You’re ready! You’ve flipped the switch and you’re in the starting gate, raring to go on this whole live-a-better-life thing. You’re going to get plenty of sleep, spend time with your family, and finally get back into your college jeans. Before you jump into a fitness routine, here are five things to ensure you’ll be successful.
Research your fitness goals.
You can’t just say, “I want to lose ten pounds.” How are you going to lose ten pounds? Will you join a gym or a running club? Check out the local yoga studio? How are you going to get healthier? Deciding this in advance and researching your local options will guide you in the right direction. Google is a good resource, but don’t be afraid to ask your friends what they’re doing, too.
Get your people on board.
From roommates to spouses to kids to your pooch, make sure everyone is up for your lifestyle change. If you’re in a family situation, you’re going to need support from everyone as you steal time away from them. Or try to find a way to incorporate them into your new lifestyle: then everyone’s healthier and happier.
Keep track.
If you’re just getting back into fitness, you should know where you’re starting from. Get on the scale, take some body measurements (waist, chest, and hips are a good start), and take a “before” picture. You should also start tracking your workouts. How many miles did you walk or jog? Make notes of the group exercise class you took at the gym. Track progress of the weight training routine that your personal trainer gave you. Whatever it is, however you’d like to track it, please do! Online programs such as the Daily Mile or Map My Run can help, or you can go low-tech with a notebook and pencil. In any case, you’ll better appreciate how far you’ve come if you remember where you started from.
Make sure you’ve got the gear.
If your running sneakers are still in day-glo 1980s colors, it might be time to grab a new pair. Ladies, make sure your sports bra is the right size and still, erm, doing its job. Double-check that you’ve got a good water bottle too; you need to stay properly hydrated while you boost your activities.
Be open-minded.
Fitness trends are changing all the time. We’ve gone from yoga to Zumba, from plyometrics to super-slow sets. If something seems appealing, give it a go. You might find a whole new form of movement that you love. I skeptically began kayaking and absolutely love the cardio and upper body toning that I get from it. That, plus I can do it with my family, and the scenery is always nice.
If you have any questions, ask away. I’d be happy to help you get started. What would you like to accomplish? Share your fitness goals here.
About Lisa Johnson
I enjoyed the article but I have to say that for myself, I really just had to jump in. I did do basic things like get a physical and make sure my diet was on target. But the whole idea of hard core schedules, charts measurements, all that tends to paralyze me with the ‘deer in the headlights’ syndrome.
Hi Deanna,
The ongoing obesity study at Duke University is a large cohort study that is literally following tens of thousands of people. They have found three elements to successful long term weight loss and one of them is journaling or “keeping track” like my article says.
If that idea seems just awful to you, what do you think would work better? No attempts at healthy living will be successful if the person doesn’t think it’s right for them. So it always should be what works best for you.
For any of my posts (this one or future ones) I whole heartedly encourage people to take that nuggets that ring true for them and ignore the rest. Different people will respond to different nuggets.
Hope that helps 🙂
Lisa
I know this is beyond the scopre of the post, but my addition to this would be “Why do it?”
Healthy eating and exercise are still the two biggest predictors of better health. The entire medical and drug industry’s effect is actually secondary to these basic choices about lifestyle.
I think it would do people a world of good to know that what they do and what they eat is more important for their health than anything else.
Hi Ben,
I am assuming with this post that people are already on board with the eating better / moving more thing. This is definitely more of a gear checklist and some ideas to stay focused on a program of some sort.
You are absolutely right the most important aspect of health is what you eat and how you move. We’ll explore this topic in depth over the months and definitely touch on your points. Cheers! Hope to see you around more.
Lisa
Hey Lisa,
This is a great list to get you started getting back into shape! I’d add that when setting fitness goals, that you make them achievable. For instance, don’t try to lose weight to quickly: it can be unhealthy or impossible.
Great tips!
