have a big drink of water.

- Water can fill you up, albeit temporarily. If you want to avoid snacking between meals, filling up with water might help - it won't last forever, but it might carry you through to the next proper meal.

- You use water to properly store energy after eating. Without getting too scientific, you use water when you store glucose in your liver (as glycogen). Drinking enough makes sure this goes off without a hitch (incidentally, this is also one of the reasons you lose extra water weight on low-carb diets: you use up your stored sugar, and therefore the water stored with it).

- Water is also an important element in the release of energy from your fat, or adipose tissue. 

- It has zero calories!

- It's FREE!

Many people will probably think they drink enough water already, but its worth double checking, especially for those wanting to lose weight (and, since people who want to lose weight are probably larger than average, they'll need more than the average recommended daily intake). Swapping sugar-filled drinks for water will not only help you avoid those empty calories, but help you to avoid possible complications from too much sugar in your blood (like diabetes), and as you can get it for free from your tap/faucet, it will make your bank balance healthier too!

How To Track Your Weight Loss

First of all, a big thank you for all the support after I posted my first month's results. It not only makes me feel good about the changes I've made so far, but keeps me motivated to make another big loss before next month's report, so thanks!

As with all the 'advice' I post, I can only speak from experience, and tell you what has worked for me. Below is the system I use to track my own weight loss, and if you think a similar system could work for you, then by all means, read on!

Here is a picture of the spreadsheet I use to chart my journey. Click on it for a bigger view!

The first column is just the date, and it really helped me to have a definite date by which I wanted to achieve my weight loss. It gives you goals, and a timescale, and helps you visualise yourself at the end of your journey - I can look at the chart and say "by my brother's wedding, I'll have lost 87lbs", rather than just "I will lose 87lbs eventually". If you're having trouble picking a suitable date, simply work out how much you want to lose in pounds, half it, and look that many weeks ahead on a calendar. This gives you a manageable 2lb loss a week until you're target weight is achieved, and if there are any holidays, birthdays, anniversaries etc within say 4 weeks of that date, use that as your target - even if you're off by a couple of pounds, you'll have seen such an improvement by then that you probably won't mind!

The second column is my target weight. I knew I wanted to lose 100lbs, and had 228 days before the date I set. That gave me how much weight I had to drop a day, so simply subtracting that amount every day and entering it into this column told me what the scales needed to show if I was to be on track. It gives you a sense of the progress you'll need to make, and can be used as a target to aim for.

Column C is my actual weight, which I check every day. I know I have to expect some fluctuations up and down, but recording every day, and making that weigh-in part of my normal routine, keeps my intention in the front of my mind. The first thing I do every morning is weigh, so the first thing I think about every day is eating well and exercising. Helps to keep me focussed!

Column D is simply how many pounds above or below my target weight I am. It changes a lot day in day out, as obviously weight fluctuates, but it gives some perspective to how well you're doing vs. how well you need to do, so you know if you have to up your exercise, or if you can afford to rest for a bit. It also helps, after having a couple of days gaining weight, to see that you are nonetheless still on track, and can afford to have a few blips without being thrown completely off the rails!

Column E is my daily loss or gain. I use this to micro-manage - if perhaps I overeat on a Tuesday, I can see how that caused me to gain weight on the Wednesday (or conversely, how going for a run on Thursday helped me drop weight on the Friday etc). It is prone to the occasional fluctuation, but on the whole it helps me see the consequences of my actions, both the good ones and the bad!

Column F I only fill in on Monday, to record my total loss over the previous 7 days. This is the figure I report on this blog every week! Its a handy at-a-glance way of seeing how you've done over the last couple of weeks.

Column G is my notes column, and this one I see as very important. Using my target weights in Column B as a guide, I write in here at every weight I will have dropped a BMI number, every time I will have passed another half-stone hurdle, or any weigh-ins I remember from the past. These are my mini-targets. For example, in the image above, you can see that when I passed the 294lbs mark, I was no longer 20+ stone, but now 19 something, and if I just dropped 2.6 more pounds, I would have a BMI below 37. These frequent mini-targets are much easier to aim for than a dreaded "100 lbs" figure, and you get a regular burst of satisfaction when you pass one.

Finally, I have my total weight loss to date automatically updating after every weigh, and I have it in a large font right at the top, so even if I'm coming in to log a gain, I can see how far I've already come, and it spurs me on. I've also put a little converter on there too, so I can plug in my weight in lbs every morning, and see how that translates into kgs, stone, or BMI.

So there you have it! It has worked wonders for me, and I often check it several times a day, just to look at how much I have already achieved, how far until my next mini-target, or to mess around with graphs or averages or what not. If you think this kind of system would work for you, then I strongly recommend it, as it has so far worked wonders for me.

Weight-Loss Tips 1

In these posts I'm going to let you know whenever I come up with an idea (or use one from elsewhere) that I have found was beneficial to me. It is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of all the things you can do to help lose weight, and it is specifically the things that I have found beneficial - you may find these tips don't necessarily work for you! But here we go...

1) Find a photograph of yourself...a slim one!

I've heard tell of people who like to get a photograph of themselves at their absolute heaviest, and put it up inside the refridgerator, or on the back of their door. I guess what they're trying to do is remind themselves of what they don't want to be anymore, but in my own weight-loss attempt I'd much rather focus on what I would like to be. I don't believe thinking in negatives is necessarily the best idea - 'I don't want to be fat anymore' or 'I want to lose weight' both contain the words fat and weight, terms I don't want to apply to myself any longer, not even in my own mind. I much prefer thinking 'I can't wait to be slim!'

Below is a photograph I took of myself when I was first at university, so it must be about seven years old or so.

Compare this image to the one below, which I took on the very first day of my new program, just over three weeks ago.

At first, I was absolutely furious. Not only with myself for letting things get as bad as they are, but also with other people - peers and 'friends' - for making me think I was fat back then. I needed to lose a few more pounds, sure, and could have done with some toning up, but on the whole I don't think I look too bad.

But I felt bad. I felt massive. I would beat myself up every time someone said "morning, big guy!" or "you're so cuddly!". It didn't make me desperate to lose weight, as it does now (and I got the 'big man' comment again just this morning), but it reinforced the twisted idea already in my mind that I was ugly, overweight, and that I should just give up trying to look good.

Well not any more! I have made that photo the background on my computer now, so I see it every morning when I record my weight, and every time I come online to blog. It shows me:

- how much slimmer I once was. I intend to look even BETTER than I do in that photo, so its something of a marker for me - get there, and you're back to where you were, but with the full momentum and confidence of having lost scores of pounds to get there.

- how much of my problem was caused by my mindset. As I've said, I felt fat back then, and I felt fat when I started this program, but I didn't feel any more or less fat inbetween. There were no degrees of weight in my mind - I was simply overweight, and that meant I was bad. The consequence of this was that whenever I put on weight, I didn't notice - I was still just a fatty, regardless of whether I was overweight by 10lbs or 100lbs. Now that I've come to terms with that, it is much easier for me to notice the positive changes that are being made by my weight loss.

- that I can be slim. Some people bandy around terms like 'big-boned' or 'hormone problems' or 'slow metabolism', but by and large they are a myth (not in all cases though, of course). When I used these terms, it was to absolve myself of blame. I was destined to be fat. That was just the way I was made. It was in my genes. NONSENSE. I can be slim - I have photographic proof! And I will be slim again.

From initially not wanted to look at the photo because it reminded me of how far I had let myself go, it is now the catalyst for a brand new determination to reach the same level of fitness, and then surpass it. I can't wait!