Week 4 Blog

My main source of intrinsic motivation for engaging in fitness this semester is the fact that I am making an active decision to move my body. I feel proud of myself and better about myself when I have chosen to commit time during my day to move my body and make myself feel better. Moving my body reminds me that my decision to take care of myself is my decision and my decision alone, and I want to do everything I can to ensure that I am making the right decisions for my body. When I'm feeling less motivated, I will remind myself of the progress I’ve made in learning how to take care of myself and remind myself that I am confident and I am worthy and deserve to be living a healthy life.

One of my fitness goals is to cycle and do strength training at least three times a week for the rest of the semester and slowly increase the amount of exercise I’m during each time I exercise until I am feeling strong and healthy.

When I relapse, I have to remind myself that change doesn’t come from falling backward or standing still. Change happens with progress and hard work. Fitness is not something that happens overnight but is a commitment to myself and my long term health. My mantra will be “I am ready. I am worthy. I will change.”

I think there are lots of steps I can take to improve my self-efficacy. Firstly, I'm going to use the visualization strategy where I imagine what I will be like after I exercise and how good I will feel as a way to motivate me. Social reinforcement would also help me stay on track because I do well in groups and enjoy group fitness and I think that would help me stay accountable. I'm going to ask my roommate to do my exercise program with me or at least partially with me so that someone can hold me accountable and there's a social aspect to the exercise even though we are in the middle of a pandemic.