Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

One of the best motivators is bribery. One good way to get into the habit of exercising every day is to pay yourself to exercise. Whether you’re walking, going to the gym, riding your exercise bike or pounding the pavement, you can motivate yourself to get your exercise done by bribing yourself.

According to the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, it would take anywhere from $9 to $37 a week to convince people to walk for their own health.

• Older Adults Say Cash Might Motivate Them to Walk

He pointed out that one hour of activity per week does not meet government health standards of 30 minutes, five days a week for moderate intensity activity such as walking. In the study, sedentary and inactive adults wanted $36.30 per week to do this much exercise. If they had to go in a group, they wanted nearly twice as much more.

Money is a great incentive. Giving yourself some money every day as a reward for getting your exercise done has worked for me in the past. You can read about it here:

• Starling Fitness » Bribe Yourself

I even created a form to keep track of my weekly bribes:

• Weekly Goals Journal Sheet from Starling Fitness: Excel spreadsheet for use with MS Office or Open Office.

If you’re having a hard time getting into the habit of exercising every day, try bribery.

Via: How Much Would They Have to Pay You to Walk?

This postcard from PostSecret is one of my fears of finally getting to goal.

It reads:

I will never miss the person I lost when I lost 100 lbs. +, but I will always live in constant fear that no one will love the body that she left behind.

What if I get to goal weight and I don’t like that sagging skin any more than I like that fat tummy? Sure, I can hide it with clothing, but will it make me feel any better about myself? What if I hate my body just as much when I’m skinny as when I was fat?

I finally decided that it doesn’t matter.

I’ve always hated my body. I’ll probably STILL hate my body, even when I’m finally at goal weight. The difference is, I’ll be treated better. I won’t be discriminated against by employers, health insurance companies, doctors and strangers. I will be healthier. I’ll be stronger and more able to do strenuous activities that are fun. I’ll finally be free of the shackles of binge eating. All of that is more important than loving my body.

Someday, I might be able to finally love my body, but I’m not waiting around for that to happen before I allow myself to get to a healthy weight.

PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.