No need to wait for your New Year’s resolution to start living healthy again. Try these tips and tricks to get motivated and more importantly STAY motivated this holiday season!
Follow influencers
Social media is a great way to surround yourself with positive messages. You have the power to determine who and what you follow. Add some positive workout influencers to your feed to give you that constant motivation to keep working towards your goal. Check out Whitney Simmons for great workout videos and Sam James for body inspiration posts. There are so many great workout blogs and Instagrams you can follow for everything from healthy recipes to workout routines. Following people who have accomplished your fitness goals is a great way to remind yourself that you can do it too.
Lay your workout clothes out the night before
Getting yourself to workout is all a mind game. Get into the habit of laying out your workout clothes in a visible spot before you go to bed. You will wake up and see your clothes sitting there all day reminding you to workout. Having that nonstop reminder will eventually make you give in and head to the gym.
Make a schedule and tell it to someone
Each week, create a reasonable workout schedule you can stick to including the time and days you plan on working out. Then use peer pressure to your advantage and give your friend the responsibility to hold you accountable for working out on those days. Getting a simple text from a friend asking if you worked out can be the last bit of motivation you need to get yourself to go to the gym.
Plan your workout ahead of time
So many people let the intimidation of the gym prevent them from actually going. Realize that everyone is at the gym to better themselves. No one is staring and no one is judging you. To help shake those gym jitters, plan your workout before you arrive. Make sure you are detailed: include time, reps, and machines if possible. It will help you avoid walking around lost and unsure of what machine to try next. Making a list also helps you stay on track at the gym, keeping you from skipping out on any reps or exercises.
Buy cute workout clothes
‘Tis the season of giving, and who said you can’t give to yourself?! Buying new workout clothes is a great way to motivate yourself to head to the gym. Show off your new leggings and sports bra while you hit the squat rack. It’s a look-good, feel-good mindset. If you like the way you look when you work out, you will be more apt to actually want to go.
Skip the scale and take progress photos instead
Living a healthy lifestyle is a slow-moving process that at times can be discouraging. Stepping on the scale everyday is not going to help you feel any better about yourself. You are more than likely gaining muscle as you are losing weight, making the number on the scale not as definite as a marker of your progress. Taking monthly progress photos is a great way to see how you body is truly changing. Looking at the photos side by side will give you a better representation of how far you have come than a number on a scale.
This is a lifestyle not a diet
What you are beginning is not a fad diet or a crazy workout routine. You are on the track of living a new healthy lifestyle. If you treat this as a diet you will eventually get tired and give up. Take it slow and make small goals for yourself along the way. Don’t completely cut out junk food because you will eventually cave and eat more than you need later on. Give your body what it wants and choose healthier alternatives when possible. When it comes to working out make a schedule you can stick to and that works with the rest of your responsibilities. Keep in mind this is a lifestyle not a diet. Make choices that will keep you on track for good, not for the time being.