1) Leaving it to Chance:
We’ve all been there… Trying to “fit a workout in.” Unfortunately, this simply doesn’t work. I want to encourage you to make sure that nothing will interrupt your workout time. Why? You are important and you deserve to make sure your workouts get on your calendar. What I mean is, block out the time, just like an appointment, that you’ll work out each day.
Tip: Open your calendar for this week and carefully block out 30-60 minutes of time that you’ll commit to your workout. Do this for every day (and hey, if you miss 1-2 days, you’re still way ahead of the game!)
2) Doing Too Much, Too Fast:
Remember the story of the Tortoise and the Hare? “Slow and steady wins the race”? Well, the same is true with your workouts. If you do too much, too fast, you’ll burn out. Plain and simple. I always recommend bite-sized pieces; small goals that add up over time.
Tip: Choose 1 thing per week to focus on either increasing or decreasing. One small change every week. For instance: Week 1: Cut out regular soda. Week 2: Eat at least 2 fruits/day, and so on.
3) Waiting for Motivation:
Chances are, if you’re waiting for the motivation to kick in… you’ll kick the bucket long before the motivation kicks in… It’s amazing that we never learned in school that Motivation comes from MOVEMENT. At least, for me “successful” or “skinny people” always seemed to have some kind of “secret” that they weren’t willing to share. For many years, I thought it was because it just wasn’t my “time” to FEEL the motivation… WRONG! The point is, motivation comes from movement FIRST!
Tip: When you’re not feeling like working out (and for me that’s 80% of the time) here’s what you want to do (1) Get your workout clothes on (2) Give it at least 10 min. More often than not, the motivation will kick in after a few minutes of movement.
