How to Make Fitness Sustainable: Be Your Best You in 2022
January 17, 2022
Welcome to 2022. We are coming to 2 years of these “COVID” times. Some of you, or maybe a lot of you, have gone through a couple of cycles of wellness during this period. I think many of us have gone through something like this…” You eat healthy and exercise and have lost weight. You were in a routine, in a flow state. But then you lost it. You gained weight again, and it has become a bigger struggle to get everything back.” Does this sound familiar?
The goal of this blog is to make fitness and wellness sustainable in the new year. Without sustainability, everything is a short-term goal. That is where we lose our focus on the long-term goals. Remember, short term goals accomplished led us to the long-term goal! Not finding a permanent solution can make us spin in circles. I want to offer some quick insight, or tips, that hopefully you can apply in the new year!
Tip #1: START STRONG & LEARN RIGHT.
New or old to wellness, you already have a drive by looking at this blog. That is already a good example of starting strong. Making sure you are getting the best source of information to do things correctly will go a very long way. Quickly absorbing everything you read on the internet or listening to everyone at the gym can lead to a lot of wrong turns. Sometimes being new is a great starting point. Your mind is very accepting of information, good or bad. Therefore, to give you a strong foundation, reputable sources will accelerate your process tenfold versus someone who learned bad habits early and had to take many steps backward to go one step forward. A great way to learn information in this field is reading scientific articles, asking certified fitness & nutritional professionals, triple checking information with other sources and making sure they match, and etc. Make sure you are always asking questions. Starting strong builds confidence and saves time!
Tip #2: TRY TO SET YOURSELF TO AVOID FIGHTING WILLPOWER.
Let’s face it. Life throws obstacles at us every day. It almost feels life is trying to prevent us from succeeding, but in all actuality, we are being tested. Fighting that constant battle of “ugh, I should be doing this, but I don’t want to do it” can be a daily burden. Laying out your clothes for the morning or having protein bars on a subscription to be delivered to your house can really help you. You don’t have to think about the small tedious tasks that turn into obstacles. When you are constantly in your head, you are fighting your willpower. Developing small routines that allows you to maintain your long-term routine is super important in creating sustainability for the long run. Make life easier for yourself!
Tip #3: IT IS NOT A RUSH.
I get it. You are excited and enthusiastic. You jump in. You workout 6 days a week for 2 hours. You go from no protein to all protein and never eating out and seeing friends. Then suddenly… you fail because this new activity becomes something you resent.
Tell yourself this, you have plenty of time to accelerate. That gungho nature when starting something new is very exciting and attractive in the beginning until you burnout. It is almost in our human nature to rebel when we feel like we are trapped or pigeonheld. We lose our position of sustainability when we start losing our drive. There is a time to grind and step up. We all have goals to achieve. But, GIVE YOURSELF TIME. If you don’t achieve your goal in the allotted time you gave yourself, readjust. If you need help, speak with a professional that can assess your situation and give you a clearer layout of your goal.
Try these tips in the new year! Consistency trumps motivation. You change, and your goals will too. Accept that. Most importantly, have fun!
