Keys to staying on track with your fitness goals –
You have made the decision to get fitter, or you are just trying to stay on track. Here are some extra tips to help you stay the course!
1) Find a Buddy
More than anything else on this list, having a partner (or two or three) who is as motivated (or even more motivated) than you will keep you accountable and push you to stay on track. Find that person who will make you feel responsible to. Ensure it’s someone who will not let you slip off track. The truth is that a little peer pressure is good for you, especially when your peers have the same goals as you do. Ask around, this time of the year is the perfect time to find that someone who’s as motivated as you and they are likely looking for someone just like you!
2) Set Goals or Establish New Ones
We discussed how to set new goals here. However, you might be a long time client (or exerciser) and you have not thought about any goals in a while. Challenging yourself brings about change and change is good for the body. There are so many events, some competitive, some not so much, that you can participate in and give yourself something to work towards. This will help you to maintain focus. When there is something to accomplish, you are much more likely to get out of bed when it’s 5 degrees outside… okay, maybe not 5 degree, but 35 is doable! Here are some ideas to Google: Marathon, ½ marathon, triathlon, Ragnar Relay, Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, 100 mile (century) bike ride, hike the Application Trail (or maybe just a part of it), Race for the Cure, Rugged Maniac, Dirty Dash, Color Run (the great thing about boot camp is it helps you train for all of these).
3) Don’t be afraid to start, or start over
I hear it so many times… “I’m scared!” I honestly don’t understand why people are scared to get started or scared to come back and start over. What you should be scared of is the alternative to getting started. Nothing motivates me more on a daily basis than knowing what the consequence of not exercising is. Having a strong healthy body is something I can control. No one else is ever going to give me that and I am the only one who suffers, mentally and physically, from not hitting the pavement.
4) Set Yourself up for Success
- Do a kitchen cleanse: Throw away all the bad for your foods and go shopping for new healthy stuff.
- Write down your goals and post them on your mirror, your fridge, INSIDE your fridge, at your office, etc.
- Find that outfit that you really want to get in to, and hang it up somewhere that you’ll see it, every day.
- Schedule target dates on your calendar with specific goals to meet by those dates.
- Plan your meals and stick to the plan – don’t eat by the seat of your pants, you’ll make bad decisions.
- Establish your support group: trainers, dietitians, friends and family and make sure you know who is going to support you and who is going to sabotage you.
Schedule your workouts into your day and treat it like a doctor’s appointment or a restaurant reservation – don’t miss it and don’t be late.
