How I Got Motivated To Get Fit – And Maintained It

I know how hard it can be to motivate yourself to embrace a healthy lifestyle and get fit, I struggle with it on a daily basis, because like you I’m just a ‘normal’ person! My life isn’t defined by gym and I sure as hell eat chocolate cake every now and then. Actually making the decision to live a healthy lifestyle when it comes to exercise and eating properly is a lot harder than people make it out to be. Over the past six or so months I’ve made a few big changes in my life and I can see and feel the difference in my body and the way I interact with the world.

But how do you take those first steps and then maintain them? Well here’s how I did it…and continue to do so.

Get A Workout Buddy

It’s harder to keep motivated to exercise when you have no accountability except yourself. For some people it’s enough knowing that they have to do it for themselves, for me it wasn’t. Knowing that if I didn’t get out of bed and meet my friend they would be left waiting around like a dunce was enough to get me started especially when at first you don’t immediately see the results of your efforts.  It also helps in those early days to ‘share’ the pain with someone. When you’re both stiff you can relate and when you’re struggling to do that last lunge they’ll be there to motivate you.

..And Then Lose Them

Like everything in life no two people feel the same about something. At a stage in my training my workout buddy lost interest in exercise and it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. I’d been bitten by the ‘I love feeling good about my body’ bug and I no longer needed someone else to motivate me to go to gym or get up in the morning. Once you’ve realised how great exercise makes you feel, you wont need to convince yourself to keep doing it, plus I think there’s a lesson to be learnt in self-discipline and taking responsibility for your own health.

P.S. I’m not saying never workout with anyone else ever again just that it’s not a bad thing to take your fitness into your own hands!

Join A Gym

Again, this is how I got motivated, I understand that not everyone can afford to join a gym and that’s perfectly fine, I’ve just found it helps me to keep motivated. Who else finds gyms terrifying? Everyone looks like they know what they are doing and there are a whole lot of machines that look like they take an Oxford degree to operate. Well here’s a secret, no one know’s what they are doing, and everyone is to consumed by sweating up a storm and figuring out how the different machines work to notice you fumbling around with your foam roller! Having a gym to go to gives me a destination to go to as part of my day. Working out at home works just fine but if you’re like me and you work from home doing everything in your house can drive you a little nuts.

I belong to Virgin Active Victory Park so if you spot me there be sure to come say hi!

Go To  A Class

Going back to how gyms used to terrify me, I was always too nervous to join a class because everyone looked like they knew what they were doing, and I was worried I wasn’t fit enough, how embarrassing would it be if I had to stop in class to catch my breath? It just so happened that one day I decided to swallow my fear and join a Barre class and I absolutely loved it, also I realised once again that everyone is in the same boat, no one at your gym is Kayla Itsines guys!  Since then I’ve become obsessed with Grid, a high intensity interval class that is completely responsible for me being able to actually do a push up and for a much tighter rear end! I’m always chatting about doing Grid on to keep up to date.  I also do Yoga a few times a week and have been testing out a cardio class called Pound. Whatever you choose to do, being surrounded by people and having a personal trainer motivate and help you is priceless!

Start A Programme

Sure running aimlessly around a field will eventually get you fit but if you have goals you want to reach and you want to reach an all over better level of fitness I’d suggest starting a training programme. A training programme will give you exercises you need to do and when you need to do them, it takes the guess work and decision making out of working out. I started of doing Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide , I find it incredibly simple to follow and it really does produce results if you put the work in. Craig on the other hand uses the ,  it’s free, it provides entire guided workouts and it has produced great results for him.

Educate Yourself

Remember when school projects consisted of looking up topics in the Encyclopedia? Well we’re all pretty aware of a little thing called THE INTERNET, and if you can imagine it, it’s on the internet. There’s a huge amount of literature on how to get started on working out (like this post right here) and what works best for certain body types. Take the time to read up and watch a couple of videos on how other people battle with the same things you do and how they overcome them, it’s really inspiring!

Notice A Change

The most important part of how I got motivated to get fit and stay that was was taking the time to notice the changes that were taking place. I started feeling a lot more energised, especially after working out, I was firming up in the places I wanted to firm up, I was stronger than I had ever been and as a whole I just felt happier for actually taking responsibility for my health.

I’ll be sharing more from my journey to a healthier and happier me over the coming months, are there any questions you guys have or anything you want to share? Let me know by commenting below or dropping me a private message.

Outfit Details:

Set: Cotton On 

Jacket: Cotton On COAR

Sneakers: PUMA