Keeping Motivated for your Fitness Goals

If you have set fitness goals, you should now be some way into your new programme. You may be feeling virtuous and seeing the benefits already; but for many of us, this is the time that we ‘flag’ as we find the new regime too difficult and are tempted to give up. If you are feeling like this, the following pointers may help you to stay on track and reach 66 days – the average time it takes to form a new habit, according to new research by Dr Phillippa Lally and colleagues at the UCL Health Behaviour Research Centre.

1. Remember the importance of nourishing food, and adequate sleep.

Nutrient-rich food containing slow-releasing carbohydrates, healthy fats and proteins helps to give you energy and supports your muscles; refined, sugary or junk foods deplete your energy and provide little in the way of vitamins and minerals.

Good sleep and rest is necessary to recharge and restore the brain and body, to make sure you are ready for the next workout.

2. Turn perceived failure into real success

If you have just gone straight home from work when you were supposed to go to the gym, do not declare yourself a failure and give up. This is the exact moment when you can prove how dedicated you are by going to the gym next time. It is all too easy to use our perceived failures as an excuse to give up.

3. Don’t set your goals in stone – you can re-evaluate them

If you find it hard to stick to a goal, then ask yourself why. Do you need to re-evaluate your goals or make changes to your schedule?

If you keep missing the gym on a Wednesday it may be because you always get to bed late on a Tuesday, leaving you too tired to go to the gym the next day – when would be a better time?

4. Focus on what you have achieved

It is important to notice when we have managed to achieve something, no matter how small. We often notice what we have not done, but not what we have already accomplished.

It really is about making those small changes – so notice when you make them!

5. Motivate each other

If you have a fitness buddy, you can recognise each other’s achievements. Sometimes we find it easier to recognise what our friends have achieved than what we have.

6. Make your life easy

If you are struggling to do something, there are often steps you can take to make life easier for yourself.

For example, if you find that you forget to take your supplements you could get yourself a supplement holder with a compartment for each day of the week. Then you will only have to open one container to take your vitamins and minerals.

Too tired to cook in the evenings after getting back from the gym? Then buy yourself a slow cooker, throw all the ingredients into it in the morning and come home to a house full of yummy smells and hot food ready to be eaten straight from the pot.

Never have time to eat breakfast before work? Keep breakfast things at work; or soak sugar-free muesli, nuts and seeds overnight in milk (or a milk replacement) in a water tight container, and carry into work the next day.

7. Remind yourself why you are doing this

If you enjoy making things, make a collage of why you want to become healthier – use text, pictures and motivational quotes. Keep it somewhere where you will see it to remind yourself daily of why you started doing this in the first place and why you want to keep going. Or write reminders on sticky notes and put them on the fridge.

8. Have fun!

Enjoy the process, this is something you are doing for yourself and should be fun.

If you find you are getting bored of your usual workout or bored of eating the same foods then change. Find new ways to exercise that appeal to you and different cookbooks you like the look of, this will help to keep you interested and remain motivated.