If you’ve been on a
weight loss journey for a while now, you’ll have realised you don’t just want a
fit body, you need to know how to keep it that way. You’re tired of losing
weight only to regain it within a few weeks and frustrated that you can follow a
workout plan religiously but then suddenly forget about it when life gets busy.
[ photo: unsplash.com by geert pieters ] |
If you want to stay
fit and trim for good but don’t know where to start, your best option is to
book some personal training sessions with a professional. However, if you’d
prefer to go it alone, below are four strategies to get you on track to find
(and keep) a fit, trim body.
1. Be Accountable
There are two
critical methods you need to employ to be accountable for your fitness. The
first is finding a friend or loved one who agrees to consistently check in with
you every week about your health goals. The second is to be accountable for
what you eat.
Food accountability means listing what you eat every day
somewhere—a piece of paper or a fitness app—it doesn’t matter where, it just
matters that you honestly write down everything you put in your mouth. Technology
is an excellent way to track your exercise and food intake, some apps even let
you share this information with your accountability partner.
2. Practice Mindful
Eating
As you track what
you eat, it is essential to pay attention to how you are eating as well.
Mindful eating means you wait to eat until your body tells you it’s hungry,
determine what is going to truly nourish it, and remain present during each
bite.
You cannot mindfully eat if you are on the phone, watching TV or reading
a book; you have to be aware of how the food tastes and how many bites you’ve
taken to know when you are full. Mindful eating also means that you select
nutritionally healthy foods.
3. Turn off
Distractions
You can carry your
mindfulness practice from the table to your workout as well. Your cell phone is
just waiting to undermine your efforts with a phone call, email or text message
(all of which can usually wait 30 minutes to an hour).
If you put your phone on
“Do Not Disturb” mode while you are in the gym, your workout instantly becomes
a therapeutic space in your day that is just for you to enjoy. You may even
find you start looking forward to it.
4. Maximize Your
Workout Time
If you are
consistently strapped for time, you will be most successful at achieving your
exercise goals if you choose workouts that maximize the minutes you can spare.
Your two best options for short workouts with high benefits are circuit
training and HIIT (high-intensity interval training).
Circuit training
incorporates both cardio and weight training by replacing rest periods with
cardio bursts. High-intensity interval training alternates intense levels of
cardio with low levels of cardio to keep your muscles guessing and your calorie
burn high.
Free yourself from
the frustration of diet and exercise plans that don’t last. Create a long-term
fitness strategy by hiring a personal trainer or working to incorporate new
habits on your own. If you go it alone, start by seeking out accountability for
your new health goals.
Instead of dieting, practice mindful eating. When you
are at the gym, maximize the time you have by eliminating disruptions and
performing more intense workouts. As you work on each of these steps, you will
be transforming fitness from a goal into a way of life.
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