By: Chris Gates

If you have a goal for your health and fitness, or if you’re planning on setting one, it’s probably because you’re pretty motivated.

You want this to finally be the time you make a change, and have it stick!

But what happens when that motivation starts to fade?

After you get started and the excitement wears off, you’ve probably wondered about how to get motivated to eat healthy and exercise.

It’s extremely common.

Tell me if this sounds familiar…

1. You get really excited to start your new journey, and motivation is at an all-time high in the first 2-3 weeks.
2. But then something happens. Something throws off your ability to be consistent. Or maybe your motivation just completely wears off.
3. So you take a break, promising you’ll re-start things when your motivation comes back.
4. And … well … your motivation never seems to come back.

In this article, I’m going to help you figure out new and creative ways to keep pursuing your health and fitness goals without letting a lack of motivation ruin everything.

We’ll break down…

• Why motivation comes and goes.
• How to deal with it when your motivation dips.
• Creating habits out of eating healthy and exercising.
• The keys to long-term success and adherence.

So if you’re ready to learn how to not only get motivated, but also keep going with the pursuit of your health and fitness goals, let’s dive in!

How to Get Motivated to Eat Healthy and Exercise: Motivation Comes From Action

Before we dive into specific tips on how to get motivated to eat healthy and exercise, let’s talk about where motivation comes from.

Because it’s not this thing that you can create, and then sustain forever.

Motivation is an emotion that can serve as a really effective starting point. But just like any other emotion, it’s going to come and go.

It will fade, and it will strengthen at various times across each month, and each year. Oftentimes the high points are related to something like…

• Setting a New Year’s resolution
• Getting in shape for a summer vacation
• Or having a birthday and wanting to make the upcoming year healthier.

But you can’t just get motivated, and stay that way forever. Nobody is wired that way.

And that’s normal. It’s OK.

My friend Jordan Syatt has an amazing video on how motivation works, and when you’re done reading this article I’d highly recommend you watch it.

Essentially, what happens is you have a thought or a desire to do something, but the motivation doesn’t really kick in until you start doing that thing. You see positive results from your actions, which makes you more and more motivated to keep taking action. And the process repeats itself over, and over again.

That’s what makes you ridiculously consistent. And it’s what takes your progress to the next level.

Set Realistic Goals

Oftentimes, your ability to get motivated to eat healthy and exercise is rooted in how you set your goals.

Because if the goals you have are unreasonable, or unsustainable, it’s going to be extremely difficult to stay consistent.

Which means you’ll struggle to take action.

And that means motivation is going to fade pretty quick.

Don’t get me wrong — you can have a large-scale goal. Let’s say you want to lose 50 pounds. There’s nothing wrong with that!

But let’s not make that the end-all, be-all of your program. Set small goals along the way, and root them in the behaviors that will get you to your ultimate goal.

For instance…

• “I want to lose 5 pounds this month.”
• “I’m going to track everything I eat.”
• “I will lift weights three times each week.”
• “I’ll also go for a walk each day.”

Those are all realistic, achievable goals that are also effective.

And that’s exactly the approach you should take.

Your Mindset Should Focus on Consistency

So you have a long-term goal, and you have your short-term goals outlined.

Whatever those are, the theme and mindset you need to have as you get started is to be ruthlessly consistent.

Whether it be to eat healthy, exercise, or anything else, the key to success is doing the right things most of the time.

And doing that for weeks, on top of months, on top of years.

Anybody that’s on top — whether it be with fitness, business, or anything else — got there because they put the work in day after day for a LONG time.

Sure, you’ll find an “overnight success story” here or there. But that’s the one percent. The vast majority of people have to work at this stuff to be successful.

So set your mindset, and your goals around the concept of consistency.

If you’re taking the long-term approach, you’ll level set your expectations and be MUCH more motivated to be consistent with eating healthy and exercising.

How to Get Motivated to Eat Healthy and Exercise: Take A Personalized Approach

So many people fail because they use a generic template, or do what their friend did to see progress.

It almost never works.

Because honestly, think about it. You have unique, specific traits that are different from everyone else.

• Your height
• Weight
• Genetics
• Preferences
• Dislikes
• Limitations

Nobody else on earth can say they are exactly the same as you for all of those things. Especially not with both diet and exercise.

So why would you think you’ll be able to stay motivated and consistent using someone else’s program?

You won’t.

Make sure you take a personalized approach. Factor in all of those bullet points above into your plan.

You’ll be much more motivated to eat healthy and exercise if you’re focusing on what works best for you, and what’s in alignment with your likes and dislikes.

