What can You do to motivate yourself to work out ?

I drink a lot. I eat pizza, fries, and ice cream when I want to. And I look like this:

You don't have to sacrifice the things you enjoy in order to look good. I exercise twice every day. I ran a marathon in under 3:15 last month.
 That's a lot. And I can't possible be motivated to do all that. And I'm not. Motivation never enters the equation.

I'm not motivated to go to work, but I do because I have to. If you have kids, you take care of them, because you have to. It doesn't matter if you're tired, or sick, or you've had a bad day. You do those things because
you have to.
I exercise because I have to. It's not a choice. I get up at 6am. I do dead lifts. I go to work. After work I run. Then I relax, eat a ton, and have some drinks.

It's a routine, and that's the key. I don't exercise occasionally. I don't exercise sometimes. I exercise every day. So I respectfully disagree with folks who say you should exercise less. The less you exercise, the easier it is to flake out on any given workout.

Forget motivation. It's fine if you don't feel like exercising. Because it doesn't matter, you just do it. Here's a few other tips to help establish your routine:

1. Work/reward system. Have some kind of reward you only get after you exercise. Personally, I count calories. Which means when I exercise, I get to eat more.

2. Dump all your friends who are lazy, negative, or drag you down. Surround yourself with positive, successful, motivated people who are better than you. And choose to be inspired by them.

3. Become the person you want to be. I'm not just a guy who exercises. I'm a runner. I'm a lifter. I'm a martial artist. You ARE that person. It is your identity. A runner doesn't stop running. A lifter doesn't stop lifting. Because it's who they are. It defines them.

4. Be crazy. People look at me and think I'm crazy. Fine. I think they are crazy, for not pushing themselves beyond their limits and making themselves amazing. I love how I look. I love how I feel. I love being strong, and feeling like I can conquer the world. I don't care what others think of me, because I feel powerful. But thankfully I surround myself with awesome people who appreciate me (see 2 above).

5. Measure your successes. I track my dead lifts every day in a notebook. Every single set is a success. Every day I finish is one more day I get to knock off my challenge (I did day 36 this morning).

Every Sunday I get to see my max lift increase by 10 pounds. And after a few months I'll get to see my body bigger and stronger than it ever was. And the same thing goes for running: faster, farther, more awesome.

6. Rejoice in being amazing. You are choosing to do something that very very few people are willing to. That is incredible. You are blasting past limits that few people are brave enough to even attempt. You are shaping your life the way you want to. Through hard work and sweat. That is freaking awesome!

You must remember one thing

How many calories do you eat per day?

My current budget is about 2500 calories per day. This is increased when I run or do other exercise. Glancing through my Lose It! app, it looks like I usually consume 3000-4000 calories per day. Sometimes I'll eat over or under my budget, but I'm balanced at the end of the week. I make sure to get at least 100 grams of protein per day, but it's often as high as 150 or more. -----------------------------------