We all have moments in our fitness journey of feeling tired, drained and even sometimes a little bored of exercising even being a fitness freak which I have become. You have bad days where you can be stressed with money, work, relationships, family or just in general having too much going on in life that you just haven’t had a break in so long that life gets too much for you.
This has been the case for me, since leaving my last role where I was for 5 years it was almost like a wake up call go sort my life out, being 30 and not where I want to be I finally realised that in life I can’t wait for things to happen I have to make them happen which is why I initially got back into fitness and then I thought why not do this for a living and inspiring others which is what I am now doing as a coach, it’s very motivating because I’m helping people daily through sharing my journey on social media, through signging people up to my fitness programme and helping them lose weight and most importantly it means that I myself have to keep a healthy and lifestyle if I am the one that’s helping others to do the same.
But with doing that whilst juggling work through good and bad days how does one stay motivated, because let’s face it we have all had those days where we don’t exercise more at least 2 days and it’s a slippery slope to your old ways. It’s been 3 days since I have worked out due to be tired, stressed and super busy but again excuses are not going to get results, rest days are good an all but just like it’s easy to get into fitness it’s easier to get back out of it so here are some tips to stay as motivated as possible:
1. Music – music is life, it gets you through very bad days and definitely motivates you through exercising whether you’re in the gym or going for a run. I have a few playlists I have in Spotify and I have created my own as shown below:
2. Old pictures – look at old pictures and see how far you’ve come. Just started your journey? Look at pics of you now and ask yourself what your not happy with, use that to get you started.
3. Inspo – Obviously social media is so powerful for getting motivated, the hashtags on Instagram from #fitness #running #exercise #weightlossjourney can all provide you with so many people on the same journey as you, #weightlossresults is my fav before you can see so many posts of people that have had a drastic weightloss result which is so motivating and inspiring. If they can do if what’s stopping you?
4. Don’t be too hard on yourself, so okay it’s not your cheat day and you cheat, enjoy what you’ve had and carry on, my biggest mistakes back in the day was eating something I shouldn’t of an I’d thought I’ve cheated so I may as well binge on crap all day and start again next week, no that’s not the answer. Carry on eating healthy straight away, not tomorrow and not next week, one cheat is not going to kill you.
5. Have a journal, I bought two this week, one for my business and one for my fitness and weightloss journey do not includes daily calories, weight each week, all measurements and thoughts of the day, cheats and feelings almost like a diary. Most people use apps like my fitness pal but I think having a pen and pad is better because when your craving something naughty you can get your pad and write down how you feel, it’s therapeutic and it’s something better to do then being on your phone all the time, plus by the time you’ve added anything in your pad your cravings will be gone.
5. Healthy breakfast – this starts your day off nicley, it means your most likely to eat well all day.
6. Exercise first thing in the morning. I get that some people are just not morning people, I wasn’t either, everything is about routine, do something so often if becomes like second nature, just like a healthy breakfast it kick starts your day in a positive way and at least it’s out the way so when you finish work you can put your feet up. Also if your a runner like me or want to start out or join a gym you have the pleasure of knowing it’s quiet in the morning so you can pretty much have the gym or park to yourself and whislt it’s summer you can enjoy those bright mornings before those dark winter nights come around.
7. Buy some clothes in the size you want to go down to. I have loads that I never threw away and I will be wearing them soon. They are hanging in my wardrobe ready to be worn, I try them on every few weeks and there is no feeling then seeing that they are slowly starting to fit.
8. Set yourself competitions, with me as a runner I try and beat my time with every run, with routines such as the wall sit again I try and beat my time, knowing your getting better and stronger is fab motivation.
9. Sign up for something. I did the Birmingham marathon a few years ago and I’m thinking of doing something like that again. It’s something amazing to look forward to and it’s a reason to keep healthy and train and also a holiday, I really want to go away this year and a holiday is the perfect motivation.
10. Finally reward yourself every week, fortnight or month with a treat for all your hard work, new jeans, bag, trainers, whatever you fancy, again it’s something to look forward to and it motivation to keep going.
