Too often I see people give up before they even try to get into better shape. That’s often because the hurdles they must overcome to achieve their ultimate fitness goals seem too great. It’s one of the biggest problems faced by people who have a large amount of weight to lose or someone that has undergone a long period of inactivity. The key to getting fit is to start with goal you truly believe you can accomplish. It may sound simplistic, but it’s true. You need to create a small goal first, achieve it and then move on to another small goal. Eventually, you’ll reach your ultimately goal that would have left you feeling overwhelmed had you started with it first.
Baby steps aren’t bad, as long as you do them.
Big goals get big results. That statement is very true, but I find it also leads to people overdoing to the point of injury or giving up in frustration. If you have 100 pounds to shed, go with the 10% goal for the month. You’ll get quicker result, which can keep you motivated to stick with your program, tackling the next 10%—-9 pounds. You may even change your goals and add other types of fitness goals along the way, but starting with baby steps is the first goal to tackle.
Change your eating habits.
Some people do quite well changing over to a healthy diet all at once. Others find they miss their favorite foods too much, break down and eat them and then throw the rest of the diet out the window. You can overcome this problem by making smaller steps toward healthy eating. Learn how to make substitutions that don’t change the flavor but add more nutrients or are lower in calories. Start with eating healthy three days a week, then increase it one more day as you feel comfortable. Remember, even if “goof” and slip up one or two days, it doesn’t mean you give up. Go back to healthy eating again the next day.
Accomplishing small goals gives you more confidence.
As you set small goals and achieve them, you’ll boost your confidence. Yes, small goals are easier to achieve, but they also get results faster. Fast results are super big motivators. Some people who come to Next Level Fitness have tried and failed so many times, they believe that they can’t achieve their goals. That’s just not true. By achieving smaller goals, they start building their confidence to tackle even larger ones and eventually achieve what they thought was impossible previously.
- You need to make your first goal challenging, but one that you can achieve quickly. Your goal actually may be to workout every other day for a month and walk for a half hour on the other days. It doesn’t have to be all about weight loss. Using a personal trainer can help you achieve that goal.
- Look to other things besides weight loss to accomplish. For instance, use body measurements, body mass index or the intensity of your exercise as a marker.
- Track your progress in the gym. Record the number of repetitions, sets or the amount of weights you lift. Set a small goal to be able to do more, based on your present level of fitness, the next month.
- Get a pedometer and track your steps. This is one of my favorite things to have people do outside the gym. Make your ultimate goal to get in 10,000 a day on your day away from the gym. Wear it the first few days just to identify how many steps you normally do.