A healthy and fit lifestyle is about creating healthy fitness habits that are both sustainable and sensible for YOU.
How often have you started an exercise program and gone hard out for a while, only to lose momentum and abandon ship? If you’re in this category, then you need to find a different approach!!
✅ Find your ‘WHY’
Firstly, it’s important to be clear about why you need to look after your health through exercise. Take time to think about your why. Maybe it’s not about being a certain weight, but about having a strong body to cope with the daily challenges life throws at you. Maybe you need to be fit enough to keep up with a busy toddler as well as being a role model for your family to look after their bodies and minds. Be clear about your own why. When negative thoughts start to clutter your mind and tempt you to stop, go back to your why, to keep pushing across those mind hurdles.
✅ Make a PLAN
Secondly, have a clear plan about when and how you are going to exercise, to limit excuses creeping in. Co-ordinate your diary with your exercise plan and, if necessary, put alerts on your phone to act as motivators. Within your plan, set some measurable, incremental goals to aim for. It’s much easier when you have specific markers, and then you can see your progress.
✅ Prepare for the BUMPS!!
Some days will be harder than others to keep to your fitness plan. On those days, take a breath, and remember your why. Listen to your body, as you may need to pull back slightly, in order to go forward in the long term. Sometimes, though, you will need to simply grit your teeth and keep going. I know if I give up, I get disappointed in myself. I love the feeling of completing a workout that I thought was going to be the end of me. Most of us have been gifted with a working body. It’s a privilege to be able to move, so it’s not something we should take for granted.
Try these tips next time you embark on a new exercise program in order to be your best self, whatever that may be.
