Most of us have no problem initially making our New Year’s resolution – the problem tends to come when you need to maintain your motivation. Noelle Watson shares her top 11 tips for keeping your workout mojo throughout 2020…
So where’s the switch? How do we suddenly go from “normal” to Fitness Goddess (or God!)? How do people actually do that? How do you fit it in around work, family, house and everything else? Quite honestly, if you’re reading this you probably already know what to do to get fit and healthy… yeah yeah, get more active, eat healthily, give up alcohol. We all know. But it’s not the knowing – it’s the DOING. It’s the fitting it in. And the motivation.
In an ideal world we’d hire a personal trainer to sort us out. That’s what the celebs do. But this time of year money can be as tight as our jeans. So I’m butting in now to help, here to share some of the tips we use to get our own clients kick-started and achieving those weight loss, health and fitness results fast and easily.
And it’s a snowball you’re going to LOVE.
Some of these are pure “mindset” – and just involve thinking. Others are real practical tools to use straight away. The overall message here is simple – consistently working towards a real goal that we really want… just a little every single day… never allowing a bad day to stop us… can result in a beautiful big healthy snowball effect by the spring.
- Set realistic and time-framed goals. Write them down and leave them somewhere that you see them every single day. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day – fitness and weight loss takes time and effort. Mini fortnightly goals are good if you have a long journey ahead of you.
- Take a photo of yourself and do your measurements. Repeat this every month and watch your progress. Sometimes you’ll get visible changes that don’t show on the scales.
- On that last point – watch the NSV’s. The Non Scale Victories. Fitness, health and wellbeing aren’t all about the scales. You’ll get lovely improvements in energy levels, sleep, positivity, keeping up with the kids, joint pains – and so much more!
- Get organised in the kitchen – empty your cupboards of “junk”. Then write a weekly menu plan full of lovely healthy home-cooked meals for as much of the week as you can. And STICK TO IT! (You know even baked beans on toast is good.)
- Do your shopping from your menu for the whole week. Home delivery can save time and temptation too.
- You need to get active. This is important. Choose an activity that you ENJOY and that will work for you – deciding to start running when you are four stone overweight, for example, will not be fun or practical and you will probably hurt too much. Perhaps a class, dancing, walking, swimming or cycling? Here in North Wales we have some amazing mountains and lovely quiet lanes to explore! Start with one thing a week for an hour if possible.
- Then increase your Daily Movement. Sit a lot less. Potter about. Get active in little tiny chunks. Use the stairs more. Use the car less. If you’re desk bound get up for two minutes every hour. Set a timer – that’s what I do. This’ll help your back too. Maybe get outside for a couple of minutes and walk round the building? This last one can help our mood massively if we time it with lunchtime, so getting some daylight during dark winter days.
- Get support. This is so massive. We have a Network where this happens. Make your own one. Tell people what you plan to do and ask them to help you to stick to it. A good friend would love to see you happy.
- Avoid discussing your goals with people who are negative. “Well intentioned terrorists” will say things like “I think you’re mad doing that”. Or “You don’t need to do that”. Even if you don’t believe them, these negatives have a subconscious effect. Surround yourself with more positive folks who will support and help you find ways to make it work.
- Remember, cravings only last for 20 minutes. Have craving avoidance tactics … clean your teeth, climb the stairs ten times, have a bath, tidy a cupboard, play a game, do a puzzle etc.
- Make sure that you reward yourself for your efforts. Every time you hit a mini goal, you MUST treat yourself. Why not buy a £5 voucher from your fave clothes shop. Then when you’ve hit a big goal you can treat yourself to a lovely outfit. Lots of our ladies have tried this one and it works a treat. And it can really benefit local businesses too. 😊
PS Never forget that the issue with motivation is ALWAYS in our head. (This is my speciality). We all give many reasons for not putting our own well-being, health and happiness first. These might include time, effort, money, joint pains, illness, age – or something else entirely. But assuming you are able to stand (and realistically even if you cannot) then there is always something we can do to improve ourselves, our contentment and our health.
The question I always ask is this. If you don’t do it, then who will?
Author bio
Since founding Noelle Watson Fitness in 1993, Noelle Watson has helped literally thousands of women over 40 to lose weight, tone up, and look and feel fabulous without setting foot in the gym.