10 ways to stay motivated with your fitness routine
"I'm so ready to start this new workout plan and get in the best shape ever!! New year, new me…."
That Sound familiar …? ^ If so it's okay, it happens to the best of us!
We usually start off with the best intentions, but a lot of people, for one reason or another, end up quitting. Usually because we get bored with plan. They start feeling unmotivated and not seeing the immediate results we were expecting. But have no fear, ya boy is here and… I have compiled my Top 10* ways of staying motivated with your fitness routine. These have not only helped me, but my clients as well. * No particular order
1. Stop expecting PERFECTION. Focus on PROGRESS! It's no secret, that fat loss goals take time to reach. There are 3500 hundred calories in a pound of fat. Healthy Fat loss is about 1-2 pounds a week. everyone knows this. Yet it's one thing that everyone seems to ignore. Instead they focus too much on their end goal. Just because they haven't got a six-pack yet that they lose sight of the rest of the progress they’ve made. The fact they're 6lbs down, doesn't matter when all they can think about is that they're not where they want to be. Social media is slightly to blame for this for this, the fact that athletes or a model is considered the norm on Instagram, but this is far from realistic. You must keep your goals realistic and obtainable and, aim for progress - week by week - rather than your perfect end goal. You'll enjoy the journey that much more!
2. Monitor your progress in your workouts. Seeing numbers and results is so important in pushing your limits each week. It's no good going on guess work, as you won't push the weight higher, you won't push for extra reps, you'll end up in a plateau and hitting a wall with your progress. This no doubt, will destroy your motivation!
3. Take Before/After photos & Measurements. People love to get an unhealthy obsession with the number on the scales, as if that is the only factor in your fitness journey. And if that number goes up by 0.0001 lbs, they shut down, find and unhealthy habit and quit the process. When in reality, an increase in weight is very normal. Fat loss will make you lighter, yes. But if you are gaining muscle too, you will weigh more, as muscle is more dense (so weighs more) than fat. So for more accurate results, it's better to take photos and measurements of parts of your body at the beginning of your journey along with the weight. Then at the beginning of every month, retake them and compare to your beginning numbers. This will allow you to see whether the weight is due to fat loss on different areas of your body, or whether it's from an increase of muscle mass.
4. Run your own race. Focus on YOU, and not what others are doing. Ever had that feeling of lifting a weight you feel is pretty decent and heavy...only to look over at the person next to you who's lifting double the amount with ease? It's OK! They have been in your position at one point too, everyone has a start point. Don't ever compare your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 10. The fact you're even trying to get better is a quality that you will appreciate in all aspects of your own life! You're you, So focus on your own goals and motives to get YOUR best results. Everyone's body is different, so what works for them, may not work with you.
5. Find exercise that you enjoy. Who says the gym has to be your only way of getting fit? If you don't enjoy it, you're not going to feel motivated to be doing it! Instead, find what you love doing. This could be anything from lifting, hiking, running, swimming, kickboxing, HIIT classes. If it builds up a sweat and you feel good doing it, do it! You're more likely to be motivated and keep it going.
6. Start with a warm up. We all get those days when we just cannot find the energy or the motivation. Fitness is all about pushing through boundaries and finding a way to keep going when you're at your least enthusiastic. So get your workout clothes on, put on some music (see Tip 8) and just get warmed up, just a light jog or some stretching. From there, you’re not to stop what you started. Some of my best workouts have been when I really didn't feel up to it.
7. Have rewards in your plan. A reason people don’t stick to their fitness plans would be that they believe they need cut everything out of their diet that is bad for them. The result of this will usually be failure. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION. If you're cutting out everything that you love, chances are that 99.9% of the time, you will fail. For most people , cravings will get the better of them. So what should you do? Just like I give my clients, moderation of their favorite foods, as long as they keep up with their workouts. We all love pizza and chocolate. It's a crime to even consider cutting them out of your life. But...what if...you still eat it, but as a controlled portion part of your diet! Eat your nice stuff. Get results. Stay motivated.
8. Create a playlist. "Everything is better with music" - whatever your music taste is, find songs that make you get up and go and want to move. Whether that's songs that make you want to dance, or want to lift heavy weights, or even go for a long run. Whatever it is that suits your goals and your music tastes, add them into a playlist.
9. Celebrate little wins to improve your mindset. Otherwise known as Short Term Goals. These will boost your motivation on a daily basis. Everyone wants to win, so creating mini goals that still challenge you but are achievable to reach on a daily or weekly basis will really help boost your mood and feel good about yourself. You could lose a certain amount of weight that you were aiming to achieve for the week. You could complete a full workout that you've been working towards. You could even just start a workout. Just make sure if you are celebrating these small wins. There's celebrating with a small treat, then there's just reversing what you've just celebrated! Be sensible, but make yourself feel good and acknowledge how far you've come already.
10. Have a support group.
And finally, one of THE most helpful tips I can give you, is have a support group or even person. A network of people who WANT YOU to succeed and be the best version of yourself. This may not even be your friends and family sometimes, but people on a similar journey. Nothing motivates you more than someone (or people) telling you to get yourself in gear and get it done! You feel like you're letting the team down otherwise and want to succeed alongside them. If you feel like you're struggling, you can send a message for loads of support and motivation. Everyone in it wants everyone to do well and helps each other out.
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