When I started my fitness journey about five years ago, there were many things I needed to change. I was overweight, drank a lot, ate extremely poorly, slept little, and had a harmful routine to my health.
To be honest, it was harder to find ways to stay motivated than to start exercising and eating better. I say this because most of my friends and people close to me did not follow a healthy lifestyle and discouraged me frequently.
As TheLifesty’s goal is to inspire people to change their lives, I decided to bring 10 tips to motivate yourself to have a healthy lifestyle. In this article, you will not find scientific studies but valuable tips that will help you change your mindset about health.
I’ve been in your shoes, so remember that: don’t be ashamed of yourself, respect your body and work hard! We are all together in this!
Read other articles on Health & Fitness:
- What are Macronutrients? Starting a Healthy Diet
- How To Create A Workout Plan
- 5 Cardio Workouts That Help To Lose Weight
- How Much Water You Should Be Drinking Daily
- 6 Tips to Sleep Better
Now, let’s go to the advices I would have liked to hear a few years ago:
1. Accept Who You Are and your Limitations
The first step is to accept who you are, recognizing your weaknesses and limitations. Just think that several factors led you to get where you are today, and that’s okay. Sometimes life is not easy.
Often, accepting that we have a problem or need to change our lifestyle starts a chain of events that can change our lives. If you are overweight or have been dealing with a sedentary lifestyle for a long time, accept your situation, but keep in mind that nothing is definitive in life. Everyone can take small steps to change!
2. Be Positive and Set Goals
Being positive and having clear goals are essential to keep you motivated. Keep in mind that to reach a goal, you need to set it first. It’s hard to stay focused on a generic goal like “I want to lose weight”. Set a specific purpose and a date to reach it.
You must be realistic and establish an achievable plan. When you realize that you are managing to change small habits along this journey, you will be even more motivated, making you even more consistent.
Be positive, and remember that all your work will be rewarded when you get there!
3. Find Good Inspiration or People who Motivate You!
We often tend to look to other people for inspiration, but we forget that we fight our struggles and are victorious daily – even if we don’t realize it. If you work, study, or manage to carry out all the activities in your routine, you are already a great example of overcoming difficulties! Try to remember obstacles you’ve already overcome or changes you’ve managed to make in your life, and use that as your source of inspiration!
It’s okay to get inspired by other people, but try to look for someone who is part of your routine. We often focus on influencers, celebrities, or ‘successful’ people, and we get discouraged by realizing that there is still a long way to go. We all have friends, family, or colleagues who go through problems yet overcome those obstacles daily. Look for them!
4. Identify Situations that Hinder your Goals
Many situations in life distract us and delay our process of change. Identify these points and work to get rid of or reduce them. If you tend to overeat unhealthy food on weekends, start thinking about avoiding it and consider looking for a nutritionist to help you.
If you have friends that discourage you, stay away from them. The truth is that there are many toxic people out there who may demotivate you simply because they are cowards or not strong enough to promote their changes. Many people like to project their faults onto others, so pay close attention to that friend who says you’ll never get there.
Remember that the environment around you can influence you – positively or negatively.
5. Start with the Basics
Taking small steps is essential for you to have small victories along your journey. When we focus only on the final result, we fail to recognize that we are getting closer to achieving that goal every day.
By setting small goals – within a larger plan – you will receive constant positive reinforcement that you are progressing throughout your life. These small wins are essential for you to stay motivated on the most challenging days. They are the ones who will guide you when you think you have failed more than right.
Example 1: If you have had a sedentary lifestyle for a long time, start walking small distances.
Example 2: If you are in the habit of eating junk food four times a week, reduce it to two.
6. Plan Yourself Never to Go Hungry
Most of the time, we eat unhealthy food when we’re hungry. It is even possible that you can notice behaviour patterns, such as eating junk food on weekends. Try to plan so that you have something to eat at these times.
Tip: One of the things I try to do when I want to eat unhealthy food is eating a healthy meal before. That was a way to control my impulses when I wanted to have a pizza or a burger. That way, you can still try that junk food, but you’ll end up eating far less than you would if you were hungry.
Anyway, try to plan as much as possible to avoid this type of situation!
7. Find Activities You Like to Do
When we talk about physical activities, you must look for something you enjoy doing. When choosing an activity you dislike, you will never be consistent, and I can explain why.
We all have bad days, and it’s precisely on those days that we tend to make mistakes, like not exercising or eating poorly. That’s the time when you need to step out of your comfort zone, and choosing an enjoyable activity will help you be more consistent over time.
Tip: If you don’t know which physical activity to choose, think about what you enjoyed doing in your childhood or adolescence. Start with something you like and worry about choosing more difficult exercises gradually.
8. Take the Opportunities to Spend Extra Calories
The truth is that, as humans, we tend to choose the easiest way all the time. When I started my fitness journey years ago, I started taking small steps like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking home from work, etc.
At first, these small choices may not make that much difference to your body, but they will make a real difference to your mindset. Part of the progression on the fitness journey comes from understanding that we can always do something more – and that’s not a bad thing. Being more active in your routine will give you more energy and willingness to take the following steps!
9. Embrace Your Struggle and Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes
Accept it when you make a mistake. Have you ever noticed how we tend to invalidate the entire process when we make a minor slip? Sometimes we are entirely focused and, when we make the first mistake, we start a chain of exaggerations, with the unconscious excuse that “I’ve already made a mistake anyway”.
When you miss a day of training or eat junk food, remember that it’s okay – we are all humans-, but work on getting back to your routine the next day. Remember that all the people you consider successful fail too!
10. Celebrate and Reward Yourself
Lastly, celebrate whenever you reach a goal! You don’t have to throw a party, but recognizing that you’ve overcome something difficult will give you the mindset you need for anything in your life.
Remember: celebrating the final result is important, but you must honour your trajectory more than that. Understanding that the journey is more important than the result makes it easier to discipline yourself to overcome other obstacles throughout your life!
Founder and Editor of TheLifesty. Passionate about Health & Fitness and enthusiast about changes. Interested in everything that improves the quality of life.