Fitness & Fun Fridays: How to Stick to a Fitness Plan

It’s almost February…FEBRUARY! The first month of 2016 has whizzed by in a blink. Now is the time to look at those resolutions and assess the situation. Are you still on track? Have you fallen off the bandwagon? How can you get re-motivated? If you have completely fallen off track and need to get back on the wagon, these are my tips for getting back into high gear.

1)    What are your obstacles? The hardest part of making a big life change is keeping up the motivation. January is the big month to “start new things”, it’s also the peak of cold and flu season and the kick off to new work projects, the weather is dreary and cold. If you think about it, it’s a huge recipe for nope-I-will-stay-lazy! You may have started out with a bang and already fizzled. Identify all the things in your way. The only way to solve for those issues is to acknowledge they exist.

2)    Bust out that new planner! It was so fun filling in those first few dates in January. The planner was all sparkly and new. If you were like me, you carried that thing with everyday those first few weeks. It’s now probably collecting dust in your office or the back of your car. Go find it! Mark on the calendar your fitness plan and your meal plan. Schedule your health like you do important appointments. This is just as important. Planners aren’t your thing? Put it on your work calendar. Write it in code with outlook reminders. Don’t let “time” get the best of you. A 30 minute workout, which is all that a program like, 21 Day Fix calls for daily is 2% of your day. Find a program that works for you. You spend more time checkingSocial Media trust me.

3)    Make it fun! Do you kind of dread going to gym or are you dripping with kiddos and can’t seem to find the “time”? Make it a game. Take your kids bikes out, take the dog out for a walk or start out solo and turn it into interval training. Use an app that times intervals or a playlist that you love and make a goal to jog for half a song, walk half a song or do lunges from one mailbox to the next. If you have kids, they will love it and they may be begging you to for a “workout walk”. Don’t underestimate the impact new inspiration can have on you! I’ve personally been stalkingJill Conyers health and fitness blog and love all her tips and recipes.

4)    Make it convenient. Hi pot, I’m kettle! This is me, writing myself advice. I love sleep. I hate cold. These are two amazing January excuses for me to hit the snooze button. And boy have I taken full advantage of this in the last two weeks. It’s a good thing I live in Florida or I may be in full on hibernation mode by this point. This is what is on my list of things to incorporate into my routine to get me motivated. Layout everything the night before. Get your water bottle together, clothes and even your gym bag set and ready to go. Take away as much excuse as you can. If you workout at home, like me, set up your weight, towel and everything so that all you have to do is get dressed and hit play. Shoot, go to bed in your workout gear…we won’t judge!

5)    Don’t give up and don’t judge yourself. So, you blew the last week. You didn’t work out; you ate 3 days worth of cheat meals, whatever it is, give yourself a break. Making a huge change is tough and taking a few steps back is part of the process. Don’t look at it as a failure or that you have to start from scratch. You just have worry about today, yesterday already happened. Get back into the swing and move forward.

I’m on round, I’ve lost count, with 21 Day Fix and I still have to keep working at staying on track. If I slack on workouts, I tighten up my diet. I can honestly say the program has taught me to maintain and I haven’t put on any weight even though I haven’t followed everything perfectly this past month. I have goals I’d still like to reach and I’m trying to keep in mind that this is a journey and a personal one. I’m “training” to feel better about myself, not to win an Olympic medal so, perfection isn’t needed but determination is.

If you want more info on joining my next 21 Day Fix accountability group, email me! I love adding new challengers to keep me motivated. If you have tips that keep you moving, let me know I love getting new fitness inspiration!