There are three main forms of exercise: aerobic exercise, such as running or biking; flexibility exercises, like yoga and other forms of stretching; and strength training, like resistance exercises and weight lifting.

Aerobic and strength training will help you use the most calories. Since weight loss is dependent on either burning more calories or consuming less, it's best to focus on these initially to make sure your self motivation persists as you drop pounds.

Generally, 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is ideal. Build the time and frequency as you improve.

But many people whose self-motivation has encouraged them to begin an exercise for weight loss program ignore the importance of strength training. Aerobic exercise burns more calories at first, but lifting weights increases muscle mass, and muscle burns more calories than fat. A pound of muscle needs 35 calories a day to function at rest; a pound of fat needs just two calories for the same function.

The fitness consensus used to tell us that to "build" muscle, you should use fewer reps (3-5) with heavier weights, and to simply "tone," higher reps (12-15) with lighter weights was best. But there's no such thing as "toning." Definition that comes with what's incorrectly called toning occurs because you have lost the layer of fat on top of the muscle, making the muscle more visible. The size of the muscle underneath depends on how actively you train.

You must "tear down" the muscle so it can rebuild itself afterward. In fact, you don't build muscle while lifting weights but you do in the days afterward when it is "resting." The general rule for strength training is beginning with three sets of 8-12 reps at a weight that leaves you almost incapable of completing the entire set. Then, rest for 30-60 seconds before beginning your next set.

Don't be disappointed if you are not able to complete all of the reps on every set. In fact, use that to determine when to add weight. If you're finishing each set without any muscle strain, you will want to add weight.

Self motivation got you to begin, but most have trouble keeping the pace. It helps to know that the source of our motivations is a belief. Consider it: If you did not believe the gnawing sensation in your stomach meant you were hungry, you wouldn't feel motivated to eat.

Learning what ideas motivate you is key to weight loss, because when you feel powerfully motivated, you will exercise consistently. NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is a form of self hypnosis. And there are NLP methods that can trigger exercise motivation because, over time, desire to exercise for weight loss alone probably will not be enough to keep you going. Exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can help.

Your first task is naming the most important things in your life. We call these things your highly valued criteria. Highly valued criteria are generally intangibles: money wouldn't be highly valued criteria, but the freedom, security or fun that money can bring would be.

Next, establish what you need to believe to feel highly motivated to exercise. It's important to bear in mind that logic has nothing to do with belief. Things don't have to be logical to believe them. You may find you already have a belief that goes against this new idea. That is okay.

While understanding what motivates us is important, exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can put these ideas to work by ensuring self motivation lasts. Hypnosis for motivation does this by changing the computer codes in your brain, so you accept ideas that motivate you.

Belief systems are based in our unconscious mind, which is like a computer. Computers don't have any facility to reason. The input controls the output. The methods used in exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can make you believe almost anything, as long as you're willing to believe.

You start by making a picture in your mind that illustrates something you already believe, like, "I love my children." Then you learn to calibrate the elements or 'Submodalities' of that mental belief picture.

Next, you make a mental picture that illustrates your motivational idea. Let's say your motivational idea is, "If I exercise, then I'll look great and my marriage will get better." Then you learn how to modify the Submodalities of this mental image to match with the Submodalities in your calibrated belief picture. On the other hand, if a belief is holding you back, the same technique can change that belief to doubt.

Self-hypnosis for motivation that incorporates NLP can give you something of an internal personal motivator. Using an exercise hypnosis motivation program ensures that the passion you started with remains until reaching your objective, and then helps you maintain that objective.