I was once a beginner, too, overwhelmed by the mere thought of getting started. Living a healthy lifestyle has become overcomplicated, and people assume they need to do much more than they actually do. This excessive mindset around health and fitness has left many in a repetitive cycle of procrastination.
The good news is that being healthy (and by that, I do not mean having a six-pack and a chiselled physique) and living a life free of lifestyle diseases, regular medication, and one health complication after the next is simple and straightforward. This article will bring you six steps closer to becoming your healthiest and happiest self.
- Find your ‘why’
Fitness is more a mind game than a body game, and you’ve got to commit to taking full charge of your health and well-being. No amount of support or resources can successfully navigate and sustain your journey. Start by finding your why, something meaningful to you that you connect with internally. Your why will not only serve as an end goal and help you get started, but it will also give you the push to keep going when motivation is fleeting, confidence is low, and everything around you is telling you to stop.
Task 1: write down your why.
- Approach your journey with a growth mindset
Failure is a key ingredient in any recipe for success. Every time you slip up, go off track or feel like you’ve failed, consider these beautiful opportunities to reflect and pick up where you left off. Focus on pushing through temporary challenges to sustain long-lasting changes.
People approach fitness with an all-or-nothing mentality, but our day-to-day lives aren’t perfect; they’re fleeting, complex and filled with challenges. So why would we expect something part of this very same lifestyle to be static and unchanging? Don’t try to follow a one-size-fits-all approach to fitness because it works for someone else; create the perfect piece for your puzzle. Allow your journey to change, adapt and align with your lifestyle both in the long term and on a day-to-day basis; that’s the beauty of it all, and that is where the magic lies.
Task 2: on a ‘bad’ day, what will becoming 1% better look like for you?
- Set realistic goals and establish supporting habits
People tend to approach their health and fitness journeys with an extreme and restrictive mindset, which is unsustainable and will leave you feeling frustrated by a lack of expected results, giving you a false perception of failure.
You don’t need to train for one hour every single day and follow an extremely restrictive diet plan to see results. While this may work short-term, you will find yourself back in the vicious cycle of looking for the next quick fix or fad diet before you know it.
Task 3A: with your schedule, priorities and time constraints in mind, think of how many times a week you can realistically engage in physical activity and for how long.
Break down your big goal into smaller goals and create habits, that is, small tasks you perform each day to support the success of your over-arching goal.
An example of what this would look like:
- Big long-term goal: lose 10kg
- Small short-term goal: lose 1kg at a time
- Supporting habits:
- Physical activity 3x/ week
- Home-cooked wholesome food during the week
- Getting in 8000 steps daily.
Task 3B:
- Big long-term goal:
- Small short-term goal:
- Supporting habits.
- Start where you are
Once you’ve established your why, committed yourself and set your goals, just get started where you are and with what you have. Striving for perfection will leave you in a repetitive cycle of procrastination.
Here are a few tools to help you get your head in the right place and start your journey on the right track:
Commit to a schedule that fits your lifestyle, start small and adjust accordingly as you progress.
Task 4A: Decide which days and for how long you will be training and schedule them in your calendar.
Choose an accountability factor, whether you’re signing up for a gym, getting a personal trainer or an online coach, or finding a training buddy.
Task 4B: What will hold you accountable?
Decide what training option/s will work best for your budget, goals and preferences.
Task 4C: will you be training on your own, attending group classes, signing up with a personal trainer (in-person or online) or a combination?
Follow a plan: If you’re attending regular group classes or have a personal trainer, this will already be handled. If you’re training on your own, it is important to approach each session with a plan that you stick to for a minimum of four weeks. This could be a free PDF download (you must get this from a reputable source) or a program from a qualified professional. Task 4D: Decide what following a plan will look like for you.
- Pay attention to your nutrition
People tend to obsess over training and just getting in that 1hour session, often neglecting the importance of fuelling your body correctly. This is key to supporting your performance goals and general health and well-being. Training and nutrition are two sides of the same coin; the success of the other determines the success of one. The most common mistake beginners make (I know I did) is to assume restriction is eating healthy when starving your body and not giving it the micro and macro-nutrients it needs is unhealthy. Focus on fuelling your body with minimally processed foods rich in vitamins and minerals and work on adopting a mindset of balance and moderation; this is what eating healthy is really about.
Task 5: decide what day/days you will use to grocery shop and meal prep and search for a few quick and tasty recipes.
- Enjoy the process
Don’t limit yourself to things you don’t enjoy; this applies to your training and nutrition, as you cannot be consistent with something you dislike. Your training sessions and food must make you feel good, too, not just look good. This will help you successfully, effortlessly, and sustainably incorporate your journey into your lifestyle. Follow the 80/20 principle: take rest days, eat a slice of pizza and be kind to yourself.
Task 6: write down a list of 3 non-negotiables that make you happy that you will not sacrifice for your journey, e.g. Sunday is a day for family lunch and guilt-free eating.
The time is now, so get started and do something for yourself.
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Sherneal