After doing my poll on Instagram, one of the biggest areas you all wanted to see more of, was fitness. Because of that, I thought what better way to begin the New Year, than helping assist you with implementing the number one New Year Resolution written on every person’s list: workout out more.
I think there are a lot of reasons people find it difficult to implement this New Year Resolution. One being that it’s not something we HAVE to do. Our to-do list is a mile long, with things that have to get done, if they don’t get done, things will be in disarray. A good example of this is laundry, if you don’t do your laundry, you won’t have any clean clothes to wear. Simple. You HAVE to do your laundry. Another example, paying bills. If you don’t pay your bills…well…bad things happen that none of us really want to have to experience. Working out though, if we DON’T do it, nothing changes.
Or does it?
First things first. We must figure out your WHYS (yes, plural). Why do you want to workout and why haven’t you been working out? First, why do you want to workout? If it is to look good, you better choose a better reason because, honey, that aint gunna stick. Your why is your fuel. Sure, looking good is a side effect of fitness, but it is not a strong enough reason to keep you motivated day in and day out. What about, because you should? Wrong again. We hardly ever do anything because we SHOULD do it. Dig deep here, because your why is your fuel and that is crucial.
Next, why haven’t you been working out? There are always excuses we can provide as to why working out just hasn’t happened. I don’t have time, classes are too expensive, I don’t have the right shoes, etc. Trust me, I’ve heard them all, and I have even coughed quite a few of them up myself. Once, we know our excuses and lay them out in the open, we can figure out ways around them. That is the beauty about fitness. There is ALWAYS a way around our excuses and most likely, the solution to this excuse, leads us to our next step…
Finding a workout routine that will work for you, your lifestyle, and is REALISTIC. Fitness comes is all shapes and sizes. There are at home workouts, classes, walking, running, yoga, gyms, swimming…the list goes on. With this step, I think it is important to figure out how much time you have to dedicate, how much money you are willing to spend, and how often you are going to workout. The answers to these questions, will then help you decide what type of workout program works for you.
While you are thinking about this step, it is also super important to remember that a workout doesn’t have to be something that is difficult or strenuous. A workout can be going for a walk in your neighborhood, jumping rope for 15 minutes, or even dancing with your kids to sing-along-songs (we know they have enough energy to last hours). A workout I include almost weekly is cleaning. Yes, you heard that right. I consider my cleaning a recovery workout. Wanna know why? I blast my favorite songs in my headphones and I dance the ENTIRE time I am cleaning. I mean, I am literally sweating by the time I am done because between scrubbing and flitting around my apartment, I am shaking it, bouncing it, and twerking it allllll up and down. I love it. It not only makes cleaning more fun for me, but it also makes it fly by. It takes me about an hour and a half to clean my whole apartment. That is an hour and half I am grooving around and getting my heart rate up. It is a win-win because I know two birds with one stone. But that is the beautiful thing about fitness. It doesn’t have to be running on a treadmill. Try different things and find what you enjoy, then do that.
The next and probably most important step, is making fitness a priority. This sort of goes back to the whole excuse thing, but if you don’t make it a priority in your life, you are never going to do it. You will always find some reason or something that is more IMPORTANT. Fitness is optional, which is why it won’t happen if you don’t dedicate yourself to it. The hardest part is getting going though and figuring out how to make it work in your life. It is a lot of trial and error, but once you do find that sweet spot and begin getting in a flow, it will be the one thing you won’t ever want to miss.
Last takeaways and tidbits? Grab a partner. I am sure you have heard this before, but having outside accountability is sometimes the exact thing you need. Sometimes it is hard for us to have the self-discipline to do something, so when you have an accountability partner, you both are holding each other up and making sure that you stick with it. You definitely have to be smart about who you choose for this role (preferably someone that will tell you like it is haha), but once you find them, it will make all the difference. In fact, don’t be shy to reach out to someone. Maybe it is someone you admire in regards to fitness, or maybe it is someone you think could also benefit from a workout routine. Whatever the case, having a buddy is sometimes that missing piece in making fitness a new part of your life.
And lastly, don’t start off too crazy. We are trying to make this a life change, not a three month stint where you then fall off again once summer settles in. No, fitness is something you want to always feel safe to turn to, which is why you need to ease yourself into the change. Set a goal – maybe that’s twice a week – and stick to that goal. Once you’ve hit it for a month, reward yourself and up it. Now, try three. And so on, and so on. Give yourself manageable goals that fit your lifestyle and reward yourself when you stick to those goals.
You got this boo!
I hope this helps you all, and if you need help with any step of this process, overcoming excuses, not sure what type of workout to do, etc, message me or comment on this post. I would love to help in any way I can.
xoxo,
Melissa
