How to Start and Stick to Your Fitness Journey

A lot of people include getting fit in their New Year’s resolutions, it is certainly a great time to refresh and put your plans to live a healthier lifestyle into action. Exercise offers plenty of physical benefits, such as improved range of motion, better joint stability, and heightened protection against chronic illnesses. At the same time, it can also help you sleep better and reduce your risk of developing anxiety and depression.

That said, adopting healthy habits requires consistent discipline andeffort. Using the momentum of the new year can mentally prepare you for this new endeavor. With the help of a suitable plan, and by steering clear of common stumbling blocks, you can slowly but surely work your way to a more fit body.

Your fitness journey does not have to begin with a grand gesture, like a gym membership or new diet. Starting small is perfectly acceptable. Once have decided to live a healthier life, you can reference these tips to motivate yourself to stick and your fitness plan:

Set Realistic and Achievable Short-Term Goals

Focusing too much on long-term goals can cause you to become disheartened with your initial progress. It is important to evaluate yourself honestly at the start of your journey. For example, ask yourself: what is your current level of physical activity? Once you have established your starting point, try to think about what you want to achieve in the next week or at the end of the month. For instance, if you are a complete newbie, you can focus on jogging twice a week in the first month, then every other day by the end of the second month. Give yourself a pat on the back for these small but significant milestones. Periodically appreciating how far you have come will help you stay motivated enough to continue working on the big picture.

Track Your Progress

Tracking your progress allows you to fine-tune your fitness program and set additional realistic goals for yourself. If you have been sedentary for some time, you can slowly start introducing physical activity to your everyday routine by counting the steps that you take on a normal day. From that initial number, you can set higher goals to challenge yourself. Moving forward, you can use a tracker to modify the intensity of your workouts, check the number of calories that you consume in a day, evaluate your progress, and perform other activities that can positively impact your fitness journey.

Have Something to Look Forward To

Exercise itself can feel like a big to-do, so rewarding yourself every now and then is a good way to stay motivated. As much as possible, try to go with rewards that will help you achieve your fitness goals, like drinking a nutrient-packed protein shake, or taking a bubble bath to relax your muscles after a demanding workout session. You can motivate yourself to continue your yoga classes by  purchasing a pair of yoga pants just for this activity. After successfully pulling off a difficult pose, you can add new items to your yoga outfit to celebrate your development. Your new workout clothes will not only make you feel good about your accomplishment, but also serve as an investment that will motivate you along the journey with style. These small rewards will give you something to look forward to while you are developing yourself in the name of health and fitness.

Find Fitness Programs That You Enjoy

Having fun while taking part in physical activity is the key to doing it consistently. If you like dancing, you can perhaps join a Zumba class or a dance class. If being one with nature is more up your alley, you can try hiking, jogging, or running outdoors. If you like cooking, on the other hand, you can try out healthy recipes that will compliment your exercise regimen. There are different ways to integrate health and wellness into your lifestyle, and you can certainly find an enjoyable activity that will help you achieve your fitness goals.

Surround Yourself with Supportive People

Sharing your fitness journey with like-minded individuals is a great way to find support and hold yourself accountable. A fitness-oriented group can provide you with a safe space where you can share your challenges and victories without feeling the need to compete with others. The members of your team understand that living a healthy lifestyle is a personal journey, and each milestone, no matter how small, should be celebrated. Although each one of you may have different goals and levels of progress, you all acknowledge that everyone in your group is going through the same things. Indeed, even if you like to exercise alone or your chosen physical activity is solitary in nature, you can still find positive reinforcement from supportive family members and friends.

Use Every Opportunity to Exercise Discipline and Make Small Positive Changes

Regular physical activity is just one of the many components of a healthy lifestyle. Approaching fitness in a holistic manner will provide long-term benefits to your health. If you are dealing with unhealthy habits, such as smoking or staying up too late, now would be a good time to devise a strategy and slowly let go of these practices. This will not only help you eliminate bad habits, but it will also help you direct yourself to more positive and healthy activities. Having the discipline to say no to excessive drinking and other indulgent habits will certainly make it easier for you to reject the urge to sleep a bit more when you have a training session in the morning. With small, yet intentional changes, you will be able to substitute unproductive habits with more positive practices which will support your health and wellness goals.

Do Not Let Failure Discourage You from Trying Again

An important aspect of your fitness journey is understanding that failure is always a possibility. This truth is not meant to weaken your will to commit to a healthier lifestyle; instead, it is meant to encourage you to try again after making a fitness mistake. If you have missed a training day, realize how it feels to break a promise to yourself, learn from it, and start working on your goals again. Do not get too caught up in your mistake and risk sliding back even further. Accept the fact that slip-ups can happen, and they are part of the journey, but let them motivate you to get back on track. If you can learn from your mistakes, and you take the necessary steps to continue what you have started, you are making progress! Remember that the most important part of arriving at your destination is the journey itself. Be kind to yourself, and simply pick up where you left off—it is never too late to begin anew.