Give me the motivation to exercise

I am re-learning to enjoy exercise. Don't get me wrong, I've done some form of exercise ever since I learned to crawl, but I have had my share of injury, illness and guilt trips that have prevented me from fulfilling my fitness goals.

We can find a million excuses not to do something and exercise is usually the first thing to be cancelled when we are:

• Not in the mood
• Find we are pressed for time
• Have conflicting prirorities
• or when it's too hot, too cold, too....

Really though, exercise and our time to exercise should be one of those things that gets put into the diary like any other appointment which we keep - no matter what.

I used to stop exercising when I was feeling down or upset. In reality though that is the last thing we should do as the benefits are many, not least of which we get a healthy dose of serotonin for our trouble. Serotonin is our body's natural mood enhancer, so really the hardest thing about being down - is fetching our trainers and putting them on and getting started.

People hate it when use the famous phrase of "Just do it" but really we should. Our motivation to exercise should come from knowing that we are keeping our minds and our bodies fit and healthy. And there are added benefits - weight training improves our core and our muscle strength. Cardiovascular exercise is a great fat burner and of course helps us to build up our stamina. If we train with other people we also have the opportunity to make new friends and have people who will encourage us to do just that little bit more. Personal trainers are worth their weight in gold as a means to help you, encourage you, challenge you and move you forwards faster than if you attempt to go it alone. They can correct your posture and technique and they can show you how to target stubborn areas.

But the benefits don't stop there of course, exercise can help us to:

• Lose weight if we need to,
• Gain weight if we need to do that,
• Get our shape back after the birth of our children,
• Keep our skin tight,
• Help us sleep better
• Helps prevent osteoporosis as well as
• Gives our mood a boost

Knowing all that - why do we still need motivation to exercise?