The Quest For Fitness
I think most of us can relate to this scenario: you’ve
decided to get fit and healthy. You’ve
got a plan for your workouts and for meal prep.
You’re totally gung ho and ready to go!
It starts off great – you’re making it to your workouts, you’re
meal prepping every Sunday, you’re drinking tons of water and you’re feeling
GREAT! Then one day it happens. You don’t really feel like working out so you
decide to skip just this one day. Since
you skipped your workout you tell yourself it’s okay to treat yourself to a
sugary treat….just this once. All of a
sudden you find yourself coming up with great excuses that totally justify not
doing your workout and for eating unhealthy food. Then you find yourself feeling sluggish,
disappointed and not motivated enough to get back on your healthy plan.
What happened? What
happened is your motivation faded which is perfectly normal and you didn’t have
anyone to hold you accountable so it was really easy to give in to your lack of
motivation. This happens to A LOT of
people.
How To Avoid Fitness Failure
People underestimate how important support is when deciding
to adopt a healthy lifestyle, or make any major changes really. Humans are social beings. We need support from others especially when
we’re doing work. Did you know that a
study showed that couples who went to the gym separately had a 43% dropout rate
over the course of a year. Couple who
went together, regardless of whether they did the same workout or not, only had
a 6.3% dropout rate! My clients who are most successful with
their fitness are the ones who have friends for support. It can be friends that they meet for
workouts, or even friends online who they check in with every day to share
successes, struggles, ideas and inspiration.
When you know that someone genuinely cares about how you’re doing with
your fitness it all of a sudden becomes almost impossible to quit.
Workout Buddy Or Support Group?
Buddy:
If you have a buddy to workout with make sure they’re the
right fit. If your buddy is always
complaining about the workout or always coming up with excuses not to exercise
and eat right this could completely sabotage your efforts. Having the same sort of fitness goals really
helps so that your workouts make sense for both of your goals. If your friend is trying to bulk up and you’re
trying to lose weight it can be difficult to agree on what sort of workouts you
should be focusing on.
Group support:
But what if your friends aren’t into fitness and you can’t
talk them into it? That’s when you need
to find group support. This can be a
group of your friends who can all workout at the same time, or the familiar
faces in your group fitness class or an online group of like-minded people who
are looking for some motivation – there is definitely strength in numbers!
It can be difficult to co-ordinate the schedules of a group
of people so I suggest getting to know the regulars in your favourite group
fitness class or join an online group.
Online group support:
An online support group is THE most flexible way to be able
to be a part of a large group of people who share your goals and busy
lifestyle. With online groups, you check
in every day to let everyone know how you’re doing and to get motivation and
ideas. You don’t have to worry about
having to be at the gym at a certain time for your workout. You can do your workout whenever it fits with
your schedule and you can even have a program that you do at home. You might think that it won’t be as
motivating if you’re not physically with these people but you’d be surprised
how important it becomes to you to stay connected with your group and let them
know when you’re doing well and also let them know when you need someone to
lean on. Typically, these groups have people
in them from all over the country in different time zones so you can literally
have a conversation any day at any time with someone. I’ve seen HUGE success with these groups.
Your Fitness Success
Sticking to a fitness and healthy eating plan can be tough
and trying to do it on your own can be lonely.
If you really want to be successful and your frustrated by all the times
you’ve stared and then stopped a fitness plan find yourself a buddy or group
and watch your life change!
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