Life isn't considerate.
It doesn't wait until we are ready
or realize that we have a lot on our plate
before throwing us for a curve.
Life events, lack of time, lack of motivation are a few reasons
some of us occasionally "fall off the fitness wagon."
Once off, it is easy to fill our time with other things and neglect our bodies
and mind by not exercising.
So, let's talk about successfully hopping back on the wagon.
First, decide what kind of exercise personality you have.
A. Social
B. Challenge Me
C. Me Time
D. Bragging Rights
E. Be Healthy
F. Skinny Minny
A. Social - You are this personality if you love the social aspect more than anything else. You enjoy the friendships and the time spent with others.
B. Challenge Me - If you set out to accomplish something because you know it is hard, something you don't love to do or love to push yourself to the limit.
C. Me Time - Prefers to use exercise time to reflect and think and to essentially be alone with your thoughts.
D. Bragging Rights - Some times people don't want to admit that this is the heart of their motivation. Being able to say, "I've done that" or "hey look what I did" is top of the list. If you doubt me, just hop on FB and look at all the things people are posting about their accomplishments. It is a huge motivator for many.
E. Be Healthy - Knowing eating right and exercising are good for you. Motivated by the fact that you will be stronger, feel better, reduce the risk of disease, have better bone health and much more.
F. Skinny Minny - It is all about how you look. You want to maintain or improve your appearance.
Knowing your "exercise personality" will aid you in the next step which is:
Determine what motivates you.
Referring back to your "fitness personality" will make this step easier. Here are some examples for each area.
A. Social - get a friend to commit to start the journey with you, set up a group at meetup.com if you don't already know others, put together a group inviting many members so someone will always be there.
B. Challenge Me - Sign up for a race that will push you, try a new activity sticking with it for 3 months, workout with someone in better shape than yourself and try to keep up.
C. Me Time - Download talks, books or music that you want to listen to, try to exercise with a clear mind void of all thoughts for a stress free you time, go during your favorite time of day, carry a pepper spray for protection so you feel more empowered. When you reach your goal
D. Bragging Rights - set a goal for a race or activity you want to accomplish and post photos when you do it, do something new that you have always wanted to do, keep posts of runs or fitness accomplishments on a blog or social media site, recruit friends and family to support your efforts by following you.
E. Be Healthy - Create a check list of healthy behaviors and check them off daily when accomplished, find others interested in the same healthy behaviors and exercise together.
F. Skinny Minny - Cut out a visual reminder of what you want to look like and put it on the bathroom mirror, reinforce in your own mind that you can get where you want to be, maybe give yourself a small shopping spree when you reach your goals.
Write down your short term goals -
Make them concrete. For example you can choose how many days you want to exercise, how long you want to exercise, the intensity at which you want to exercise, weight you want to gain or lose, strength or endurance gains you want.
Last, put your plan into action
and stick to it!
Each day is a new day to do better than the day before. If you don't make it one day, don't throw in the towel. Give it a try the next day. One day at a time, one foot in front of the other.
It doesn't wait until we are ready
or realize that we have a lot on our plate
before throwing us for a curve.
Life events, lack of time, lack of motivation are a few reasons
some of us occasionally "fall off the fitness wagon."
Once off, it is easy to fill our time with other things and neglect our bodies
and mind by not exercising.
So, let's talk about successfully hopping back on the wagon.
First, decide what kind of exercise personality you have.
A. Social
B. Challenge Me
C. Me Time
D. Bragging Rights
E. Be Healthy
F. Skinny Minny
A. Social - You are this personality if you love the social aspect more than anything else. You enjoy the friendships and the time spent with others.
B. Challenge Me - If you set out to accomplish something because you know it is hard, something you don't love to do or love to push yourself to the limit.
C. Me Time - Prefers to use exercise time to reflect and think and to essentially be alone with your thoughts.
D. Bragging Rights - Some times people don't want to admit that this is the heart of their motivation. Being able to say, "I've done that" or "hey look what I did" is top of the list. If you doubt me, just hop on FB and look at all the things people are posting about their accomplishments. It is a huge motivator for many.
E. Be Healthy - Knowing eating right and exercising are good for you. Motivated by the fact that you will be stronger, feel better, reduce the risk of disease, have better bone health and much more.
F. Skinny Minny - It is all about how you look. You want to maintain or improve your appearance.
Knowing your "exercise personality" will aid you in the next step which is:
Determine what motivates you.
Referring back to your "fitness personality" will make this step easier. Here are some examples for each area.
A. Social - get a friend to commit to start the journey with you, set up a group at meetup.com if you don't already know others, put together a group inviting many members so someone will always be there.
B. Challenge Me - Sign up for a race that will push you, try a new activity sticking with it for 3 months, workout with someone in better shape than yourself and try to keep up.
C. Me Time - Download talks, books or music that you want to listen to, try to exercise with a clear mind void of all thoughts for a stress free you time, go during your favorite time of day, carry a pepper spray for protection so you feel more empowered. When you reach your goal
D. Bragging Rights - set a goal for a race or activity you want to accomplish and post photos when you do it, do something new that you have always wanted to do, keep posts of runs or fitness accomplishments on a blog or social media site, recruit friends and family to support your efforts by following you.
E. Be Healthy - Create a check list of healthy behaviors and check them off daily when accomplished, find others interested in the same healthy behaviors and exercise together.
F. Skinny Minny - Cut out a visual reminder of what you want to look like and put it on the bathroom mirror, reinforce in your own mind that you can get where you want to be, maybe give yourself a small shopping spree when you reach your goals.
Write down your short term goals -
Make them concrete. For example you can choose how many days you want to exercise, how long you want to exercise, the intensity at which you want to exercise, weight you want to gain or lose, strength or endurance gains you want.
Last, put your plan into action
and stick to it!
Each day is a new day to do better than the day before. If you don't make it one day, don't throw in the towel. Give it a try the next day. One day at a time, one foot in front of the other.
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