-Greg
Greg I completely agree. I tell my clients to “lose five pounds at a time.” Or just work on doing one push up, then we’ll build up to 10. Thanks for the comment. Lisa
You make ‘getting up and going’ easy for people who might not want to take that first step. I’ve never been an exerciser. I got into cycling for awhile and then when it got hard to juggle my daughter’s care and my riding you can guess which one got left behind.
I lost a lot of weight via Weight Watchers and have kept it off now for 5 years. My leader used to end her session by telling us to remember we didn’t put it on in a week so don’t expect it all to come off that quickly either.
I remind myself, in the children’s book: The tortoise always won!
I think a good way to lose weight is to get a job where you do a lot of walking and you forget to eat because the work is so interesting. I’m going to try to do that next year.
Hi Lisa,
My girlfriend and her friends are always trying to stay current w. the latest trends of working out, for woman.
Last year she loved Zumba…tried to get me into it. Told me if I loved her I’d give it a go. Now we’re not together…. j/k. I gave it a go and saw other boyfriends in my same predicament….it wasn’t so bad 😉
I personally like to mix up my cardio along with free weights of I can, and sometimes use the machines to isolate some areas
Thanks for sharing
Sara thanks for the thoughts, after I had my son a few years ago I lost over 40 pounds through the Weight Watchers online program. It worked well for me, and I’m glad to hear the meetings worked well for you. You are quite right about the tortoise, the slower the weight loss the more permanent it is!
Parker, everyone needs to do the fitness routine that works best for them. It’s good that you were open-minded enough though to try Zumba. It is the #1 group exercise class in the US right now, it’s usually the most popular class in the gym. If it’s not your style you were still a good sport for giving it a go.
Thanks for the comments,
Lisa
You write:
You can’t just say, “I want to lose ten pounds.”
It’s a valid point. So much more productive to acknowledge what you want to do and then plot a course that will lead to your desired destination.
If you don’t have some kind of action you’re planning on taking, it’s nothing more than wishful thinking.
yup, and then they get frustrated and then they give up and then they’re back to square one, or worse …
Thanks for the wonderful post Lisa! Lately I haven’t been able to fulfill my fitness goals because of the demands of work and home. I keep telling myself, “Since there’s a new swimming pool in this condominium, I’ll start doing laps every afternoon.” Sadly, I only got to take a dive two days ago. 🙁
Stephanie, I hope you get a chance to get back into the pool soon. I think swimming is a great way to wind down from the days stresses. It’s so soothing and a really killer workout! Good luck with all your to dos and try to schedule time for yourself if you can. 🙂
Accountability is key for me. When I start running in the spring, I plan my local road races and pre-register for them in advance, forcing myself to stay on track with my training. It usually works, but it has hurt me a few times because I haven’t been ready for a race and was to prideful not to run because I didn’t want to be out the money. I learned my lesson on that after I fractured my foot!
oh eesh! a fractured foot. That’s terrible! I hope the rehab was relatively painless and you’re back on the road again. I have also run for a race I wasn’t prepared for and regretted it, but not as bad a result as you. Just some very sore muscles …
Thanks for sharing your story.
L–
“Get your people on board” is the key for me. Whenever my husband commits to a healthy new behavior, my ability to make it a permanent part of our lifestyle SKY ROCKETS.
Tara that is so true. For me that means hiking and kayaking worked well and Couch to 5K not so much, lol … but I keep trying new things. Next week indoor trampoline park ~ that should be fun.
If you can carve out time for yourself and your family supports it then it’s much more likely to happen. The inverse as well, Monday nights are sacred for my husband, it’s his volleyball night and we all work around it.
L–
Great post Lisa – You know I’m all about enjoying the elephant one bite at a time. My healthy habits were SO bad, there’s no way I could have tackled them all at once. The other thing is, while I did want to lose some weight, that wasn’t the focus. Really, I wanted to take better care of my body and mind – so that was the big WHY of it. It helped me to stay motivated when I could do more pushups, or even pullups on my own, or workout harder on the elliptical comfortably at higher heart rates. Those were all so rewarding.
I just did a post on MORE – baby steps in incorporating more of the good stuff – and it has been working out well for me.
K ~
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