Have you tried weight-lifting? Running on an elliptical machine or biking as opposed to just going out and hitting the pavement?
I've started this whole thing within the past month, and as of yet, have bought no equipment (and due to wintery weather, have barely managed my daily hikes, let alone increasing the pace to jogging or running). I am planning on picking up a bicycle come the spring, though.
My mind kinda processes exercise this way.
I tend to prefer GURPS, myself, but the thread's title should point out I'm thinking at least roughly on the same lines. :)
blatant rationalization
Hrm. For some time now, I've been picking a deliberately flimsy excuse as my reason to go out for the daily walk/hike, such as "I'll go check the price of basil at distant store X", to the point of it now being a running joke, so that part seems easy enough. And I do recall theorizing about the 'mahout theory of consciousness', where most of the brain is just this clumsy elephant that wants to trundle along in its own way, and needs some sharp whacks for the consciousness-mahout to get it going in the right direction... I'm going to have to see if I can dig up my notes on how well that worked out at the time.
What sort of rewards and punishments seem to work for you?
"Cryonics has a 95% chance of failure, by my estimation; it would be downright /embarrassing/ to die on the day before real immortality is discovered. Thus, I want to improve my general health and longevity."
That thought has gotten me through three weeks of gradually increasing exercise and diet improvement (I'm eating an apple right now) - but my enthusiasm is starting to flag. So I'm looking for new thoughts that will help me keep going, and keep improving. A few possibilities that I've thought of:
Pride: "If I'm so smart, then I should be able to do /better/ than those other people who don't even know about Bayesian updates, let alone the existence of akrasia..."
Sloth: "If I stop now, it's going to be /so much/ harder and more painful to start up again, instead of just keeping on keeping on..."
Desire: "I already like hiking and camping - if I keep this up, I'll be able to carry enough weight to finally take that long trip I've occasionally considered..."
Curiosity: "I'm as geeky a nerd as you can find. I wonder how far I can hack my own body?"
Pride again: "I already keep a hiker's first-aid kit in my pocket, and make other preparations for events that happen rarely. How stupid do I have to be not to put at least that much effort into making my everyday life easier?"
Does anyone have any experience in such self-motivation? Does this set of mental tricks seem like a sufficiently viable approach? Are there any other approaches that seem worth a shot?