Start Your Fitness Journey Today: What You Need to Know

Getting fit shouldn’t be intimidating. But somehow, getting started on your personal fitness journey can seem so complicated that you might never actually do it. It shouldn’t be that way!

Here’s how to start your fitness journey today, without feeling intimidated, overwhelmed or lost.

Ask yourself why.

You know how little kids ask you “why” over and over again until your response becomes something along the lines of “because I said so”? Ask yourself “why” (maybe not so many times).

Why do I want to lose weight?

 Why do I want to go on this diet?

 Why do I want to run a 5k?

 If you ask yourself “why” enough times, you might uncover some important, underlying reasons that you didn’t realize you had at first. Beneath the surface goal to “lose weight” you uncover endless motivation to get healthy so that you can move the way you used to and feel confident in your own skin. Those deep meanings won’t let you give up when temptation strikes.

Set a SMART goal.

Once you know your why, put it on paper. Take your why, your inspiration, and put it into words and numbers that you can actually track.

A SMART goal is:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-Bound

More on SMART goals here >>> Achieve More.

Make a Plan.

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else. – Yogi Berra

 Once you’ve decided what your goal is and why, it’s time to make a plan. This might be where you start thinking “But Julia, you said this wouldn’t be complicated”.

A workout plan does not have to be complicated to work, especially if you are just starting out. Start at the end goal and work backwards.

Want to run a 5k? Start running 3 days a week.

Want to start eating a healthier diet? Throw away the junk food in your house and fill up your fridge with healthy eats.

Want to lose weight? Start going to the gym for 30 minutes 3-4 days a week.

Not complicated. Just targeted.

Commit.

The last time you tried this and it didn’t work out the way you wanted to, was it because of the plan or was it because you didn’t commit? Commitment is tough. But if you don’t commit, it won’t happen.

You have what it takes: a goal, a plan, personal motivation. Now make a promise to yourself to try. Try for a month. Try for three months. Try for half a year.

Schedule your workouts like you do any other important event. Write it in your calendar, put a reminder in your phone. Write out your grocery list and commit to going to the store twice a week and preparing healthy food as soon as you get home.

Find your energy zone.

If you’re a morning girl like me, you might like to get your workouts done first thing. But if you’re a night owl and get your second wind around 3 pm, go to the gym after work.

We all work harder and with more focus and energy at different times of the day. For example, I’ve stopped asking my husband if he wants to get up and hit the gym before work. The answer is inevitably “no”. And I get that. He hits his energy stride later in the day.

Figure out what works for you. You probably already have a good idea of when you are most energetic.

 Gain a bit of knowledge.

Be honest, walking into the gym with no knowledge of what you are doing is far more intimidating knowing which machine is the leg press machine and which is the bench press. Invest in your knowledge: watch exercise videos online, get a workout from a video on YouTube, or hire a personal trainer to help you.

Everybody starts out as a beginner. Even Arnold. Every time you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath and remember why you want to do this fitness thing in the first place. Your worth it!