Starting and maintaining a health or fitness journey can always feel overwhelming, challenging, scary and impossible at times but I’m here to tell you, if I can do it, so can you. Today I wanted to share how I lost weight and found happiness with my fitness journey. Below are 5 important things to remember and reasons for you to stay motivated, track your progress and crush your goals. All of these are truly what helped me lose over 40 lbs in a steady and healthy way. No matter what your goals are; to lose weight, maintain or gain, these are all super important!
1. It is a commitment but one of the best you can do for yourself
- The first 2 weeks are the hardest when trying to create new habits and break old ones. Starting a new routine incorporating healthy foods or a workout each day can be challenging to stick with but once you get past the 2 week mark, you’re in a good spot to maintain long term. Remember to stay committed!
- Every workout you do and every healthy meal that you eat will ultimately move you closer to where you want to be.
- So important to remember, it’s not just a program, it’s truly a lifestyle change. Turn your new nutritious habits and fitness changes into a routine that ends up becoming second nature and part of your day-to-day without even having to think about it.
- Just start. It’s so easy to go another day saying you’re going to start tomorrow, or if it’s the weekend that you’ll just start on Monday. That mentality always used to push me farther and farther away from my goals. Make the commitment to yourself that your time is now and you’ll start making changes, can be small or large, immediately.
2. So much of your journey is and will be mental
- Exercise is so good for your mental health. There are tons of studies out there that say exercise is one of the best medicines for easing anxiety, stress and depression. When you workout, your body releases endorphins, which can completely help boost your mood and can truly have long term affects for your mental health. Even if I find myself in a slump or feel incredibly anxious, I try and do something active and it helps me tremendously.
- Learn to be grateful for body. This is SO important to me and has really help put things in perspective when I workout. Do I love working out all the time and always feel motivated to finish a circuit or that mile run? Of course not but what I am extremely grateful for is that my body is able to do all those things. It’s such a blessing when you think about it, to be able to be active, move our bodies and push ourselves. Show up for yourself everyday and be blessed that you’re able to move your body the way you are able to.
- Do it for yourself, not anyone else. It’s so easy to get caught up in what other people think about how you look or what you should be doing or not doing when it comes to your health. Make sure that the reasons for you to start a healthy diet or start incorporating exercise is really rooted in bettering yourself because it’s what you want to do for YOU.
- Don’t negotiate with with yourself about working out. This can be hard again because there are some days you’ll really not want to get up and run or head to the gym. Don’t make up excuses, trust me. You’ll never feel bad about your workout after it’s over (thank you endorphins!).
- Something that really helps keep me accountable is signing up for classes or creating a workout schedule each week and sticking to it! I’m going to do a post all about my calendar blocking & how I stay productive during the week, stay tuned!
3. Set yourself up for success
- Find an accountability partner and someone to share your journey with. Luckily Nolan and I share the same goals and really wanted to kickstart our journey together. I have to tell you, it makes it SO much easier to eat clean and workout when you have a support system and rooting each other on.
- Start with a clean slate and raid your kitchen + pantry and get rid of all things that may cause temptation.
- Know that it’s ok to take a break and have a cheat day here and there. It’ll help you in the long run. If you miss a day, don’t give up or start over, just keep going!
- Create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound). These will help keep you accountable and have something specific and measurable to work towards getting you closer and closer to your end goals.
- Ex. I want to lose 10 lbs in 3 months by exercising for 45 mins/5x per week
4. Invest in yourself
- It’s always good to invest in some basic gym equipment, linking some of my favorites here!
- Workout apps – my 2 favorites are Sweat and Peloton. Both apps do require a monthly or yearly subscription but offer so many options which is why I do think both are worth the investment.
- Sweat is more program/circuit based but have lots of different types for you to choose from. BBG is their original program and one of my personal favorites.
- Peloton has such a range of classes to choose from: cycling, running, walking, strength, bootcamp, cardio, yoga, meditation, stretching. You’ll seriously NEVER get bored with this app and the instructors are so motivating.
- Wholesome foods! Yes, fresh organic produce and nutritious foods can be more expensive but make the investment each week with your grocery run to add these leafy greens or fresh meats; your body will thank you!
- Nolan and I did the Whole 30 program to really jumpstart our journey together. Linking some resources that helped educate us through the process.
- Download MyFitnessPal for calorie/macro tracking. Now I don’t personally recommend this as an on-going thing BUT I do think it’s important to start your journey tracking a typical day of food and see where you’re at and if you’re unsure how much you should consume to achieve your goals. Tracking your first couple of weeks will also help you get acclimated with your diet changes, if that is something that you’re incorporating in your
- Empowering to know what you need to fuel your body
- Cute workout attire, I mean why wouldn’t you want to look good to feel good! My typical workout outfit is black leggings with a basic sweat wicking shirt BUT I do love a cute sports bra and running/training shoes to boost my confidence. I’m obsessed with these shoes and some of my favorite sports bras are from here!
- Apple watch or FitBit to track daily activity. Don’t have to say much for this but my Apple Watch has made being active a fun game, you’ll always want to close your rings! Linking the watch that I have here.
5. Make it fun
- Find workouts that you enjoy. Know what you like & what you don’t! If you start a routine by doing things you really don’t like doing, chances are you won’t stick with it in the long run. Know what you like and how to incorporate those things into your routine!
- Challenge yourself; go out of your comfort zone and try something new! Keep pushing yourself to new limits, do that extra rep or two; that is what will make you stronger.
- Create a fitness Instagram account for extra motivation. TOTALLY optional but it is fun to share your progress and follow others who are also sharing their journeys. If you have one, leave your handle below or give me a follow!
- Create a Pinterest board! I love to scroll finding new workouts and most importantly, new healthy recipes. SO many to choose from which is great to spark inspiration for any type of meal. Take a peek at my workout + recipe boards!
- Create a killer workout playlist. This always gets me hyped up and in the mood. Linking a few of my favorites that I always have on rotation.
Here is another great resource for some more motivation tricks!
I feel like I shared WAY more than I was planning to but I hope you were able to find something from this that will help you start or continue persevering the journey you’re on. Any of the above tips resonate with you the most? If you have any additional tips that have worked for you, please share! Remember, it’s never too late to start and you’re supported through it all 💖
