Motivation to stick to your workout regime is one of the biggest reasons why people fail. It's not that the workouts are ineffective, its that people have a hard time sticking to their program long term.
Maybe this is/was you; you decide it's time, you’re going to workout and get fit. You get the home equipment or gym membership. You get cute clothes for the gym and you make it your mission! You are all excited and hit the gym for 2, maybe 3 weeks of hard working out. You feel great, tell all your friends about your new workout plan and how you’re working on a “new you”.
Then, after a couple weeks, you think, man this is hard. Maybe you feel overtired from work and decide, I’ll skip for today, but I’ll go tomorrow! Tomorrow comes and going for drinks with the girls sounds WAY more appealing than the gym! Then the next day you just don’t feel like it, so you skip then too.
Before you know it, two weeks have gone by since you’ve worked out and you think, Ugh I’m just so busy right now I just can’t find the time to workout/I just don’t have the motivation/my life is too hectic/{insert other lame excuses here}.
You think, maybe I’ll try again after work settles down/after the summer/when the kids turn 18, or after Game of Thrones is finished, etc.
Does any of this sound familiar?
What if I told you those were all just excuses and in reality, you do have the time and you can do it, you are just choosing not to? (Gasp!)
In all honesty, if this was something that is as important as you say it is, you would find the time! You would find a way to make it happen. You would put in the work and you would find a way to reach your goals.
So how can you lose your excuses and stick to your goals? How can you put yourself first and make your health a priority?
I created a list of tips and steps to take to finally put yourself first, lose your excuses and get to those goals that you’ve always wanted!
- Allow yourself to be a little selfish. Put yourself first for once! Make your workout time a priority and take that time for yourself. The laundry, kids, work, etc can wait 30 minutes to an hour for you to get your workout done. Putting yourself first for a little “you” time is so beneficial to your own happiness and when you’re happy and looked after, you can look after the others in your life!
- Make yourself “you” appointments. Is your schedule a little hectic and out of place and you feel like you just don’t have time? I bet you do! Take a look at your schedule for the week and schedule your workouts in like a doctor's appointment. Sounds cliche and annoying, but if you have time for a 2-hour Real Housewives marathon, you've got time to workout. So schedule that time! Then you tell yourself, the kids, your spouse, and the world, "I am busy from 7-8pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday this week!" Keep that appointment as a top priority, do not cancel on yourself!
- Prepare what you need for your workouts. Whether you are working out before work, after work, during your kid’s soccer practice; preparation is key. Spend 5 minutes the day before or the morning of gathering your workout clothes, headphones, gym pass, shoes, water bottle, snack, whatever you need to be prepared to go and get it done!
- Mentally prepare yourself. You put it in the schedule, you grabbed the things now you have to actually do it. Start by saying to yourself over and over again, "7-8pm tonight is MY time to get moving and feel awesome; I am going to feel like fucking Super Woman when I am done!" If you get yourself psyched for your “you time” to get your bod moving, then you will want to get it done!
- Remember how you will feel after you’re done. We all would rather watch the new Game of Thrones episode than do a workout, let's be honest! However, what do you think will make you feel better about yourself? Skipping the workout and sitting for an hour to watch TV or taking that time to get yourself moving and get that workout in? I understand that you don’t want to do the workout, but I can guarantee once it is done, you will be 1000x happier that you did it versus skipping it! Plus you can always go back and watch the Game of Thrones Episode AFTER you’re done!
- Change your mindset towards your workouts. One of the biggest reasons that people “fail” their health and fitness goals are because they think of their health and fitness as short term goals. Thinking that you'll only have to workout for a couple months and never again after you get to your "goals" is NOT how it works!. Change your mindset that this is not a short term project, but a forever part of your life! Don’t put an end date on your goals. If you go into it with the mentality of “I’m going to get fit for my vacation or Tracy’s wedding” you won’t stick to it long term. If you go into your goals with the mentality of “I want to learn how to be healthy and stay fit the rest of my life” You will learn to stick to it no matter what!
- Make activity a part of your every day! Make it your mission to be active in some way every day. Does this mean you have to hit the gym 7 days a week? No, not at all. However, getting yourself moving in some way every day is important to help stay active. Let’s say you hit the gym 2-3 times per week for a workout, you can get activity in the other days of the week. Maybe one day you can go for a bike ride, another day you take the kids to the park to play and you walk there, another day you take the dog to the dog park and walk around while he plays. Invest in a FitBit and make it your mission to get those 10,000 steps every day if that helps! Whatever you can do to be a little more active is great.
- Enlist help! Whether it be a friend to workout with you, signing up for a class of some sort or hiring a trainer. There is no shame in admitting that you may need someone to help hold you accountable to your goals. If anything, recognizing that you need help with your goals shows great insight and accountability!
If you're looking to improve your health and fitness, the best thing you can do is to stop thinking of health and fitness goals as short term plans.
Are you having trouble sticking to your goals? Do you feel like you've tried and failed 100 times? Are you unsure of where to start? If this is you, send me a message Here and let's talk about those goals and what we can do to get you on the right track once and for all!
Are you having trouble sticking to your goals? Do you feel like you've tried and failed 100 times? Are you unsure of where to start? If this is you, send me a message Here and let's talk about those goals and what we can do to get you on the right track once and for all!
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