[Serious] Reddit, how do you find the motivation to exercise?

If you do the same thing every day, you'll get the same results. You've identified that you're saying the same thing, and not following through. Change that in the smallest way. Before you undress and get in your pajamas, go for a walk. 15 minutes. Nothing huge, just a small change. You're in a comfortable rut, and you lie to yourself every night. The hardest part is getting out of that rut. Just make a small, easy change, and you do that for a month, and you are out of the rut.

You need to really think about what it is that you want. There's the old saying "We make time for the things that are important to us". If you want this, you will make time. If you don't, stop lying to yourself, you're making yourself feel guilty and bad for no reason. Instead, focus on why you want this, why you want to exercise, otherwise tips won't work for you. And then, if it's really important to you, you will make time.

Once you know why it's important to you, it will be easier. There has never been a single time after I have finished exercising and thought "I wish I didn't do that", I have never felt bad about spending my time exercising, I have never felt bad about going for a run, I have never thought about what I ate yesterday, and felt bad about it being 'too healthy'. I have never felt bad about these decisions, because being healthy, and strong, and energetic, is important to me. There isn't a moment of regret, because this is what I want.

Stop dealing with the regret. Don't feel guilty that you didn't work out yesterday. Don't say "Well, I didn't do it yesterday, so I have to do it today". The fact that you didn't do it yesterday has no bearing on why you are going to do it today. You are doing it today because it is what you want to do today. Yesterday doesn't affect that.

/r/AskReddit Thread