Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Keeping motivated is a constant struggle for me. Saturday night I sat in my comfy chair desperately trying to think what I could do to motivate myself to eat healthy and exercise. I felt so out of control that I couldn’t think of anything that would convince me to take care of my body.

Toys? I have all the cool toys I could ever want. Movies? My Tivo and NetFlix bring movies that I will love to my doorstep whenever I want them. Books? I have a stack of books that I want to read and haven’t given myself the time. Time? I have the same problem with taking time for myself as I do for eating healthy. Money? I have all the money I need in that little debit card in my purse.

Then I remembered something from my teen years that hit me. When I worked at K-Mart, putting myself through college, they paid me every week in CASH. I don’t know if they still do that, but back in the 80’s, that was their policy. I would take half of that cash and hoard it away for tuition and books. I LOVED the growing stack of bills hiding in my desk.

Sure, I have a bank account that accrues interest (however minuscule), but that is for serious things like paying the IRS and saving for a home. The idea of that envelope of hoarded money was appealing to me, so I set up a bribery scheme based on that idea.

I created a new form and you can download it here:

• Weekly Goals Journal Sheet from Starling Fitness: Excel spreadsheet for use with MS Office or Open Office.

I can set goals for my diet, physical activity, work, home, family and joy. I have set dollar amounts that I can collect and hoard in my little envelope every week. Of course, you can give yourself stickers, bribe yourself with time, movies, books, whatever works for you. It took me a long time to find something that was inspiring for me. Sit down and find out what will work for you and then set some goals for yourself.