Some tips to achieve your fitness goals are here. In the early months of the year, most individuals are keen on crushing their fitness goals. However, as the year progresses, most of them tend to lose momentum and slowly fall off the fitness bandwagon.
The most common fitness goals across the board are;
- Lose weight/ fat
- Get stronger
- Gain weight/ muscle
- Lose fat and increase muscle tone (aka “tone up”)
- Improve your endurance (gain the ability to perform arduous tasks such as running a 5K or keeping up with your grandkids)
Leading a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be expensive. It is possible to get fit for free. If a gym membership is beyond your budget, you can still get fit by exercising at home, going on runs, walking, or even skipping
Now that we have reacquainted ourselves with our fitness goals, let’s take a look at some actionable tips that will help us achieve said goals.
Table of Contents
1. Set Realistic and Specific Goals. And Follow Through.
With fitness, it helps to know exactly what you are working towards. Once you visualize your goals, you need to come up with a plan that will help you attain your objectives. To keep yourself accountable, you can write down your goals and your nutrition and exercise plan.
When setting goals, ensure that they are not overly ambitious. For instance, aiming to lose 2 stone in a month is too audacious. When you are unable to attain such objectives, it ultimately leads to discouragement.
Your goals also need to be specific. Aiming to lose a ton of weight is too vague. A better goal would be, “I am aiming to lose 2 stone by June. I plan on achieving this by working out three times a week, taking 10,000 steps a day, and sticking to my Nutrition plan.”
2. Don’t Let the Scales Control you.
The scales don’t always reflect all the incredible progress that you are making. It is possible to make strides in your health journey and yet the scales don’t budge. At other times, you may put in a lot of effort but only see a small shift on the scales.
There are a lot of other changes that indicate progress in your journey. These include;
- Having your workout clothes fit better.
- Being able to increase the number of reps you perform or lifting heavier.
- An improvement in your health markers, e.g., blood sugar and blood pressure.
- Improved stamina.
- Better moods and sleep.
Take notice of such small victories and applaud yourself. They indicate that you are making headway with your fitness goals.
3. Nutrition
A lot of individuals tend to prioritize following a work-out plan over a nutrition plan. While exercise is undeniably important, it is impossible to make headway with the wrong nutrition plan.
Your eating plan needs to match your objectives. If your goal is to lose weight, you will need to eat at a caloric deficit. If you want to build muscle, you need to be in a caloric surplus.
All foods are not created equal. Some are more nutritious than others, and it’s essential that you fuel your body with such nourishing meals. All the food groups, i.e, protein, carbohydrates, fibre, healthy fats, fruits, and veggies, serve a purpose and should have a place in your eating plan.
It is important that you reduce your intake of overly processed foods, sugary treats and junk food. When you decide to treat yourself, make sure that you are not overindulging. For instance, if you are craving cake, you can choose to have a slice instead of the entire cake.
4. Embrace Weight Training.
Despite its numerous benefits, there are women who are afraid of lifting weights. The common misconception is that they’ll end up looking too bulky. This is simply not the case. Lifting weights will only help you achieve that desired toned physique.
Don’t forget to consume enough protein to keep all the amazing muscle that you build!
5. Treat Yourself to some lovely Fitness Gear.
Sometimes, finding the motivation to exercise comes from the simplest things. You may find that slipping into work out clothes that you love puts you in the mood to exercise. If you are still working out in your ancient T-shirts and trainers from five years ago, consider getting some outfits that make you feel good.
Thanks to online shopping, acquiring workout clothes has never been easier. You are instantly granted access to countless outfits from various brands, and in different styles. One such brand is Underarmour who have seen sales rise owing to a strong digital growth.
6. Enjoy the journey!
Exercise doesn’t have to be boring. With fitness, the goal is to develop life-long healthy habits. It is, therefore, crucial that you incorporate activities that you love into your regimen.
As an example, If you absolutely hate running, then don’t run. You can instead pick up other activities that you prefer like swimming, Zumba, tennis, cycling, hiking, or basketball.
If you can’t stand broccoli, there is a variety of other vegetables that you can choose from. These are some of the tips that will help you get motivated and develop long-term healthy habits.
Work Towards Your Fitness Goals
With proper nutrition and exercise, it is certainly possible to achieve your fitness goals. However, you’ll need to be disciplined, consistent, and dedicated to your fitness journey.
If you are feeling discouraged, remind yourself that the results are well worth the effort. Whatever you do, do not quit!
What are your current fitness goals? What steps are you taking to ensure that you attain them?
