You can get it!
Health and Fitness is a very personal thing…
We all have expectations for ourselves, what we see, what we want others to see and possibly how we want to get there. I get told everyday, “I used to…”, “I want to…”, “It would be great if I…”, and my only answer to all of that is “You can! And you know how I know? Cause I did”. At sometime in my not so distance past I was just like you, I to had to start somewhere, I needed help, and I had to ask for it, we’re not all self starters. Let’s go through a few things that got me there, let’s get you there too!
Ask for help!
You have to start somewhere but don’t always know where. Sure we can all rely on the internet and social media, heck that’s how you got here right?
Asking for help is how we learn, as we grow into adults, people stop showing us how to live, you finish high school or college and are thrust into the world. Well what if, like so many of us, fitness was not something pushed onto us by a parent, school, or a friend. As a red blooded Canadian it used to confuse me when people didn’t know how to skate, but I get it now, I had to learn how to do a proper squat at 37. My point is, it took me a long time to ask for help, many of us think we can do it ourselves… and then we just don’t! Nobody wants to look like that fool who can’t do the thing, but if you don’t ask for help, you’ll never do the thing. Sign up for that dance class, ask your friend who runs to take you out at your pace, join a gym or fitness class that will help you at any level.
Asking for help can make us seem vulnerable, but when you do, it can make you powerful!
2. Set yourself a goal
What do you want? Weight loss? Inches gone? Strong arms or legs? Maybe run 5 kilometres without stopping? Or maybe just get back to that pre-baby weight?
Write your goals down, create a road map for those goals, and again ASK FOR HELP to get there. Everything you want to do, someone else has likely already done. Put that those goals and that map somewhere you can look at it everyday, mine is taped to my bedroom mirror and my home screen of my phone, my former manager had hers in her daytimer, re-written everyday, I thought it was so tedious but it worked for her.
Look at everyday, remind yourself what you want and how you’re going to get there.
3. Start Small and simple
We’re still in this global pandemic world for a little bit it seems and we’ve all dealt with it in different ways, many of us shutting down, getting lazy and eating what we know we shouldn’t. What’s my point?
Start small, those chips at 8pm after dinner before you go to bed, make that goal 1 to stop that snacking, keep the snack, just make a better choice. Stationary office job? Find 30 minutes for a walk, you can find half an hour somewhere in your day for a good walk, before work, to work, lunch, after the kids are in bed. It’s easy, low impact, and that fresh air will get you every time, it’s amazing!
You don’t have to shoot for the moon, aim for something that might take small focus, that eventually will just become you on auto-pilot.
4. Be easy on yourself
Remember this is new to you, focus on how you feel, mentally and physically, watch for little changes in your energy, sleep, mood. Focus on those things at the beginning and not inches or the scale, look for the good rather then what’s not happening. When you find the positivity in looking after yourself it gets easier, it gets fun and you grow.
Think about it like this…
yesterday you were doing nothing, ANYTHING YOU DO TODAY IS A CHANGE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!
