Get Fit Quick Tip:
Set your mind to reach your fitness goals!
Get your mind right in your fitness, and you’re half way there! A supportive mindset can be accomplished in spending a few minutes every day. Sit quietly and visualize accomplishing your goal- How will you feel? What will you see? What will you say? It’s important to include all your senses in your visualization and make it feel “real” to your mind. Get your mind right to reach your goals!
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Go PLAY!
Take a note from kids and add the PLAY to your workout!
Every once in awhile forget counting reps, sets and logging rest time, and go PLAY! Let loose and run, jump, skip and hop. Implementing one PLAY day per month is a great way to keep workout motivation high. Adding play to your workout is also a great way to take the pressure off of regulating intensity and such. Let your mind wander, get lost in your thoughts or the scenery around you. Invite friends and chat it up while getting active. Take a walk around your neighborhood, play with your kids, hit up the outdoor obstacle course at your local park!
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Incorporate a Stability Ball into your Workout!
Exercising on a stability ball adds a challenge to your core muscles. Here are your safety considerations:
To find the correct size: Sit on the ball. Your thighs should be parallel to the floor, or your hips should be an inch or two above your knees.
Don’t leave the ball in the sun, or use on a sharp uneven surface.
Use the ball on a non-skid floor.
Do the exercise first without weight or load to determine your ability to get into and out of the position safely.
The ball should be held stable and not be used to bounce while lifting weights.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Calendar it.
Put your priorities into a set schedule. If you schedule your priorities, you’ll find it easier to carve out the time on a regular basis. Find what works for you and be consistent! Here are 3 healthy lifestyle actions to keep consistent in your schedule:
Weekly Meal Prep. Eat healthy by having nutritious meals and snacks on hand during your week. Sunday afternoon is a popular time for many to shop, chop, cook and portion out their meals and snacks for the week.
Workouts. Schedule your workouts at the beginning of each week. For many, morning workouts means fewer interruptions and distractions.
Bedtime. Bedtimes are not just for kids! Set a bedtime to guarantee rest and recovery. Set a goal to achieve 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
SLOW DOWN your weight training!
Completing your strength training exercises at a slow, controlled pace makes sure the goal muscle is working to the max. Here’s how to know:
Lift the weight for a 2-3 second count, pause, and then lower the weight for a 3-4 second count, pause. Performing your strength exercise at a slower pace means your muscles are under tension for a longer time. You’ll also break momentum, prevent sloppy form and increase the work all of your stabilizing muscles do, not just the muscle targeted in the exercise.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Keep motivation fresh!
Keep motivation fresh by taking 3 simple actions:
1. Set a mini goal for each workout.
2. Sign up for a race or competition. This means each workout session has a purpose.
3. Invite a friend to join you. Inspiring others is motivating!
With the new year well under way, it’s normal to struggle to keep up with your resolutions right about now. It’s hard to establish new habits in just a few weeks’ time, so don’t be discouraged. Sometimes, a little help is all you need to keep going. If you find yourself lagging on your goals, consider creating a Vision Board for motivation. Writing it down is a great first step, but actively visualizing your goals every day might be just the boost you need. Here’s how:
1) Fill your Vision Board with vibrant visual expressions: You might want to keep your board small (letter size paper) or go poster size, depending on the size and number of the images you’ve chosen. Cut out photos and phrases that represent your heart’s desire, and feel free to include physical, professional, spiritual, financial, and relationship goals. The more dynamic and exciting to you, the more inspired you’ll feel every day!
2) Keep your Vision Board in a central place: Whether that’s in your office space or framed on top of your nightstand, it’s best to display your Board where you will see it daily. The thoughts you see repeatedly are the ones that will slowly creep into your subconscious mind, and will help you regain focus on the goals that you are intent on reaching. For additional inspiration, add dates for your goals to drive you faster and harder!
3) Actively visualize yourself reaching your goals: Starting a Vision Board is a great time to put your mediation skills to good use. Take 10 minutes out of your day every day to imagine the specific feelings you want to experience when you reach your goals. Picture your success in your mind, including every detail: what you’ll be eating, drinking, the perfume and clothes you’ll wear, and even the sounds you might hear when you know you’ve “made” it. Scientific research shows that the more deeply you connect to your goals on an emotional level, the more likely they are to come to life.
Once you have clear goals, set to visual tangible results, success is much more likely. Don’t let new habits scare you off this year: Get back in the game and make a visual and emotional commitment to living your best life.
Melissa Kahn is a Jenny Craig ambassador and the proud founder of Run, Heifer, Run! —a fun-loving community of fitness enthusiasts dedicated to common sense solutions for weight loss and healthy living. Melissa competes in triathlons now, having lost over 100 pounds, or the equivalent of 45 kilos of fear. She has maintained her healthy weight for more than five years.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Become A Beginner With Your Fitness!
A great method to increase motivation and maintain interest in your fitness is to learn a new sport or skill. Be vulnerable and put yourself out there as a beginner. What activity would you love to try? Here’s how to get started:
To get ideas ask your friends what workout or sport they enjoy?
Do an online search to see what gear and knowledge is involved, as well as where the sport is offered in your community.
Poll your friends for their impressions about the facilities and instructors your internet search revealed. Still sound interesting?
Sign up! Better yet, invite a friend to join you!
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Build momentum to healthy and fit!
Building momentum to healthy and fit takes daily action. Healthy choices are cumulative, and every little bit counts! Here’s how to get started:
1. Commit to your goal every single day. Adopt a mantra to repeat your desired result, along with WHY the goal is important to reach NOW.
2. Take one action every day. One action could be drinking your water, choosing a healthy meal, buying nutritious groceries, reading a fitness journal or blog, taking a stretch break at work, trying a new workout class, inspiring a friend to choose healthy, researching a new exercise, and so on.
3. Small and steady progress usually works best for lasting results. Don’t over do it! You didn’t become out of shape overnight, and you won’t get back in shape overnight. Keep action steps small, but sustainable. You don’t have to eliminate all sugar in one day, but are you able to reduce sugar by one serving to start? Healthy choices are cumulative, and so is fitness.
4. Don’t give up! Setbacks happen. Taking one daily action step means you’re never off track completely. Keep going!
Ready to get healthy? With a new year comes new resolve to improve ourselves in so many ways, including our health. My advice this time of year is to be consistent with the basics:
Don’t worry so much about what exercises to do and in what order you should do them; just show up. Set a goal to show up 2 times each week for the first month, then 3 times each week in February. Can’t make it to the gym? No problem: get outside for a walk or take the stairs all day-all intentional activity counts!
Pack your gym clothes, shoes and water bottle the night before to avoid rushing around the next morning. You’ll develop a routine and soon it will become part of your ‘out the door’ mental checklist: do I have my gym bag? Water bottle? Check!
Bring a piece of fruit with you everywhere you go. Having something on hand will prevent impulse eating decisions. Ask yourself ‘am I hungry enough to eat this apple?’ And if the answer is no, you’re probably not actually hungry.
Mark your progress in a calendar or another physical and visible space to hold yourself accountable. When you can see that you made it to the gym 4 weeks in a row, you’ll want to make sure you continue in the 5th and 6th weeks, and even beyond!
For more fitness tips follow Sarah on Twitter: @SarahPace_Fit
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