Oftentimes, working with a coach is the most effective way to build your own personalized program and take all of the guesswork out of things (more on this below!).

Start With One Thing & Build From There

Here’s a fun fact: you don’t have to completely overhaul your entire life when you decide it’s time to eat healthy and exercise.

Like, you can do one of those things, and get really good at it.

And once you’re really good at it, and it becomes a habit, you can add the other.

In fact, if you’ve tried and failed at this in the past, then as a coach this is exactly what I’d have you do.

1. Perhaps you can focus on exercising first. It’s only a hour or so a day, a few times a week.
2. Get really good at showing up, putting in the effort, and completing your workouts.
3. Once you get consistent with that for a month or two, you can start to work on your diet.

Because exercising will be in your wheelhouse. You’ll have made it a habit.

And that will make building a second habit of eating healthy so much easier.

How to Get Motivated to Eat Healthy and Exercise: Track Your Food

Nothing is more impactful than a little bit of accountability.

And tracking your diet can help hold you accountable to the goals you’ve set of heating healthy and exercising.

You don’t have to do it forever, but take a week or two to tracking everything you eat. Get a really good picture of what your diet looks like.

• How many calories you eat
• Your daily protein
• How many fruits and vegetables are included
• Any snacks, sweets, or other treats.
• Liquids, too! Coffee, beer, soda, etc.

Be brutally honest and track every lick, bite, and taste.

When you see how many calories you eat, on average, it can be super motivating. You’ll have no more gray area in your diet. Everything will be laid out in front of you, and you’ll be able to find little tweaks you can make to clean things up and eat healthy.

Especially if you’re trying to eat healthy in order to lose weight, tracking your diet is really important.

Most people who struggle to lose weight vastly underestimate how many calories they’re eating.

But if you track, and make some adjustments that lead to a little bit of progress, you’ll get even more motivated to keep going.

Focus On Addition, Not Elimination

On that note of tracking your diet, when you’re ready to make tweaks, think about adding instead of eliminating.

By that, I mean instead of thinking you need to slash 1,000 calories out of daily routine, perhaps think about ways you can add nutritious options instead.

For instance…

• Add more fruits and vegetables to your meals to increase your fullness.
• Insert more protein sources into your meals.
• Add a huge salad into your routine every day.

As a coach, I’ve found addition to be something that actually leads to eating healthier, and more progress with weight loss.

And don’t feel like you need to remove all of the foods you consider to be “bad,” either.

There are no “bad” foods. And it’s OK to include some of your favorite treats here and there, in moderation.

That will actually make your entire journey more sustainable, and motivate you to keep going with your diet.

Enjoyment is really important for long-term adherence.

Focus On Exercise You Actually Enjoy

Let’s continue down the path of enjoyment.

Because if you have a workout program full of exercises you hate, you’re probably not going to stick to it.

In fact, there’s even research on this topic that shows your exercise program should not only include your needs, but also your preferences in order to stay consistent.

There are definitely some foundational things you should focus on:

• Regular strength training.
• Compound movement patterns like squatting, pressing, and rowing.
• Cardiovascular training throughout the week.

But there’s a TON of wiggle room within those concepts to construct a plan that you’ll enjoy.

Maybe you’re not a huge fan of high-intensity exercise, and you’d prefer to do more low-intensity cardio, and rest more in between sets when you lift weights.

Or, you might love the feeling of high-intensity exercise. That might mean high-intensity interval training (HIIT) cardio workouts fall into your wheelhouse, along with using supersets when you strength train.

Whatever the case may be, you’ll be more motivated to keep showing up to the gym if you look forward to your workouts.

So build them based on what you enjoy.

How to Get Motivated to Eat Healthy and Exercise: Track Your Progress

I said it before, and I’ll say it again…

Nothing helps with motivation more than a little accountability.

And if you’re tracking your progress, you’ll find yourself way more motivated to keep showing up.

Tracking your diet is important, and we already talked about that so I won’t bore you with the same spiel.

But in addition to your food, you should track your body composition as well.

1. Step on the scale every morning.
2. Take waist measurements every two weeks.
3. Take progress pictures once a month.

If you do those three things, you’ll be able to view all aspects of how your body is changing and adapting to your new routine of eating healthy and exercising.

When you see your body change, it’s unbelievably motivating.

And track your progress with your workouts, too!

When you document what you’re doing in the gym, you’ll be able to see the reps and weight go up over time. When you see data that shows you’re getting stronger, it will make you increasingly more motivated to keep showing up.

Log your workouts in the notes app of your phone, or carry a little notebook with you to the gym (this is what I do!).

