Greetings all. I'll get right to the point: Over the last four years, I've been going through a vicious cycle of weight loss and gain. Over the summer, I'll drop 30-45 pounds and then during the regular year I gain anywhere from 50-100. This is a very unhealthy process and I could really use ideas for work out programs that are consistent and motivating. My problem is that I get extremely bored while working out so I don't have any motivation to work out at all. Has anyone here been in my shoes? Any advice or tips as to how to keep off the weight? It's a matter of my health at this point and all advice is highly appreciated, thank you.

tl;dr How to lose weight and keep it off effectively.

I've been there before myself, being unmotivated at the gym is the worse. Fortunately, there are definitely ways around it.

Variety is one of the main ways around this. You will almost always get bored in the gym if you are just sitting there doing the same thing over and over again, especially if you don't like working out in the first place. Bland and overused workouts are killer, and I mean that in the bad way. Change up your routine (I can help you with this if you want, I just finished making a two week split and circuit training program for myself, and with some tweaks it works for fat burning).

Try working out with a friend. If you always work out alone, you lack that physical motivation you get from a personal trainer or peer that works out with you. This may seem trivial, but trust me, it gets you past a lot of ruts and plateaus. If none of your friends work out or if for some reason you can't get a buddy in there with you, try hiring a personal trainer.

Keep track of your results. If you keep a training diary and actually record what you do, it gives you a physical representation of your progress, and seeing positive progress and results is probably the most motivating thing. If you work out and never progress and don't get the results you want, there is no gratification in that. You need to see yourself lose weight and see results in order to want to do it more. So, try a training diary, or try taking a picture of yourself every day you work out, like this guy:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4F6W4DOEBU[/youtube]

Remember, if you need help making a program I'll definitely help you out.

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-Sharplin
My journal:
sharplins-journal-vt84603.html?highlight=

I agree with sharplin about keeping track of your training progress and may add you should also training progressivly shoot to lift a little more each session even if its only by a pound or two. Also count calories when your results are in black and white its hard to not do something about it.

I'd love to hear your workout. I have dumbells at my house and also a workout bench. Any additional things I can buy and I could go to a gym not far from my house. I'd really appreciate any help you can offer.

K, I'll post it tomorrow. It's designed for a gym, so that'd be ideal if yo could make it to the nearest gym. But if you can't, you could simply replace some of the exercises (not many use machines) with dumbbell ones.

_________________
-Sharplin
My journal:
sharplins-journal-vt84603.html?highlight=

Thanks Sharplin, appreciate it.