Keeping motivated
It’s February and the new year is in full swing; we know a lot of you have made the resolution to get back into shape and shed some of those holiday kilos. To help, we want to give you our top ten pieces of advice to keep motivated at the gym, and committed to your diet!
Ten – Vary your routines. The same exercises and food everyday can get a bit tedious, and monotony is a big motivator for giving up! Varying your exercise routine and diet along with learning new movements and recipes will help keep you mentally engaged; learning is a big part of exercise and dieting.
Nine – Learn. Become actively interested in your diet and your body. Learning how diets, appetite suppressants and exercise effects your body will help keep your mind stimulated. You don’t want to walk into the gym everyday feeling like a zombie!
Eight – Set a realistic weekly goal. Each week you should be setting new short term goals. Whether it is a weight loss or fitness target, such as completing a kilometre run in less time than the week before, you want to always be reaching your plateau and striving for the next one. Short term goals help make long term goals more realistic.
Seven – Bring a like minded friend. You are much more likely to stick to your exercise promises if someone else is relying on you. People seem to be rather comfortable letting themselves down, however disappointing a friend is something most would rather avoid. Make a commitment to each other to exercise together. You will find it not only makes things more enjoyable, but you will be much more inclined to stick to your promises if someone else is relying on you!
Six – You get started by getting started. STOP putting things off. The hardest part of doing something is getting started. Just take it one day at a time from there. HURRY UP AND JUST GET STARTED!
Five – Don’t make comparisons. This isn’t a competition with others, stop comparing yourself to the glory bodies and slim twenty something’s next to you, you’re only going to dishearten yourself. When it comes down to it you’re only racing against yourself anyway, just stick to your goals, and keep on bettering your performance.
Four – Count calories. It is as simple as it sounds really, if you want to lose weight look at calories in vs calories burnt. Appetite suppressants and dieting supplements may help you to control your calorie intake, but make sure you are counting and keeping track so you know you aren’t over eating!
Three – Eat healthy, nutritious foods. Sorry, but put down that sugary, delicious bakery treat and stick to wholesome foods. A balance of vegies, lean meats, lots of water and minimal carbohydrates equals a happy body. Stop stuffing your guts with sugary, fatty junk. Oh and NO fizzy drinks. How I hate fizzy drinks!
Two – Be ready for change. Whether it is a diet or a workout routine, you will probably go through what I like to call ‘the 3 phases’. The first is the ‘novelty phase’; this is the beginning where you’re all starry eyed and motivated, dreaming of your final goal. It only lasts about the first week, to be replaced by the second phase. This phase is the ‘chore phase’, reality has set in and you’ve had a taste of hard work; you don’t like it and it’s hard to stick to your goals. You have to work through this phase until you get to the final phase, what I like to call the ‘habitual phase’. After about two months of being committed throughout the chore phase a gradual change will make itself apparent. Your exercise routine and your diet are now a part of your life, it is habitual to you. When you reach this point you have successfully made a lifestyle change, and it is ‘normal’ to you now.
Change is one of the hardest things a person will go through, but we have to endure it if we really want to develop into a ‘better us’. The more we understand the processes of change, and the effects it has on our morale, the better we can prepare ourselves to achieve it. Be ready for the ‘chore phase’.
One – Do something you enjoy. If you have ever wanted to learn a new sport, or get started back with an old one, now is the perfect time! If you’re doing something you enjoy, time is going to fly and the ‘work’ element of your routine will be virtually non-existent! This is definitely the most effective way to begin exercising and start your new, active lifestyle!
A final note - although appetite suppressants and supplements may help you with your weight loss goals, they shouldn’t be the foundation of your plan. Suppressants and diet supplements are simply to be used as tools or aids to help you manage your diet and kick start your weight loss, they are not a one stop solution for your dieting woes. If you don’t teach yourself a new way of living; if you don’t change your eating and lifestyle habits you will be bound to failure no matter how many pills you devour! Dieting, exercise, weight management, appetite suppressants,and supplements can be used in combination very effectively, just be conscious not to rely on any one of these as a single solution.
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