4 Ways to Make Fitness a Part of Your Everyday Life (Without Thinking About It!)
We know that the key to long term success when it comes to reaching weight loss goals is in our everyday habits and routine. It’s the things that we do all the time that lead to results- not the things we do sometimes.
Most of us have to think about when we are going to workout throughout the week and often can think of a thousand other things we can/want to do instead of spending an hour in the gym. But if it’s important to you, you’ll get it done because #priorities.
But how do you integrate fitness as a part of our everyday life? Is it possible?
The short answer is YES.
The reality is that life happens and things will come up; we won’t always be able to make fitness a priority. However, when those unpredictable things do come up in life, we won’t fall too far off track if FITNESS is embedded in our everyday routine.
With that said, I wanted to share four tips with you to make fitness feel as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning.
1. Pick an exercise routine and diet that works for YOUR LIFESTYLE
Don’t complicate your workouts or overload yourself with too much variation or commitments. Stick to a workout routine you know you’ll be able to stay consistent with that isn’t too daunting. Choose a gym to train at that is nearby to your home, pick times of the day you can commit to with little distractions or last minute things coming up. When it comes to nutrition, try cooking as many meals for yourself at home and avoid lots of restrictions. Look at your plate when you sit down to eat with no distractions and ask yourself, “Where is my protein, carb and fat?” or, “Is this meal balanced?” If you learn to include a balance of all macronutrients in each dish and always place an emphasis on high quality nutrient dense foods, you’ll be in good shape.
2. Doing something is always better than doing nothing
Ideally, you want to be following a progressive strength training program and cooking as many meals for yourself at home. If that’s a long shot for you, including habits such as getting more steps in per day, meal prepping at least once a week, walking home from work a few days a week instead of driving or taking the subway, and cutting back on alcohol are all solid habits to nail down to get you closer to your fitness goals. These small micro adjustments in your everyday routine add up to big results over time and will save you for when stuff hits the fan and you physically cannot make it to the gym or cook your food at home.
3. Start small and build from there
Exercise and lifestyle changes are easier to implement when you take it one step at a time. There’s no shame in starting small, as long as you are moving closer to your goals. People fall into the trap far too often of being overly ambitious with their habits- especially in the beginning. It’s better to be a master of a couple habits than a jack of all trades who hasn’t fully mastered anything. For example, if you’re new to working out, set a small goal you know you’ll be able to crush like workout for 20 minutes three days a week. When it comes to nutrition, consider small but attainable habits there as well such as I want to eat at least one green veggie everyday this week or I want to drink one liter of water by 4PM everyday.
4. Remember that action creates motivation- not the other way around!
If we constantly rely on motivation to get things done, we’ll be waiting around forever. The reality is that you won’t be motivated to workout or eat great everyday- that’s just facts. Remember that ACTION creates motivation. No one- I repeat, NO ONE, is motivated to workout everyday. But if it’s embedded in your schedule and you’re consistent every week, you’ll just DO IT instead of waiting around to be inspired to do it. Some days you just won’t have the drive and that’s OK. It doesn’t make you weak- it just makes you human.