I'm a college student and throughout high school was always in relatively good shape. Lately I've been developing an interest in MMA and wanted to start training. My main problems at the moment though are: 1. not enough money to begin training in any martial art at the moment. 2. I drink way to much soda and I'm not sure if I'm eating the necessary diet to improve. 3. I'm lazy and unmotivated to work out.

Number 1 will be solved in the Summer when I can work full-time again. 2 and 3 are problems that are going to take a lot of willpower from me. If you could motivate me or schedule some sort of routine for me that works well for beginners that would be great. Tuesdays and Thursdays it is impossible for me to workout though (I have class from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.).

The hardest thing for me was giving-up not just soda, but high-fructose corn syrup. Do a little googling on that stuff to find out what else besides soda contains it, I was surprised to find out (even bread) what had it.
I got some weights, and I got a set of workout dvd's (P90X), I highly recommend it!
Replace the soda with water...yea, it will taste funny at first. Remember that you have conditioned your palate to EXTREMELY sweet tastes, and now you are trying to cut back on the sweetness.
Pay attention to what you eat: READ LABELS!!! This is where you find out what you are putting in your belly.
Pay attention to HOW MUCH you eat: It is better to eat several (5~6) small meals through the day than to eat 2 or 3 big meals.
Most importantly: HAVE THE RIGHT MENTAL ATTITUDE!!! Realize that you will occasionally slip, we are only human, but always continue forward to your goal!
I have done more than this, but this is how I got started.

hit the vault and start reading:

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=126233

most beginner routines are 3 days per week, so MWF would be perfect for you.

if you don't have motivation it may be a lack of goals. here's some examples of goals that guys bring to this forum:

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=141161

here's a guy who worked out for eight months and still wasn't sure what his motivation was. whoops.

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=129063

figure out what YOU really want. then come back to us.

I know what I want for the most part. I want to get in good enough shape to start training at a MMA gym in my city. I also want to remain very lean, but pack on a good amount of muscle.

any pointers?

Minus the money thing, the best way to get motivated is just to get your ass into the gym. You can talk about how you're gonna do it til the cows come home, but the great feeling you get and the added confidence are gonna MAKE you want to go further. When I come out of the gym and my muscles are stretching and bulging, I feel like a MILLION BUCKS and cannot wait to get back in there.

I found reading John C. Maxwell really useful when it comes developing routines.

Apply the 21 day principle. The first week when you're developing a routine is always the most difficult because you're brain is forming those new neural pathways.

If you notice, when you drive to work for the first time (say its an hour away). It's pretty long the first time you go, but when you're 8 months in, it really isn't that big of a deal.

Stick it through for 21 days and you'll notice it becoming easier over time. The principle applies to sarging. Your approach anxiety is always difficult to deal with the first several times you go out and the "pain" doesn't really subside but, it does become a lot more manageable to you over time.

-Kevin

There are sufficient reasons for me to be happier than before because now I have some knowledge as to how I should approach the task. Thanks to Kevin to an extent for telling the 21 day schedule. Really the lack of motivation or to be precise the eagerness to get things started often makes us lazy to carry on the good work and proceeding in shorter goals does hold the keys to success. Let me see how well I fare now.