internet exercise friends

I am 53 years old and far from a natural athlete, so staying motivated to exercise has been a constant struggle.

Three things have contributed to my success.

First, I make sure to find time to get my exercise out of the way during my work day so that when I leave my desk at the end of the day I don’t have to face going to work out.

For some people this might mean exercising in the morning before work, but since I am a telecommuter with a flexible schedule — and also not a morning person — I usually do my workouts in the early afternoon.

I eat lunch at my desk while I’m working so I’ll have time for a workout during my lunch break.

Second, being accountable to someone else is a great motivator.

I joined a small group of women friends who are also working to build a healthier lifestyle.

We track all of our exercise and food consumption on a web site, where we can review each other’s fitness diaries and offer suggestions and encouragement.

The act of reporting all food and exercise makes it easy to identify our patterns, and knowing someone else will also see them gives us an extra incentive to get our exercise so we don’t let our friends down.

Third, I tied part of my monthly “spending money” to exercise.

To do this, I set a goal of at least three workouts per week and got my husband to agree to keep track.

When I do my workout I mark it on his calendar, and on payday I pay myself a proportion of my budgeted spending money depending on how many weeks I succeeded in meeting my exercise goal.

While my reward is financial, someone else might find it more helpful to use other rewards such as spa services, special events, or other treats instead.

I have to accept that fact that I’m unlikely to ever want to exercise, and before I put these methods in place I was always finding something else to do, I felt like I was all alone in my struggle since my husband is a naturally slim person, and I had trouble finding ways to stay motivated.

Establishing exercise as a regular habit by finding fitness activities I enjoy doing and writing time for them into my schedule, having “buddies” who also struggle with the same changes I am trying to make, and figuring out a reward system that works for me have made me much more successful at maintaining good fitness habits.

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