FITeens Toolkit

11 There are many things that can get in the way when we try to live a healthy lifestyle . Staying motivated to keep up these habits can be quite difficult, especially considering the various reasons that may currently make it difficult to create a regular routine. According to Eurobarometer (2022), the main reasons pointed out by people to justify physical inactivity (as an example of an unhealthy behavior) were “lack of time” and “lack of motivation” (66% , almost seven in ten Europeans). Caudwell and Keatley (2016) argue that both motives are associated with the psychological state of amotivation, meaning that the person does not feel motivated or lacks the intention to exercise. Motivation works like an engine that gives us energy to act because it is linked to intensity, direction, and persistence of behaviour (e.g., healthy behaviors like physical activity or healthy food consumption): the "why", the "what" (Deci & Ryan, 2000), and the "how" (Chatzisarantis & Hagger, 2007). The main question that rises from that, is not about the quantity of motivation, but about the quality of motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000a,b). Among several theories that analyse motivation, Self-Determination Theory (SDT: Deci and Ryan, 1984) is the most widely motivational framework used by researchers on understanding the influence of human motivation on behavioral outcomes in the sport and exercise domain (Teixeira et al., 2018).