This podcast episode with Dr. Michelle Segar was as beneficial for me as I believe it will be for you. Listen using the player above, and find transcripts and additional resources below.

For years I’ve had a love-hate relationship with exercise. I’ve tried to build healthy habits in most of the usual ways. I used habit stacking, and all the things experts tell us to do to maintain workout motivation.

But I still struggled to meet my fitness goals. For years I went to the gym early each morning right when I woke up. My personal trainer would punish me with squats, lunges, and strength training to get me out of my comfort zone. “No pain, no gain,” she’d yell!

It didn’t last.

Why?

Because I don’t enjoy punishing workouts! It’s hard to consistently do any form of exercise you don’t enjoy.

In addition, my workout motivation was weight loss and good health. While good health is an excellent reason to work out, weight loss is not.

The evidence is now clear: Exercise is excellent for health; it’s just not that important for weight loss. So don't expect to lose a lot of weight by ramping up physical activity alone.Vox

The Best Workout

That’s why experts say the best workout is the one you love doing. If you love it, you’ll do it. Try to force yourself to do exercises you hate, and you’re more likely to resent the hard work, eventually giving it up.

If you enjoy HIIT exercise, go for it! Pilates is your thing? Do it! If you love dancing, turn up the music and get your cardio exercise in with your favorite tunes. Create a playlist to listen to while you dance or work out.

The best workout songs are those with about 120-208 beats per minute. Search for these on Spotify you’ll get the best cardio workout of your life! Hip Hop dancing includes full-body movements, developing muscle strength, stamina, and endurance while burning around 450 calories per hour.

Of course, you’re likely not going to dance for a solid hour, right? But you might dance for 10 minutes, at multiple intervals throughout your day!

Remember, your fitness journey doesn’t have to be painful, punishing, or something you dread. The fact is, it doesn't even have to be long and grueling! It just has to be something that brings you joy from true motivation, not guilt or a feeling of failure.

This is the beginning of a concept Dr. Segar develops in The Joy Choice that will help you achieve sticktoitiveness in the area of exercise and healthy eating.

Home Workout vs. Gyms

Dr. Segar explains the difference between what she calls habiters or unhabiters. Habiters, who are very disciplined and organized, stick to their plans, everything runs according to schedule, and are 100% onboard with eating healthy foods and exercising.

For some folks, going to the gym is the only fitness motivation that works. Working out at home may lead to negative self-talk and zero motivation. If that’s you, keep your gym membership and make it part of your fitness routine.

Just try not to go down the perfection rabbit hole. Shy away from rigid plans and unrealistic goals, we’ve learned to equate to success when exercising.

A key step in my coaching process involves helping clients learn to shift away from the perfectionistic exercise and eating beliefs that, while still widely believed, are now very outdated. Michelle SegarMichelle Segar, Ph.D.

If that's not you, you might be an unhabiter, like many others, including Dr. Segar! You'll find relief listening to this podcast episode and cutting yourself slack in this area of your life. And when you do, you'll discover something quite interesting. You'll achieve more success when you find the best workout motivation for you. (Hint: the book will help you find what truly motivates you!)

Everything listed below will make much more sense if you listen to the podcast episode or read Dr. Segar's book.

After reading The Joy Choice, I felt such a sense of relief and less of a failure when,...