What workout tips/motivation have you found?

Find something you like to do, and you will not even realize you are exercising.  Walking is the easiest one to start with.  You can do that in your own home until you are ready to head outside.  Music is a great motivate for me.  I no longer say oh i do not like to do that.  I just say oh let me try that again maybe i will like it.

Got to find something you enjoy.  Try lots of things, even if you used to hate it.  I used to like going to the gym and hated running.  Now all I do is run and it is a struggle to get in the gym.  Plus I have a major shoe obsession and running helps me be able to purchase many shoes without seeming like too much of a nut.

I'm not big on exercise but I needed to find something so I've fallen into doing home workout dvd's.  I hate the gym and will not waist money on a membership I wont use and I have a 3yr old who hates the stroller.  I started exercising the past month and I've found that the home dvd's are perfect for me and I actually look forward to them now.  I can workout at my own pace while my son is asleep and then take a shower and I'm done in 45min-1hr with no driving.  I'm investing in more dvd's because I think I finally have found something I'll do.

I'm starting Aqua Zumba this Saturday.  A few of the ladies from my bariatric support group have been doing it and say it's fun.  They inspire one another and hold each other accountable to attend each class.  I need this!  

The water is 85° so I won't have the excuse of "water's too cold".  I bought a bathing suit yesterday so not having one can no longer be my excuse.  The ladies said there are other ladies  of various/all sizes in the class.  So, my body size can no long be an excuse either.  

Although I am now in a size 14, I have lots of hanging loose skin.  If I prefer, I will be allowed to wear yoga pants and a t-shirt, so unsightly hanging skin cannot be an excuse either.  It looks like this class and facility has figured out all the excuses that I/we can use not to exercise, and met them.  Sooooo, I'll be Aqua Zumba-ing with my friends starting this Saturday.  I'm looking forward to it!

Hello and great question. I am a personal trainer and one of the main things I have to do for my clients is determine how to keep them motivated. Here are some of the approached I take.

1. Clearly define why you are exercising. I mean honestly take a look at why you are going to make the self disciplined sacrifices of eating healthy or the hard effort of exercising. This is important because the reason is what is going to get you started and sustain you when it gets difficult. Some people just are plain tired of being overweight and are ready to do something about it. Some have received bad news from the doctor that if you don't began an exercise program your life/quality of life is in serious jeopardy. Others do it for loved ones and want to be as healthy as possible to be around (alive) as long as possible to spend time with them.

2.To stay motivated you must choose the proper exercise program which is doable for you and will provide results. There are many exercise programs available from P90x, Insanity, Tae-bo, Leslie Samson, Chair-A-Cise (my favorite) but you have to do a true analysis of yourself (physical capabilities/mental toughness) and compare it to the program you are considering. Starting the right exercise program gives you confidence and hope and therefor you will continue. Beginning with the wrong exercise program can make you feel its impossible and you are never going to lose. If you are just starting off and are extremely overweight beginning with a high intensity program is not a good idea.

3. While I have offered some great tips along with others from the community at the end of the day its about accepting you are going to have to bust your butt to get results. Its no easy way out and all the encouragement, motivation from the community, doctors,  etc. is going to change that. You just have to accept its something you may not like or even hate but you just have to get it done. I think it would be very beneficial to read my post "Exercise-Stop the BS and Just Get It Done"

I don't know if I'd enjoy a regular gym, but I found an awesome gym near my house that is perfect for me.  It's trainer led class that mixes cardio with weight training and they do something different every day.  Each class is an hour long and after a month of doing it at least 3 days a week I am finding myself vastly improved.  My first day there I couldn't even stand and was sore for days afterwards.  Now I'm increasing the weights I use and changing the modified exercises I was doing to be more in line with how they were meant to be.  

Yesterday was my 43rd birthday and I went to the gym at 5:30 am and they based the whole workout around my birthday.  We did reps of 43 for everything.  The gym posted this on their facebook page.  

If you find going to the regular old gym "boring" I highly recommend finding something like this if you can.  I feel like I have joined a club and I'm bonding with the other members. I've ALWAYS hated exercise and now I WANT to work out.  I look forward to doing push-ups and (Lord help me for saying this) burpees.