For those of you who aren’t friends with me on Facebook, you should probably know I’m one of those annoying people who check in every time I’m at the gym. Admittedly I do it because I get free Wi-Fi while I’m there if I do, and free Wi-Fi is always a good thing, but I’m one of those people. It’s interesting seeing people’s reactions to this, I’ve had a lot of comments about how committed I am, about how other people are only just waking up when I’m starting at the gym (usually about 6:30am), or about how I must be addicted to be there so much and so early. Thankfully the comments I get are generally positive, but I always find it interesting how many people talk about how they could never do it. In all honesty, I used to be one of those people who thought I could never be up and at the gym in the morning, or at all. Today what I want to look at is a few of the strategies I have used in order to persist and maintain my efforts around my health and fitness, because as much as I enjoy it most days, there are definitely days I’d rather just sleep in, veg on the couch and eat pizza and ice cream.
- Make it Matter: The first thing you need to do to see change in your health and fitness is to make the decision that it’s important. One of my favourite sayings around priorities is “If it’s important to you, you will find a way. If not you will find an excuse.” While I know that life can be unpredictable and there can be times when other things can get in the way, as a general rule if something is important enough to us we will make the effort to make it happen. This is definitely true around our health and fitness. If it is important to us we will make the effort to eat well and exercise. Life is busy, and we may need to juggle or sacrifice things, but if we want it we will find a way.
- Make it a Joint Effort: The hardest steps in making change are almost always the first steps. This is doubly true when you’re trying to do it on your own. One of the key factors in me signing up to a gym in the first place was having a friend to sign up and train with. Having that person kept me accountable and motivated. If you are looking to make a change, see if you can find someone who wants the same thing then set some joint goals and plan around keeping each other on track. Alternatively, find someone who is already on the journey that you can join in with and get them to help motivate you. Another option might be to sign up with a PT for a number of sessions, if you’ve booked and paid for something you’re more likely to follow it through.
- Make it a Habit: We have countless healthy habits that we follow in our daily lives. We shower, we brush our teeth, we go to work or school, we change our clothes, and we do all sorts of other things. Each of these things is a habit that we have developed over time. Sometimes they have been drilled into us by our parents, sometimes they are of our own making, but they are habits nonetheless. Eating well and exercising are habits too. Habits can be hard to establish, especially good ones because they seem to take more effort, but once established they make maintaining health and well-being so much easier. As a starting point, maybe book certain days and times into your schedule that you will exercise, then once you have established this build on it from there.
- Make it Manageable: At this point in time I train 5 mornings a week. There have been times when I’ve trained 3 days, 6 days, 7 days, and even twice a day depending on where things are at for me at the time. At the moment I find that it works best for me to get my sessions done in the morning before work so I can save my evenings and weekends for other things. Each person is different, and everyone’s schedules and capacities are different, so you need to find what works for you. The only thing I’d say is to try and do something more days than not, even if it’s just a short walk or a light home workout. The more we can be in the habit of exercising regularly the better, but it needs to fit in a way that is sustainable and manageable.
- Make Your Goals Realistic: This is a big one. So often in the media we see people who have lost big amounts of weight in short periods of time. I’ve seen ads promoting diets which purport to help you lose 10kg in a week. This is not healthy. If you’re just starting out, set goals for yourself which are manageable. For example, if you don’t exercise at all at the moment, maybe start with aiming for doing something active three times a week. Or if you drink a lot of soft drink, commit to cutting back to a can per day or three cans per week. Make your starting points attainable and build from there. In terms of weight loss goals, speak to your doctor, dietician or a personal trainer. These people can tailor goals to your personal circumstances based on your current health and any issues which need to be taken into account.
So there you have it, five strategies which can help in making change. In the context of this blog series they are focused on helping you get fitter and healthier, but they are tools that can be applied to any area you want to change. They are nothing ground-breaking or spectacular, they are simple ways of focusing yourself to make the change you desire. Because of this, they are things that anyone can do which give you a starting point for achieving big things.
So what change do you want to make and what steps will you take today to get there?
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