Work out, work out, work out. Too busy, working out isn’t that important this week, or next week, or next week. A few weeks go by and it’s work out, work out, work out! These intense period of working out mixed with long periods of slacking off are doing more damage than good to your body. This irregular pattern actually raises the weight point your body naturally tries to maintain. This makes it even harder to shed those pounds!

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We all have events pop up in our lives that we want to look phenomenal for, weddings, reunions, a date with that hot guy from the coffee shop. Whatever the occasion is, it is okay to work out a little bit harder but don’t go over board, and try to keep this motivation all the time. You may not lose the 5 pounds you wanted to before the big day, but you also won’t gain back that 5 pounds in a second and have to work twice as hard to lose it again!

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Getting the motivation to have a steady workout routine is the hard part, but there are things you can do to better motivate yourself. First make an actual commitment to your workout. This can be through rewards or punishments or simply just writing it down. Workout 3 days a week for a month, get a massage if you succeed! If punishments work better for you, workout 3 days a week for month and if you fail you have to donate one of your favorite pairs of shoes to Goodwill. I also have found just writing a note to myself saying “Did you workout this week?” and putting it on my mirror (where I can’t avoid it) gives me more incentive to hit the gym!

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Next step in motivation, get support! If your friends and family know working out is important to you and give you positive feedback it will encourage you to go for a run or pick up those weights. Also having a supportive person that wants to workout with you will make it more enjoyable. Set up a weekly “workout date” with your friend, say every Wednesday you guys will attend a fabulous pilates class at downtown Pittsburgh salon, Verve 360!

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In the end you need to discover just what makes you want to get up and throw those sneakers on! Try a variety of rewards, punishments, notes, and support systems. You will eventually find one that works for you. Just make sure you are not yo-yo working out, because in the end it’ll just come back to kick you in the butt.