When you first started on your fitness and weight/fat loss journey, needless to say you were excited. Sticking to your plan was easy and you couldn’t stop talking about it to anyone within earshot. You may have even become the resident “health and fitness nut” (in a good way) at your place of work and with your friends.
But now….not so much. Now when people ask you how your workouts or diet is going it starts with a “….sigh……..(voice goes up an octave or two) well……okaaaay I guess, but (start in on your shortfalls lately)”.
But it’s Monday and I know many of you are starting your journey anew today (we started our 21-day Flat Belly Boot camp at my studio) and I want to help you make it different this time so I’ve listed 5 Strategies that you can take that will help lead you down the path of success when combined with an effective nutrition and exercise plan.
You may be surprised to see that this post isn’t about specific diet and exercise tips (you can find plenty of those here on my blog). But without these, you don’t have a very high chance of success. Take 3 minutes and read this:
5 Steps
MOST IMPORTANT: Daydream vividly and Often – When I say vivid, I don’t mean picturing yourself from 10 years ago when
you were kind of happy with how you looked. I mean taking the time to picture you, right now in this time with all the things that are currently going on in your life. Picture the current YOU in the body that you want. Reenact your typical day in your mind but in your goal body. What will you wear instead of what you’re wearing now? Will you have a different hairstyle when you’re not worried about your face looking “too chubby?” Will you be wittier? Be more outgoing? Accept more social invitations? Be more confident when you meet with clients?
Now picture this new you and reenact your day often –as in at least twice a day. Keep it always on the top of your brain and when you have 30 seconds, pull it up and use it to motivate you to make the right decisions about your nutrition and working out.
Trust me I know that being thin and fit does not fix life’s major problems, but feeling good about yourself can make facing them a lot easier and you’ll have at least one thing that you can control when life feels chaotic.
Stay Excited –Take in knowledge: Most of us get pretty excited when we learn something new about a subject we’re genuinely interested in. When you’re excited about something, it’s easy to do the things required of you in relation to it. So subscribe to a good fitness magazine, read a good blog a few times a week (I know a good one), or grab a new book off of Amazon. There is always something new to learn about exercising and nutrition. And you just may discover a tip that propels your success along even faster.
Don’t Be A Loner –Get in a group (or get a partner): Not many people achieve great things all by themselves (in any field). Even though the credit for big accomplishments usually goes to one person, chances are there was a team to help and support them. Aside from sharing information, supporting each other, offering advice and giving the well-timed pep talk, just being with other like-minded individuals is so incredibly powerful. When your muscles are aching and sweat is getting into your eyes, you can look around at your fellow workout partners and it’ll give you the push you need to keep going.
Trust your plan: Don’t be a fair weather loser – You will have good weeks and not so good weeks, it doesn’t mean your chosen plan is not working. It’s normal to have these ups and downs. Now if you are having a “down” for too long, then talk to your personal coach about what may be going on. It could be a simple fix.
Have fun –I know how life changing reaching your goals can be and I know it is serious business but lighten up. You can laugh and 
have fun along the way. Don’t get that huge text book on muscle mechanics if that’s not what you’re in to. It’s ok to pick the magazine with the pretty pictures if it informs you and makes you smile at the same time. Not into the typical gym scene? Don’t go. There is plenty you can do outside of the gym like my boot camp, and some great at-home workouts. Dance, jump rope, skip (power skips), enter into organized events.
I’m not saying its all fun and games, you may have to do some things that are not on your favorites list in order to reach your goals, but mix in enough fun and you’ll barely notice.