Getting The Dedication
The dream sounds simple. Lots of people have done it. Lose weight, get in shape – how complicated can that be?
The reality, of course, is not so simple.
Dedication is key to ensuring that your goals and dreams are met. Having the correct mindset, and will, to continue with a routine is what makes everything possible, and the goals easier to achieve. Without dedication, the goal posts constantly shift and the lack of results can be distressing.
With this short piece, we try and cover some of the main points that will help keep your mind on track and to makes those dreams remain a reality.
The First Steps
Getting motivated ranges from person to person, but there are simple steps in which everybody can take. And, while these stages are not definitive, and most certainly not recommended in the long term to achieve that dream, they are important stages in order to get your body and mind mobilised in a way which will have it accustomed to the future. Harsh? Perhaps, but they are simple steps that get you on the road to fitness.
Diet
We see diet plans advertised everywhere. To criticise any particular diet is futile, as they can all fulfil on their promises when followed correctly. For a first step, however, if losing weight is part of your dream, then following a simple, sustainable plan is what helps the most. This doesn’t necessarily mean counting calories or points, but just being mindful about what you are eating and drinking, and avoiding the obvious baddies, such as chocolates and alcoholic beverages. That doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself, but just use a bit of common sense as a first step.
If weight loss is not of an issue, and getting into better shape is of a bigger priority, then diet also plays a highly important role. In order to get those muscles toned, your body needs the correct amount of energy (yes, calories), to work with, along with the correct nutrients.
Home Workouts
Before venturing off to a gym, studies show that most people prefer to work out at home. The reason behind this is simple – they are embarrassed about how they look and feel as though they need to accomplish something behind closed doors before venturing elsewhere.
While, to some, this method can work, to many others it doesn’t. The problem with home workouts lies in the fact that there are – more often than not – too many distractions and too many reasons to skip sessions. That’s not to say that they do not work, as any amount of exercise, no matter how many skipped sessions, is better than none, and those few sessions can still push a person further towards gaining the confidence to find a gym.
Out And About
We all know that being within the great outdoors is beneficial to our health. Walking – on its own – has been shown to be of great benefit to our bodies and can help combat many illnesses.
Jogging, hill walking, cycling and other forms of outdoor exercise only add to this benefit. Being on the outdoors is one of the most highly rated forms of exercise, and one that even the most seasoned of gym member’s will regular participate in.
Of course, the outdoors has its limits in what it can accomplish. In order to tone certain muscle groups you need to work more extensively with equipment that targets those groups. In doing so, not only are you toning your body, but you are also making those the more adventurous of hikes all the more easy to complete. It is, in all ways, a win-win situation.
Mentality
Be it starting a diet, setting up a home gym, or commencing that first jog around the park, the most important stage in any first step is getting your mentality up to scratch.
Difficult? Yes and no. Everybody is individual. Sometimes, things take time. The most important thing to remember is that everybody makes errors. If you find yourself falling out of line, missing sessions or falling foul of a diet plan, you need to tell yourself that it’s just a blip and to get things back on track as soon as possible.
By having a clear mentality and focus on your goals, you have accomplished the most important step of them all.
The Gym
Gyms are – to many – the prime ingredient required to get yourself fit and healthy. That’s not to say that other exercises, from home to the outdoors, are not beneficial – a gym just bridges a very important gap.
What one can find difficult to achieve at home, by lack of willpower or dedication, one finds all the more easier to achieve at a gym. The reasons for this vary, but the most obvious reason is that becoming a member of a gym pushes that person into a whole new arena – they are spending money on a club that promises to get them fit, and they are mentally guided into sticking with that club.
Of course, gyms offers classes and personal trainers, all of which can massively help the mentality factor and target your potential in a way to achieve your goals all the more quickly. But, classes and personal trainers are not for everybody – many of us prefer the comfort of working out on our own. Gyms also offer this in a way that a home workout simply can not. Not only is the equipment likely to be much superior, and the space more vast, but the entire atmospherics of a gym help to push us further, harder, and make us mentally more determined than ever.
To many, a gym workout far exceeds any other form of exercise. It can, in many ways, be addictive – which is only a good thing, when getting fit and healthy is concerned.
There’s a multitude of reasons why joining a gym can help you achieve your goals in record time, but there’s also a multitude of reasons why people fail to sign that membership form.
Often, it’s a personal thing – the weak part in the mentality factor. We often picture a gym as being full of fit and healthy individuals lifting weights and pushing themselves to their limits on a rowing machine. We feel as though we are too out of shape to compete – the embarrassment factor strikes hard.
What one needs to remember is that gyms really aren’t the way we visualise them to be. Nearly everybody – everybody – has joined a gym for exactly the same purpose as yourself. And, while specific wants and needs can vary, the overall objective is always the same – to get fit and healthy.
Many people at a gym are in exactly the same boat as yourself. They, too, are new, and are experimenting with all the weird and wonderful equipment on offer. Others, of course, may have been there a while and have a regime that is working, but – more often than not – they can remember exactly what it was like in order to make their first steps, and they are more than willing to help and advise you.
By biting the bullet and signing up to a gym, you have accomplished the biggest part of any fitness puzzle. Everything, from there on, can seem all the more easier, knowing that you have a place to work out, in hours that suit you, under a roof where many others are making dreams a reality.
Continuation
As the age-old saying goes – all good things come with time.
It’s a true statement, but it has one major exception when it comes to fitness.
Staying fit requires continued dedication and commitment.
Achieving your goals is one part of the puzzle. Keeping that puzzle in place is something that you have to work with, on a regular basis.
Although that sounds exhausting, it isn’t as difficult as it sounds. When you reach your targets (or even near them), you know that your body and mind is on the right track. The hard work is over. Staying fit is no longer a chore, but a pleasure. You will find yourself consistently doing active things, and things that you’d normally find excuses for. It’s all part of a healthy lifestyle.
How you achieve this is entirely up to you. The diet, the home workout, the outdoors, or the gym. Or all four.
Mentality is responsible for dedication, and that is – perhaps – the biggest hurdle to overcome. But, you will jump that hurdle and find yourself in a much better place afterwards. Never – ever – give up.