Monday, January 16, 2017

How To Increase Your Chances For Fitness Success!



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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