As we all know getting back into a healthy routine isn’t the easiest and without a plan it’s virtually impossible. That being said, setting goals and finding your motivation like we talked about in last week’s blog is the first step. Once you have your goal in place you can move on to actually implementing the steps to get there.

So what you do you do next…

Focus on your current lifestyle first

What things in your life are most important to you and which ones do you feel need the most time? Is it your family or work? Whatever it is, make it your priority first. If spending time with your family as whole makes you happy then don’t schedule your workout during dinner time when you’re likely to miss out on quality time with your family. Wake up an hour earlier in the morning and force yourself out the door for a walk or jog, or have the family join in and create a mini boot-camp outside before or after dinner. Focusing on your lifestyle and incorporating exercise where it will fit will create long lasting success with your new healthy lifestyle.

Focus on your goal

In the last blog we went over how to set goals that drive you to be better. When you’re setting up your new plan keep that goal or goals in focus. Write that goal down so you can see it everyday and create a plan so that you can reach it.

Start eating healthier

This is going to be the hardest part for most. The first thing to remember is that willpower does not exist. If you have junk food in the house you will eat it. So, get rid of it. Now, I hear this all the time…

“ I have junk food in my house because it’s for my kids, they wont eat anything else and complain if I don’t have it.”

Well, that’s because it’s always been an option for them. Your kids do not need to be eating unhealthy packaged foods on a daily basis either. Do your family a favor and ditch the bad stuff. I promise you, your kids will start to eat what you put in front of them when they are hungry enough and you are doing their long-term health a favor. Adolescent type-two diabetes is on the rise and that should scare people enough to pull the junk food out of the house, but that’s a topic for another blog.

Find an accountability partner

Having a friend or family member join you on getting back in to the swing of things can be a great idea. Someone to hold you accountable sometimes is the deciding factor for getting up for an early morning workout or skipping the bowl of ice cream before bed. We all have friends and family who are in the same boat as us so finding that person can sometimes make the process that much easier.

Start slow

Once we have a goal, got rid of the junk food, and are motivated to get started the most important thing to think about is to go slow at first. If you haven’t been working out in awhile or have a substantial amount of weight to lose then you have a higher chance of getting injured in the beginning of your program.

That being said, starting with a goal of working out two to three times a week on weeks one and two is a good way to start.

Now these two or three sessions should not be two hour long beat yourself into the ground sessions either. Listen to your body and focus on quality work over the first 2-3 weeks, once your body has adapted to exercise you can let the higher intensity workouts commence.

Track your progress

Take progress pictures, measurements, whatever it is to show yourself that you’re getting somewhere with your efforts. I will say that I tend to shy away from the scale as a way to track since the scale does not take into account whether you’ve gained muscle mass. It is true that muscle is denser than fat so your weight could have stayed the same or even gone up but you’ve actually lost body fat and gotten smaller.

Exercise

Finding a gym that you are comfortable at is one of the biggest challenges when getting back into exercise. Take your time with this. Try out different gyms and ask questions to make sure the schedule, trainers and equipment all match your specific goal. Sometimes working out from home can be your best option in the beginning or when you’re strapped for time as well. If you’re new to exercise give this total body circuit from our Tuesday’s tips and tricks a try.

A sample workout:

5-10 min cardio warm-up

2-3 rounds:

10 Squats

10 Lunges

10 Bent Over Rows

10 Bicep Curls

10 Pushups

10 Tricep Dips

10 Shoulder Lateral Raises

30 second plank

5-10 min cardio cooldown

Starting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not easy, but with the right steps and the right motivation anyone at any ability can be successful. Don’t wait till Monday to start, start right now. Focus on your health, your family and what makes you happy along the way and your old unhealthy lifestyle will be that of the past.

If you missed last weeks (Part 1) of this blog click here

Until next week,

Happy training!

Liz