Staying Motivated is Tough!

The New Year- New Me Resolutions are fading; Daily life is creeping in and smothering out our good intentions for a happy and healthy new year. We ask ourselves, "what can we do to help keep our motivation going?" Here are a some helpful tips:

·         Make Goals

·         Gain Support

·         Keep a Journal

·         Find a Fitness Friend

·         Keep your Routine Fresh

Goals

In order for us to be successful in health, fitness and life, we must have goals. We need a vision in our mind of where we want to be, how we want to feel, and how we want to look in the future. The only way we get to our desired destination is by making goals. Writing down goals will help keep track of our expectations and they motivate us to keep pushing when things get tough. We need short term and long-term goals. We have to be specific on what it is we want, what we have to do to get it, and when we want to have it by. We have to be very clear on these things, but we also have to be flexible and have a backup plan when things do not go as planned because, as we all know, life happens to the best of us.

Support

When making a drastic change in our lifestyle it is very important to have support. Family members, friends and co-workers help make a great support team. However, in some cases, support may not come that easy and we may have to go out of our social comfort zone to find it. We should not be scared to use social media to find virtual support. Countless websites are out there. It is a great way to find other people with similar fitness goals. It is fun to share exercises, healthy recipes, motivational quotes, and our over-all experience with others. So let's begin searching to find a great support team today!

Fitness Journal

Another fun way to help stay motivated is by keeping a fitness journal. The list is endless of what all we can keep in there. We can use them to plan our goals, keep track of measurements, paste progress photos in it, keep track of personal records in weight lifting or running, track our foods, and it is a great place to keep our favorite healthy recipes. In addition to the ideas above, we may want to write how we feel, mentally and physically, before and after we exercise.

Fitness Friends

Find fitness friend that is committed to this way of life. Having a fitness friend can make this experience more enjoyable and motivating. However, you should be prepared to be flexible when looking for a workout partner, because even though you have at least one "go to" friend for most anything this friend may not like the fitness lifestyle. You can always ask them if they would like to join you, but be prepared to go out of your inner circle to find a great fitness friend. Once you find your 'match made in fitness' friend, you both can challenge one another by making up weekly or monthly challenges and do your best to complete them. In addition, fitness friends are there for us when we are not there for ourselves. They are there to remind us why we started in the first place and they should be able to give us honest feedback about our progress. No one needs a fitness friend that will just sit back and watch you not give your all. A great friend will let you know when they think your slacking and will put a fire under your booty to keep it moving.

Routine

I like changing things up when it comes to exercises and healthy eating on one hand, but on the other hand, my internal mechanism for comfort and convenience tries to kick in and keeps me from changing my routine sometimes. I eventually get bored and tired of doing the same thing on the same day of the week at the same time each week and eating the same foods. That is when it is time to mix things up a bit. We need to keep the things that are empowering about our current routine, and change the things that are exhausting our positive energy. With a little research, we can find new and interesting exercises and recipes to keep that routine fresh. Perhaps, change the routine monthly so boredom will not set in.

Now it is time to put all of these ideas in place.

Are you still sitting there?!?!

Why?!?!

Get up and get to it!!!