Understand This Is A Lifestyle Change, Not A Quick Fix

It can be discouraging when you don’t see results quickly.

Trust me, I get it. I’ve been there before.

And in today’s world of TikTok, Amazon, and a million other ways to get what you want instantly, it’s hard to recondition your brain to move a bit slower.

But indeed, this is a lifestyle change you’re after. Not a quick fix.

So it’s important for you to understand that eating healthy and regular exerce are habits. And habits take time to develop.

And once you develop those habits, you’re not done.

This journey actually never ends.

There’s not going to be a moment where you say, “I’ve done it! I can stop now!”

At least not if you want to make progress and maintain it.

Take a longer mindset into this journey. Because if you’re expecting to put in a little bit of work, experience dramatic results, and then maintain those results forever without continuing to work…

You’re in for a rude awakening.

And you’ll never stay motivated.

Ask Yourself: “What Will I Be Proud of Tomorrow?”

You’ll inevitably be hit with moments where you need to make a big decision.

It could be with your diet, when you need to chose between something that fits your goals, and something that doesn’t.

Or it could be one of those days where you really don’t want to work out, and you have to decide whether or not you’re still going to show up.

Whatever the situation is, I want you to always be asking yourself this question…

“What will I be proud of tomorrow?”

• Is this decision going to make you feel good now, but terrible later?
• Will you wake up tomorrow and regret it?
• Or, are you 100 percent certain that this is the right thing to do?

Oftentimes, caving in those moments and making a choice that goes against your goals leads to regret. And you feel awful about it the next day.

A great way to avoid that feeling is to be mindful of the decisions that make you feel proud.

Lean into those things.

And you know what? Sometimes having that special dessert, or taking a day off from the gym is the right call.

Just make sure you’re evaluating each one, and make the decision you’ll truly be proud of.

Keep Showing Up, No Matter What

To build on that last tip, the most motivation decision you can make most of the time is to keep doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

Kind of vague, right?

I know. Let me dive deeper.

It’s incredibly motivating to show up to the gym when you really don’t want to. Because virtually everybody feels better after showing up and working out.

It’s also very motivating to continue to make the right choices with your diet, and then see results on the scale, or in your measurements and photos. You didn’t always want to have the chicken breast and salad, but you did. And it paid off.

When you make those hard decisions in the moment to keep doing the right things — the things that are in alignment with your goals…

THAT right there is what turns this stuff into a habit.

The more you make those types of choices, the more motivated you’ll be to keep making those same choices.

And it will get easier, too.

Make Sure You’re Recovering

This tip might seem a little bit outside of the scope of motivation, but hear me out.

If you’re chronically under-recovered — meaning your bones, muscles, joints, central nervous system, etc. aren’t able to catch up — your motivation levels are going to plummet.

When you’re constantly sore, and feeling tired, and starving all of the time, the last thing you want to do is keep going.

Instead, you’ll opt for the couch, a big plate of nachos (YUM!), and a swift end to your goals of eating healthy and exercising.

But this can all be avoided by doing a few simple things on a daily basis.

1. Get enough sleep. Most adults need somewhere between 7-9 hours a night, on average.
2. Eat enough protein. Your body needs protein to repair itself and recover from your workouts.
3. Don’t starve yourself. We talked a little bit about this above. Slashing calories drastically is going to make it very hard to recover and feel fresh.
4. Take 2-3 rest days a week. A nice balance between rest and exercise will help your entire plan feel more enjoyable and sustainable.

If you can factor those core concepts into your plan, you’ll be far more motivated to keep going.

How to Get Motivated to Eat Healthy and Exercise: Hire A Coach

We’ve talked about accountability a lot in this article, and I’ll touch on it one more time before wrapping up.

Hiring a coach is the ultimate form of accountability.

Not only will a coach be able to construct a program that is perfect for YOU, but he or she will also be able to keep you on track through anything that life throws at you.

I think that’s one of the biggest roles I play with my clients.

I work with a lot of working moms and dads who have so much going on in their lives. It would be easy to give up on eating healthy and exercising, in order to prioritize other things like work, family, etc.

And most people who come to me have fallen into that trap before, which is why they’re looking for help.

• A coach will make sure you’re doing the right things most of the time.
• They’ll motivate you to keep going.
• And they’ll help you understand the finer points of your journey, so that you continue to stay consistent and see progress.

If coaching sounds like it would be helpful for you, I’d love to work with you!

Visit my coaching page to learn more about how the process works, and check out some of my client testimonials while you’re there.

If you’re interested in discussing your goals, fill out a coaching application and I’ll follow up with you to talk more.

Thanks for reading!

~ Chris