How To Stay Motivated When You’re Getting Healthy
It’s easy to tell yourself – and perhaps others – that you are going to make some changes in your life and start to get much healthier. Whether you’ve noticed your clothes are getting tighter and you’re more uncomfortable than you once were, or a doctor has told you that you’re running some health risks with your current lifestyle, the idea of getting healthy is always good. However, wanting to become healthier, telling people you’re going to do it, and even putting new plans in place is one thing; actually sticking to those plans and following them through is another.
This is especially true if you find it hard to stay motivated. Getting healthy and specifically losing weight is a long process, and it’s likely there will be times when you don’t see any progress. This can be disheartening. So too can doing something unhealthy like eating bad food or skipping exercise. You’ll feel bad for doing it, and that can demotivate you, making you feel as though there’s no point in trying anymore.
Motivation when you’re getting healthy is crucial; without it, your good intentions will lead to nothing. If you find that this happens to you and you lose your motivation every time you try to make positive changes in your life, read on. Here are some tips on how to stay motivated when you’re getting healthy.
Set Small Goals
Having one big goal to work towards might seem like the sensible thing to do. You want to lose a specific amount of weight, or you want to be able to run a certain distance. You might even have a date by which this needs to happen. In reality, this is not a good way to stay motivated. By having big goals that are a long way in the future, it’s easy to get demotivated when you consider how long it’s going to take to get there. It’s also easy to ‘cheat’ on your fitness regime or diet because it feels as though it won’t matter; your goal is too far away for that to make a difference, right?
This is why it’s better to make smaller goals that have a much shorter time frame. These goals must be realistic and achievable within that time frame, of course, otherwise demotivation will set in again. And you will still need your ultimate goal in place – these smaller goals will lead you to the big one. Instead of wanting to lose a lot of weight, start by deciding to lose one or two pounds. Once you do that, try for another two. Keep going, and you’ll get to your ideal weight without getting put off because it seems unachievable.
Keep A Food And Exercise Journal
It’s helpful to know exactly what you’re eating and when, and it’s good to know when you’re exercising and for how long. The best way to keep track of all this is to have a journal. Write everything down and you’ll quickly see what works for you and what doesn’t. After all, if you have a particularly good week where you met your goals, you’ll know how to replicate that, perhaps because you used Platinum Naturals Active lifestyle supplements or you exercised every day, for example. If you have a bad week where you felt unmotivated, you’ll know what went wrong and how to fix it.
You can have a handwritten journal or you can download apps that are specifically made for this. How you do it is much less important than doing it in the first place, and understanding what you’re doing and how that is affecting your health goals will ensure you can move forward in a positive way in the future.
Use The Fridge More
A great way to get healthy is to use your fridge more. A lot of the time, one of the reasons someone might be overweight or just unhealthy (perhaps with high blood pressure, for example) is down to processed food. This food contains a lot of additives like salt and sugar, and because of the way it is manufactured, it has lost a lot of the nutrients you would find in fresh food. On top of all this, it is a known carcinogen, so it should be avoided as much as possible.
When it comes to your main meals, you might be good at cooking fresh, healthy food, but what about your snacks? Snacks are actually helpful as they keep your blood pressure level and can stave off hunger, ensuring you don’t overeat when it comes to mealtime. However, if you keep your snacks in the pantry because they don’t need refrigeration, they are likely processed and unhealthy. If, however, you buy your snacks and they need to be refrigerated, it is more likely they are fresh and therefore healthy. This is not always the case, so do read the labels, but it’s a good rule of thumb to start with.
