Unless you are one of those rare breeds that can’t wait to get to the gym or that loves running and lifting weights, you might need a strategy for staying on track and motivated to reach your fitness goals. One thing to remember is that fitness is a lifelong pursuit. It is something that is, ideally, a part of the daily or weekly routine over the long haul. It is not supposed to be a flash in the pan or a whim.
Fitness should be fun. As Leslie Sansone always says, our bodies are designed for movement. Reaching your fitness goals or maintaining your fitness level once it is achieved must work into your lifestyle. The benefits are long-range so you need to have a long-range outlook. If a gym or club is not your style and you prefer the privacy of your home, here are some ideas to get you started.
Make it into a hobby so you look forward to it. Mix it up with different approaches. It is good for you and keeps it interesting. Start with some of the wonderful DVDs and videotapes. Leslie Sansone’s Walk At Home tapes and DVDs are incredibly effective and a great place to start if you’re a beginner. Denise Austin offers a huge spectrum of workouts from Pilates to yoga to resistance training, abs routines, boot camps, and everything else imaginable for every fitness level. She is easy to follow, motivating, and nurturing. Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser fame is one tough broad but she’ll command results! Her DVDs are intense and entertaining at the same time and you’ll earn that cool down. There are legions of great fitness instructors and trainers that offer a myriad of workouts on tape or DVD. You can do an entire workout or mix parts from several different ones for fun and variety. Every day can be different depending on your mood and energy level and you will love the results! Start slowly and work your way up. With fitness, the fun is in the journey because you can always improve. And the good news is, if you stick with it, you inevitably will improve!
Every day there’s a new theory about how often to weigh-in. Whether you do so daily or monthly, invest in one of those body composition scales that calculates your fat and muscle contents and BMI (body mass index) so you can see any changes in your body composition. It is very motivating because you will likely see changes take place more quickly with your body composition than you may see with any weight change.
Keep your refrigerator lean. If you fill up the fridge and cupboards with junk, you will eat junk. It is as simple as that. You know the drill here, so enough said already.
Don’t be afraid to splurge once in a while on a new set of hand weights or yoga blocks and mats or resistance bands or stability balls. Think of them like your toys and add them to your exercise toy chest. There are ways to incorporate them into your every day routines to give you more oomph for your effort and keep it interesting and fun. You will add to your toy collection over time and some will surface as your favorites. You will amaze yourself with how creatively you will get with working them into your routines. If you have the space and inclination, you can add a treadmill, elliptical trainer or other cardio equipment to the mix. All these will help your workout regimen become more of a hobby than a chore. It will become your “play time” and isn’t that what fitness should be all about?
Try to set aside a little exercise space and designate it solely for your exercise regimen. If you personalize your space you will like it more and want to show up to work out. If you absolutely need the distraction of TV while you are working out, invest in a split screen TV that allows you to watch a show while you follow along on one of the exercise DVDs. It will make the time fly! Or splurge on two TVs and hook one up to cable or satellite but reserve the other one exclusively for your exercise videos. This is a wonderful investment for you and over time you will benefit from it because you will use it!
There aren’t very many things more important than your health and fitness so setting up a little personalized workout space is a fun project and worthwhile investment. Instead of trying to finish it all at once, let it evolve over time as you progress and come to know what works best for you. It’s healthier to take your time as well! Experts always say it’s better to shed ten pounds permanently over a year than twelve pounds on a crash diet only to gain it all back again.