Oftentimes with fitness, the hardest part is staying consistent with your routine when you would rather be a blob on the couch. As a coach, I promote a balanced and simple health and fitness routine to maintain for the long term, but it does require a wee bit of effort and discipline from you. Yes, you. Sometimes that means working out when you don’t want to, or when you feel tired. Sometimes it means ordering a small vs a large to balance out your calories for the day. Hey, it’s called balance for a reason. Here are some tips to stay consistent with your workouts even when you feel like you’ve lost all motivation.
1. Give yourself a reason to go
If you’ve read my most recent (and first!) post about How To Start Your Fitness Journey, then this tip might ring a bell. If you’re finding it hard to stay motivated to physically get your body through the gym entrance, try giving yourself an incentive or as I like to say a “little treat”. Pick a new streamable series or podcast and only enjoy it while you’re walking on the treadmill or on the elliptical. This will give you a reason to get your ass up and go, plus will make the overall experience far more enjoyable on the yucky days. Another way to incentivize your exercise is to treat yourself to a yummy pre-workout or caffeinated beverage of your choice that tastes good to YOU before and/or during your gym session. This will not only give you energy for the gym, but I’ll bet you are ten times more likely to do something if there’s a cold, fizzy, beverage involved. Just me? Ok, moving on.
2. Schedule it in
Stop reading right now and locate your iCal, Google Calendar, Passion Planner, or whatever you use to keep track of your life. Now, take a look at your life and figure out when you’re going to do your workouts. Whether you are walking, lifting, or training for a half marathon. Write them in and hold yourself to them like it’s a massage (fun) or serious dental procedure (less fun). This will not only help you figure out when you have time to go, but seeing the visual of the workouts on your calendar will give you less wiggle room to skip them.
3. Actively try to not be perfect
Ok, here comes the fun part. I want you to try to mess up. You heard me. I want you to still show up to the gym even if you only have 15 minutes. I want you to use that spare 10 mins to walk around the block at work. I want you to miss a workout and pick it right back up the next day. This is real life bby, and you’re in this for the long haul, right? Right. Not every day, or week, or month, will be perfect, and there will be days where it will feel like you want to give up. But if you let yourself be imperfect, you’ll push through the ick and see real progress.
4. When all else fails, walk
If you find yourself not taking my advice and still feeling like you want to be perfect, I understand. We’ve been hard wired to think that working out 6 days per week is the only option and on top of that, it must be challenging and strenuous. But it’s actually the moments we find throughout our day to get active that will really help you see results both physically and mentally. So, if you find yourself not wanting to go to the gym or you’re feeling plagued by perfectionism, go outside and walk. Walk a mile. Walk half a mile. Grab a friend or your dog. Just get moving. Start there. I promise you’ll feel better.
I have given you some tips on how to stay consistent when you aren’t motivated. Woo hoo. So, where do you go from here? Well, after you finish reading this you’re going to go walk a mile. Next, you’re going to look at your week ahead and schedule your time to workout. Don’t forget to choose a show or podcast to enjoy while you’re there. Lastly, remember that you don’t have to be perfect to reach your goals, you just have to keep showing up.
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