By Lavinia Rodriguez, Ph.D. of FatMatters.com

“I can’t seem to get enough motivation to exercise.”  Motivation is something that people find to be mysterious and out of reach – especially when it comes to being able to exercise consistently, instead of in the start-and-stop fashion that many people find so frustrating and defeating.

Yet, having the motivation to exercise isn’t as mysterious as it’s believed to be.  It’s within everyone’s reach.  It’s just that people tend to look for it in the wrong places and have expectations that immediately put them at a disadvantage before they’ve even begun to exercise.

In my experience, the three most common reasons why people have difficulty finding motivation to exercise are the following:

1. They think exercise has to be more intense than it has to be.  “When I lose weight I’ll be able to exercise the way it should be done.”  Barring any medical reason why you’ve been advised not to, exercise can be done anytime and at any body size as long as you realize that the only requirement is that you move consistently, frequently, and easily.  You don’t have to perform any particular type of exercise.  You don’t have to exercise at any particular speed or intensity.  You simply start from your current fitness level and “move” more than that level.  Exercise should not be a strain or feel painful.  If it is, it’s too intense.  So ease up a little, but keep moving until you’ve reached a level where it feels comfortable. For example, if you’re walking at a speed that feels too difficult, uncomfortable, or unenjoyable, slow down until it feels like you’re working harder than usual but it also feels relatively easy.

If you think of exercise as having to be something that’s intense, it’s logical that your mind won’t want to do it.  No one wants to do something that seems overwhelming.  It should be no big surprise, then, that you would resist anything that feels out of reach.  Make it reachable and you’ll keep doing it. It doesn’t matter how simple the activity seems compared to what you see other people do.  If you start at your level, you’ll want to keep doing it.  There will be opportunities to increase intensity later and you’ll still feel comfortable.

2. They think they have few options with exercise and none appeal to them.  Instead, exercise can be whatever you want it to be as long as you move consistently.  You do not have to be a runner, a walker, or a gym person.  Perhaps you’re more of a dancer, a rope jumper, a hiker, a stair climber, or like to jump up and down while watching TV.  You pick the exercise – whatever it is.  Make it your own and you’ll be more likely to want to stay with it because you’ll like it.

3. They only want to exercise to lose weight.  Weight loss alone is not a good motivator because of the short-term nature of it.  If your brain isn’t thinking past losing weight, what will be the incentive to keep being active for the rest of your life?  The person needs to find a long-term reason to exercise in addition to weight control.  The best motivating approach is one which includes a life-time goal of health and fitness mixed with short-term goals that are directly related to the long-term goal.  For instance, frequently reminding yourself that the main reason for exercising is to achieve older age without diabetes, cholesterol, or blood pressure problems like too many people have today, can keep the larger and more important picture in focus.  Try to imagine how the exercise you’re doing each day is insuring that your muscles stay strong enough to allow you to get around independently or  look healthy and strong at any age.

Within this global focus you can have short-term goals that give you an extra push – like walking a little further or lifting a heavier weight today.  With any goal, however, attitude is everything so keep challenges fun and achievable.

Remember, being fit and lean are both important for health, but if you’re only focusing on the number on a scale you’re missing the point as well as the motivation that will keep you wanting to exercise.

In short, motivation is the feeling of wanting to approach something because we imagine it to be a good thing.  Nothing destroys motivation faster than anticipating something negative or even torturous.  It’s human nature to avoid such negative things.

However, the human brain is intelligent and it can think about pleasurable things, also.  So use that wonderful brain and create your own enjoyable ways to move more in your life.  You’ll be surprised how quickly motivation will appear.