Making exercise a part of your life starts with making it important to you. Think back to other times in your life where you worked hard for something you wanted. Have you ever tried to find a job, changed careers, made a commitment to start a family, quit smoking? Whatever you did to achieve those past goals is what you need now to achieve your fitness goals. Exercise is like any other commitment...you need a plan for how to get where you want to be:
- Decide what you want. Your first step is to set a goal. Make it reasonable and reachable and lay out all the steps you need to take to reach that goal.
- Set short-term goals. You have your long-term goal...perhaps to lose weight or get stronger. Now you need to set smaller goals to help you get there (e.g., I'll jog 3 times this week and eat fruit before each meal.)
- Make the commitment. Whatever your short-term goals are, decide you'll follow through no matter what. Make it a rule that you can't skip a workout without at least getting through the warm up. Commit 100% and let nothing stand in your way.
- Hold yourself accountable. Keep an exercise calendar or journal to track your workouts, leave yourself reminders of your goal or work with a buddy to keep yourself on track.
- Track your progress. Take time at the end of each week to see how you did. Make a note of your successes and failures and determine how you can make next week even better.
- Reward yourself. Reward yourself for everything you achieve, no matter how small. If you got your walk in today even though you were tired, reward yourself with a 10-minute break doing something you love. If you got in all your weekly workouts, buy yourself that new CD you've been wanting. Give yourself credit for every step you accomplish, big and small.
- Work for yourself and your future. Exercise can help you lose weight but, in the long run, you'll need more tangible things to hold onto while you wait for the physical results. Remember that exercise can help keep you healthy and strong. It can make your life better and your future brighter as well. Keep track of how exercise makes you feel, not just how your body looks.
In the end, it's up to you to decide how important exercise really is to you. If you find your actions don't match your words, it's time to figure out what you really want for yourself. Then, it's time to go for it!
