Maria Haymandou’s latest blog post is here!
The standard “lose weight, be healthy” is a popular New Year’s resolution. Yet it’s a resolution that’s broken just about as much as it’s promised. It’s hard to keep up a fitness plan when the enthusiasm wanes in the face of time commitments and the realization that waking up at 6 in the morning to visit the gym doesn’t always make for an ideal morning. Here are ten ways you can keep your health and fitness plan in place, taken from an article I read on wikiHow:
Make it a part of your schedule: Make working out as important to your daily schedule as everything else, and write it into your calendar. This helps keep your fitness plan in place.
Plan the best time of day: If you go when the gym is less crowded, then you’ll be more relaxed about keeping up with your routine. Not only that, but you won’t find yourself waiting in line to use a machine.
Don’t overdo it: If you make your workout too intense, you’ll come out of it hurting and aching, which will make you dread going back. Start your workouts out at about 20 minutes to an hour. And of course don’t forget to stretch before starting.
Set achievable goals that gradually grow: Setting concrete goals makes them more reachable, and helps encourage you to keep going. Once you’ve achieved these goals, set your next goals a bit higher.
Keep a fitness diary: Include not just what you do at the gym, but also what you’re eating, so you can see what works and what doesn’t. This will let you adjust your workout to focus on problem areas.
Vary your exercises: Mix it up; maybe do aerobics one day and treadmill the next. Try to mix up your weight routine as well to make sure you use all your muscles.
Get a buddy: Getting somebody to come with you offers some social interaction and encouragement when you feel like giving up. It also keeps you accountable.
Try a personal trainer: Start by developing a health and fitness routine with your personal trainer to watch and encourage you to keep going.
Make yourself go religiously (at least at the beginning): It takes a while to see results, so if you keep that in your mind, then you’ll be more likely to stick with it. They say it takes four weeks before you notice a change, six weeks before your friends notice and eight weeks before everybody else does.
Find a way to get back into things if you face a setback: Most people drop their health and fitness routines when they miss workouts. So make sure you go back as soon as possible and keep going.
Maria Haymandou 