I didn’t / don’t have encouragement. I just did/do it on my own. It can be done alone, if you put your mind to it. It’s a bit more challenging, yes, but when you reach the end of your rope, you will find the motivation within to keep going.
I also don’t like running outside, I don’t like sweaty gyms where everyone goes to see everyone else and besides, it never made sense to me to get dressed to drive to sweat to drive back, to shower to dress again. How much time does that take? I would talk myself out of doing that before I sat up in bed!
So, I always, always exercise at home….preferably on a machine of some sort. I can roll out of bed and onto the machine, watch TV or listen to an internet radio show while I exercise. I do Pilates every day and have for three years (on a machine). Every day except Sunday, that is. I motivate myself by remembering what I looked like before and what I look like now. Pilates is the only exercise I have been able to stick with. It strengthens you and lengthens you and helps you to walk straighter. It reshapes your body, too and works on your core. And this combined with a good diet worked amazingly well for me. I just psyched myself up (and still do) every day. I think that now, seeing the changes is a motivator. Wanting to stay healthy and fit, is a big motivator. When I went into single digits in clothing…....whoa. I thought I had gone to heaven…I had to check and re-check. That’s what has kept me going now.
I really did do it on my own. Oh, and I never, ever weighed myself. I just kept with the diet and noticed my clothes getting smaller. I know that sometimes from week to week we fluctuate in weight, even if we are keeping to the diet…and I didn’t want to get discouraged. So, I didn’t check my weight for about nine months. I don’t recommend it, but it worked for me. I knew my vulnerability.