Making the decision to start your fitness journey is exciting as it fills you with drive, motivation, and enthusiasm. But as it often happens, all that enthusiasm eventually wears off. If you have experienced the loss of dedication and struggled to maintain consistency, it can be challenging to get back on track.

The following tips will help you create an action plan and set realistic and achievable fitness goals.

Make A Plan

It’s essential you make a plan and keep track of what you’re doing. People go to the gym for both health and aesthetic reasons, but to get there, you need a plan or you’ll just end up wandering around the gym with no visible results. With such an approach, it’s even harder to stay motivated.

If you go to the gym unprepared, you can get lost trying to figure out what equipment to use and how, and even more, deciding on what exercises to do and how much. To make things easier, find a fitness app and benefit from the help and advice of experts both on nutrition and exercise. Even if you have to pay for the app, it’ll be worth it as investing in your fitness and health plan is important.

Also, make sure you bookmark workouts on your Instagram so you could use them later at the gym. You can also make notes on your phone. Keep track of your weights and reps from the start and during your progress. Make sure your workout routines vary and are progressive, either in reps or weights. This will push you forward and offer proper guidance to continue.

Make The Time

For simple daily activities such as brushing your teeth, washing your hair or doing grocery shopping, you never raise the question of time. Have the same approach to workout – just keep it in your regular schedule. Find what works for you, whether it’s at the gym or home-based, morning or evening, be flexible with it and fit it in. Truth to be told, there’s never a perfect time for the workout, it’s never convenient for you and your family, and never easy.

Get Geared Up

Getting geared up for a workout is certainly exciting and motivating, and it can give you that energy boost you need to keep going. Just don’t stress about the cost – yes, the equipment can be expensive, but you need to find what fits both your needs and your budget. Consider looking into affordable, high-quality gym fitout to get the gear you need, but also treat yourself to a few new outfits that match your planned workout frequency for the week. For instance, three pairs of leggings and tops will give you no excuse to skip your three weekly workouts just because you didn’t do your laundry!

Set Your Goals

Clear, well-defined goals are essential as they provide a long-term vision and short-term motivation as well as help you organize your time and your resources. Don’t make the mistake and think in terms of losing X amount of weight in one month, or slimming down two sizes in two weeks. Rather, be realistic and patient, and set a workout schedule of three times a week for the next three months, eliminate processed sugars and junk food from your diet, and reduce alcohol intake as much as possible.

Once that gets going, take it a step further and gradually add to your commitments. Move from smaller goals to bigger ones, and then, you can build a perspective for life. Don’t bother with body fat percentage or counting calories. Make it your primary goal to be physically and mentally healthy in general.

Eat Well

What you eat matters and there are no cutting corners in nutrition. It’s certainly important how much you exercise, but if you want quicker results, adopt a solid nutrition plan and stick to it.  As mentioned before, remove junk food as much as possible but do treat yourself once in a while. Never starve yourself or you’ll lose the motivation needed for your progress. Choose a meal plan that you can commit to with foods you like and are used to. Also, have a backup plan when things don’t go as planned. Give yourself a week and start again. If it happens more than three times in a row, re-evaluate your goals and tweak your plan.

Be honest with yourself and realistic regarding what you want, where you want to get and how soon. Time goes by quickly, and a year from now, you’ll wish you’d started yesterday. It’s okay to have ups and downs in your fitness journey, and you’re actually winning when you start after you fail.

Author Bio

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in business and marketing related topics.

In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.