Motivation Monday - Find a buddy!

Happy Monday everyone! Sorry for the inconsistency with my posts the past few weeks. I've had stuff scheduled to go up because I've been on vacation and just got back last night. This morning I hit the ground running with my 8am class and work tonight. Right now I'm sitting at work making myself look busy and give me something to do to kill the time. Soooo today's post is veering somewhat from the Cosmo article I've been quoting and working off of for my last few Motivation Monday posts, although it's still on the list and it's pretty simple. Find a buddy.

I've lost count of how many times I've heard and read about how having a workout buddy motivates you to go to the gym. Since I started working out and taking cardio kickboxing classes at school with a couple friends of mine.  I ended up driving us because I was the only one with a car, so it made me accountable and I pretty had to go to class so they could go as well. If there were days when my friend didn't go, I found that I wouldn't go to class. Even now, and I need to fix this, if my friend can't go to the gym, I don't go. As you can see, having someone go with me is a huge motivator for me because it makes me accountable for someone else. For my Cardio-Kickboxing class I was the transportation and for the gym, he [my friend] can't get into the gym without me.

That being said, I would definitely recommend grabbing a friend to go workout. Here are a few reasons listed out as to why this would be beneficial to you:

• It helps the time pass quicker- you're not watching the clock when you're talking to someone.
• It makes you accountable so you don't cancel workouts - if someone is relying on you, it's not cool to cancel because you "don't feel like it." I've only had to cancel once, and that was because I hurt my back. We ended up hanging out instead.
• They can see the progress you're making that you can't see yourself - I've been told by co-workers and the friend that I workout with that they can see me slimming down.
• It's fun and makes you competitive - My friend and I silently compete against each other when we hit the stationary bikes at the end of our workouts. He gets upset when I beat him (but you didn't hear that from me).
• You'll simply be more motivated - Seeing the progress that your friend(s) is/are making will hopefully inspire you to continue doing what you're doing/change your habits. I know my friends will scold me or talk me out of eating that side of fries with dinner.