Following the establishment of personal fitness goals, the battle to remain motivated is an ongoing one. Sticking to both a diet with proper nutrition and a fitness routine starts with your mind. Here are some tips for staying on the fitness path.
1. Accept the Challenge
As long as you do not have a particular medical condition that is causing you to be overweight, the problem you face is probably mostly in your mind, leading to unhealthy eating habits and a whole series of bad decisions. Weight loss and fat burning is actually not complicated. You need to burn more calories than you consume. The question is, will you be honest with yourself and change your lifestyle accordingly?
The first thing to do is to commit to changing your diet and exercise habits, understanding that the challenge you are accepting is just that: A Challenge. It is not easy to transform your body. It will take study, planning, discipline and time. Decide whether you really want to do what it will take. Once you accept this, and you set your long-term and short-term goals, you can be more honest with yourself and at the same time know that this is not a push-button, overnight endeavor. Rather, it is a process and way of life that must be embraced.
2. Make a Positive Results List: Visualize and Imbue Them with Emotion
The idea here is to build a motivational foundation for your new lifestyle whereby the "Pros" outweigh the "Cons."
Take a pad of paper and write down all of the reasons why you want to get in shape. E.g., "to look good at the beach," "to continue being attractive to your partner or potential partners," "to live longer so you can live to play with your yet-to-be-born grandchildren," etc. Conjure up pictures in your mind to associate with these goals. For example, you might see a flabby belly now, but start visualizing how you are going to eventually burn that off and see a flat, toned stomach that you won't be ashamed of in public.
Those extra pounds of fat are simply the "fuel" for your future workouts! Don't hate yourself and your body, love the person you are about to become!
Also, include short-term and long-term goals such as "lose 5 pounds by the end of the month, 5 inches off of your waist before such and such a holiday, etc." Picture yourself in the future, shopping for a new, smaller size dress or pair of pants.
3. Make a Negative Results List (Outcomes if you DO NOT Work to Achieve Your Fitness Goals)
Continue to load up the emotional motivators. Write down what is likely to happen if you don't start adopting a healthier lifestyle and fitness routine. For example, "your overall energy will continue to plummet, along with your productivity." "you'll keep outgrowing your wardrobe due to the pounds you keep adding," "your chances of a heart attack increase" and "you may not live long enough to meet your life goals," etc.
Adding a bit of "fear" factor into your motivational strategy is not a bad thing to do.
(Review your positive and negative results lists twice a day. Once in the morning and once before bedtime. Carry them in your wallet or purse and review them before you go to an event that could derail your fitness program.)
4. Keep Things interesting.
Weight loss and fat burning need not be equated with "torture." It's not about starving yourself or running yourself into the ground with boring, repetitive cardio. There are diet plans that are satisfying. One exists whereby you actually get to eat the junk food you want once per week.
There are excellent fitness programs such as interval intensity sets and circuits, including some that take less than an hour a week to do (in total) and still give you good results.
Find the routines that work for you. Mix it up. The more variance in the types of exercises you do, the better to keep your fat-burning efforts from reaching a "plateau."
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