How To Start A Successful Fitness Journey
Many people set out on starting a new fitness routine or a new diet, and more often than not wind up falling off track and into their old habits and ways of doing things.
Why is that?
In my opinion, many people don’t have a strong enough why. Being a coach for over twelve years now, I can say that aesthetic goals are great to have and to work towards, but people tend to need more to keep them consistently motivated and coming back.
We all want to look good naked… but what’s really driving you to show up, to make sacrifices and consistently work hard day in and out?
Your “why” should resonate with you deeper than the surface. The deeper you go, the better.
After you get real specific on your why, It’s important to keep in mind that you’re not striving for perfection. There will be missteps throughout this process; this is normal and expected! To put that amount of pressure on yourself is only going to set you up for failure in the long run.
So if you’re going into your journey, wanting to lose weight, build muscle or develop a healthier relationship with food, it’s important to remember that what you should be striving for is consistency; NOT perfection.
To have any fitness journey be successful, you need to remember that health is a spectrum and there are a few components you need to consider throughout the process if you want this to truly work.
Here I share a few tips to start and maintain a successful fitness journey.
1. Set small, realistic attainable goals for yourself weekly and stay CONSISTENT!
What we do in our everyday routine is what adds up to big results over time- not the things we do sometimes. Set realistic goals for yourself and make them work with your lifestyle and schedule. For example, if you run a full time business and have 3 kids and a partner to take care of at home, is it realistic for you to try and dedicate 50 hours a week to cardio and 7 days to strength training? Probably not.
You need to be real honest with yourself and take a hard look at how much time every week you can dedicate to your goals. Maybe that’s 2 hours a week- maybe that’s ten. Everyone is different. Set realistic goals for yourself each week- start small and build from there. Consistency is key!
2. Make movement a priority
Choosing a form of movement that you enjoy that you can stick to every week. so whether that’s weight lifting, doing cardio, going to classes, you want to make sure you find a form of exercise that not only suits your goals but is also something you genuinely enjoy doing because you need to be consistent with it week after week. The likelihood of you sticking to something that you hate is low- make sure you’re not only choosing a form of exercise that supports your goals but make it something you genuinely enjoy doing.
3. Pay attention to your nutrition
Obviously your diet and nutrition are vital components to starting and maintaining a successful fitness journey. How and what you eat all depends on you- maybe you’re a vegetarian, maybe you follow the ketogenic diet, maybe you’re gluten intolerant- everyone has different dietary needs.
Knowing what works for you and your body is super important. If you have restrictions or aversions, you should honor those and know you can still get great results even if you're a vegetarian or lactose intolerant. Understand your diet should work to match what your goals are.
If you’re trying to build muscle, you need to eat more food and make sure you’re eating a certain amount of protein every day.
If you’re trying to drop body fat, you need to be eating in a caloric deficit below your maintenance.
Depending on the person, I’m going to recommend calorie counting especially if the goal is to lose weight. Tracking calories and macronutrients is the most efficient way to get from point A to point B because you have tangible numbers to go off of. Every week you can make adjustments according to those numbers, Your nutrition protocols will vary depending on your goals and the foods you genuinely enjoy eating. Nutrition, along with following a progressive program, are two of the most important pillars in having a successful fitness journey. If you need help figuring out a suitable nutrition plan for YOU, schedule a free strategy call with me!
4. Managing your sleep and stress
These are HUGE components and pillars in any fitness journey that I feel are often overlooked in the fitness space but at the end of the day, they play a huge part in seeing results. The reality is if we aren’t getting enough sleep, we aren’t going to be allowing the body to rest and recover as well as it should therefore we won’t be recovering from our workouts as well as we should be. Muscle growth actually happens in large part while we sleep so rest and recovery- especially sleep, is a vital component to seeing favorable results. Managing stress is also a huge component that determines how successful we are in our fitness journey. Stress increases cortisol in the body and if we have too much cortisol, that will negatively impact everything from our hormones, to our digestion to our sleep. So I encourage my clients to experiment with certain stress managing practices like meditation, deep belly breathing and journaling.
Read about the top 3 tips things you need to know before you start meditating HERE.
At the end of the day, it’s so important to remember how we’re speaking to ourselves, who we are surrounding ourselves with and what we’re thinking matters
5. Get an accountability buddy
This one is for those of us who struggle to show up. Finding a workout partner to help hold you accountable is so helpful. When the going gets tough, it’s nice to have someone in your corner supporting you through those tough days. This might mean you also invest the time and money if you can into hiring a coach also. You can learn a lot from working with a coach for a few months and if they're great at what they do, they have the potential to change your life forever.