Bikini Body Ready - Keeping Motivated

Way back in April I wrote up a post sharing with you all how I was planning and aiming on getting my body bikini ready. As it turned out it was a pretty popular post and it was great finding out that so many of you were in the same mind set about looking and feeling good for summer. For those of you who are new here on my blog, I decided to take it upon myself to do a series of 30 day challenges to help tone up and get in shape. These challenges were amazing and gave me incredible results, so if you would like to read all about what I got up to in the summer you can find that post here.

Since typing up that post (which only seams like yesterday) and having successfully completed the challenges, I found that it really opened up a whole new door for me in terms of leading a healthy lifestyle. It got me thinking why did I just want to have a bikini body for the summer and not have one all year round? So I took it upon myself to join a gym and have taken my fitness to a whole new level since. Having spoken to loads of you lovelies over Twitter I know I'm not the only one who is a fan of the gym; But what I've found from talking to you all is that as much as it's great giving your body a great workout, motivating ourselves to go can be sometimes really difficult and I know for sure that I have those days and moments where I just can't be bothered.

I don't know about anyone else, but with darker evenings drawing closer and with the days becoming colder and generally a lot more miserable, motivating yourself can be quite tricky. I know I'm terrible for just wanting to finish work and jump straight into my cosy pajamas - it really is the time where it feels ok to hide away from the rest of the world and just chill. However I am determined not to let months of hard work go to waste just because its cold and because I'll be wrapping up in layers of chunky knitwear - Just because my body is not going to be on display in the form of pretty bikinis and summer dresses, does not mean that I don't want to keep looking and feeling good in my own skin. Just think party season is just around the corner and I am 100% certain that I want to look good in those sparkly dazzling Christmas dresses!

So today I thought today I would share with you some things that help keep me motivated to keep working out and that help me get my little butt down to the gym four times a week and hopefully it will give you a little motivation boost too.

1. I thought I'd start with a point that most of us shopaholics will love! Buy new gym clothes. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I get that little buzz of buying something new. Whenever I buy new clothing, there is always little excitement feeling I get popping on new clothes. So if you treat yourself to some new gym gear, the thought of wearing your new clothes will give you that little boost of motivation you need to get to the gym. If it helps, make sure your getting changed at the gym so there is no excuses not to go.

2. Think about how you feel after a workout. If you put in everything you've got into your workouts of course your going to feel the obvious - tired, hot, sweaty and a bit achy but I'm always left with a feeling accomplishment and I feel good, despite working so hard. Before your next gym session think how good you are going to afterwards and let this be your motivation.

3. Take plenty of pictures to track your progress. No matter what your goals are for working out I think it's a good idea to whip your phone out and start taking some seflies of your body, even if its for your eyes only. Before I started working out I took some pictures and I can see such a difference in my body now. Looking at my own personal progress makes me so motivated and more determined to reach my goals.

4. Sort out your gym playlist. Everyone loves a good bit of music and working out to some tunes is essential to a good workout. Sort out a playlist full of your favourite tunes and just go for it. I love listening to things have a good beat and of course have plenty of lines I can sing along too, even if I am only singing along in my head. But having the right music definitely makes working out fun and makes the time go fast. Sorting out a good playlist will help keep you motivated to go.

6. Don't make excuses. It's so easy to make an excuse and talk yourself out of doing something especially after you've been working all day and this time of year really doesn't make things any easier. But I think the more you talk yourself out of exercising, it's more than likely that you will keep talking yourself out of it in the future which in the long run is going to make you feel even more unmotivated and guilty because your not doing anything about it. 

7. Keep things fresh. I'm one of these people that can get bored pretty easily if I'm doing the exact same thing all the time so I try and vary my workouts as much as possible and I'm forever talking to the gym staff and my personal trainer friend to help me vary my workouts. Recently I've become a little addicted to the classes at the gym trying out all the different ones and seeing which ones are best for me. Classes have to be one of my favourite things do to at the gym as I always find working out in a group like this and having a professional talking you though each exercise makes for a better workout and makes me so much more motivated. If I've taken the time to book myself into a class, I'm more than likely to get my butt down to the gym.

8. Schedule your week and fit in your gym sessions accordingly and most importantly stick to it. If you really want to see changes and reach your goals then you have to actually do something about it. Every Sunday I look at my week ahead and workout what I'm doing and I plan what days and what times I'm going to fit the gym in. If I say I'm going to do something then I'll do it and stick to it.

So that's it for my motivational tips to help keep you motivated and working out. I really hope this helps as I always get asked a lot how I manage to go to the gym so often as well as make time for everything else. But I think really if you want to go and see changes then you will make the time to go. I'm thinking of doing more posts like this ladies or do a post letting you all in on my workout routine, if this is something you would like to see then be sure to let me know.

Lots of Love