Coming back to claim your fitness goal? Here are 5 tips.

Step 1

Whether its a ‘return’ , challenge or simply ,to be fit and healthy again, give yourself a pat on the back.

This is the first step to claiming a fitness goal, THE WANTING !

Ready? Read on !

Step 1

For this first step of getting back your fitness, you should have at least a specific target.

This and can be anything ranging from fitting back into your favourite jeans , reducing xx amount of weight, or running a 10K event by mid-year. These are specific goals. Make sure they are realistic, measurable and timely. Measurable? Think time, period, duration, length, mass, body fat, waist line 🙂 It’ll give you a sense of ownership to those targets you need to achieve!

Step 2

Now that you have a specific measurable and timely realistic goal, hook yourself with a plan.

See the low-down on how to ‘strategise’ and ‘hook’ with a plan. There are generally 3 types of plans

i)A structured one : It tells you what to do when, how much/how long etc, but not too detail or much technicality

ii)A structured and specific one : It tells you exactly what you should be doing, ie what pace, what grammage , how long, when ie AM or PM — normally requires quantifying and timing the plan

iii)A flexible one : Something like type i (Structured) but with added leniency ie you are given the option to choose certain things (ie when to do a workout) The plan can be loose but sufficient to guide someone achieving the goal intended. Efficiency of plan can be questionable.

Why do you need to know about plans? and their types? To begin (and end with), you need to prepare yourself with the overwhelming amount of program, plans and regime you will find out there. Just make sure your source is trusted, reliable and credible ! You want to pick what’s best to your knowledge knowing that your sources are trusted and the best or you too! If you have signed up with a gym or fitness center, your trainers and instructors should be giving you the right guidance, and suggesting relevant program suited to your goals.

Step 3

Once you’ve ‘hooked’ up with a plan and considering the commitment involved to execute plan, you have to start preparing yourself mentally and habitually how you would be following through the program. Depending on what program or plan you are on, there might be adjustment needed to your personal/social life, the junk food tucked in your kitchen pantry. Some sacrifice might be in order, so you have to take it on if you want to succeed achieving your goals. Those realistic goals mentioned earlier will be achieved with a plan equally realistic. Your plan has to have this quality so that it will be easier to adapt as oppose to an out of this world kinda plan.

Some tips how you can start prepping (but first a little poster below!) :-

make an informed decision that THIS is what you want, and THIS is what you will do to achieve it
start practising to say NO especially when you already HAVE a plan for lunch/brought your lunch — you know how tempting those lunch/dinner invites are
incorporate your plans into your personal/family/work schedule so that you don’t get any clash of events ie your 3km morning run coinciding with your kid’s year end school concert! Move it to another day! Jot down your program/plan in your organiser. Its a crucial part in making sure you don’t miss crucial items in your program/plan –> helps you to be more organised too
logistically you may need to have some additional gears depending on your program. Food/grocery items too. Think ahead of the venue/facilities you will be using. Are they accessible during the time you need to do your workout?
this is an excuse to be more organised at home ! Get your household sorted out so that you can go for your workouts at ease !
be modest in sharing your plan unless its really to motivate others and yourself. not so much of impressing. let Your results do the talking. Most importantly, stay focused and believe that you Will achieve your goal

Step 4

JUST DO IT
Action speaks louder than words. What you waiting for?!

Step 5

Don’t stop doing it once you have achieved it !!!
It’s always easier to continue and maintain those goals you have worked so hard for rather than starting all over again

So there you have it, 5 steps to reclaiming your fitness and health goals! 🙂

BONUS TOPIC BELOW

If you want to know more about the type of plans available out there, check out a little brief we have for you here:-

Losing weight/reduce body fat/Diet Kinda Plan :

Fad diet to achieve weight goals fast? You may hear alien-like sounding diet plans from friends who have or sort of have tried them. Or something you came across on YouTube? If you have any medical or health concern at the moment check with your doctor first what’s the best diet recommendation for you. I won’t say fad diets are unsafe, but you need to be sure as it involves your well-being.
Some fad diet restricts the body of certain nutrition and also fuel source. As each of us are individuals living in different environment ie working mom/dad, athletes, retiree, teenagers etc, meeting our body’s essential need incl nutrition, fuel, rest etc is different and unique. Restricting certain essential nutrition? Does the cons outweighs the pros? Think again.
Look for a meal/diet plan which is REALISTIC, not too extra out of the ordinary and not hard on the pocket (head on to your local wet market or weekend market for a good bargain for all your freshies!)
Plans which works for you. How would you know? The one easiest to incorporate to your daily routine! If you have an office job, your plan should work around it. If not, don’t simple discard it, perhaps with 1-2 genius workaround you can actually use it
Remember , losing weight (and fitting back into old clothes) in essence is about eating the right food in the right amount to lose weight and to move more –> On the long run, a good plan is the one which is sustainable and can be used even after the plan has been execute and goals achieved.

Get into shape/Be fitter/Complete a sports (swim, bike, run or any sports) event Kinda Plan

There are lots of plans available out there. Don’t panic. You don’t necessarily need to purchase the latest running magazine or invest on a book on training. You can borrow magazine and books on running guide (if running is your goal) from a friend, and get flipping to get the right plan for you. Online ? Reliable website think Runners World, Beginner Triathletes for a plan.
Plans in books and online sources normally have training plans for various programs for different levels ie beginner , intermediate and advances, free or paid.
If you are targeting to participate in a big event (think the biggest running or triathlon event in your country), the event website sometimes may include training plans for participants and also training/racing tips. These plans are generally one size fits all. You generally need a good base before starting with one
Have a certified coach as a buddy ? Make good use of em (in a good way). And if you don’t mind investing a little, a hired certified coach works too. Why I mentioned certified here is that there are many self-proclaimed coaches out there and you should be putting your hard earned $$ to the right and reliable instructors/coaches
Already nailed down a plan? get the plotting into your calendar/organiser. Countdown from the final week to the 1st week and ensure nothing major comes in between . More critically there no major events which you should try not to do as its counter productive to whatever you’ve worked so far ie taking part in a tough race during recovery week. Chances are you don’t fully recover and slip off from your initial goals
Be creative and flexible in planning when/where to do your workouts. Gym facility available in your work place? Pack your gym bag to work 🙂 No excuses 🙂

If you don’t really care about no plans, read on !

Eat healthier/Want to just be physically fit and healthy/Doctor’s recommendation (on health and diet in general)

I mentioned in a few paras above, in essence you should be eating well and be moving more.
If you have not been ‘moving’, start making changes in your lifestyle including planning a week/a day ahead of what to do etc so that you can slot in those workout sessions. Start moving!
I will not recommend subscribing to a gym as the first step to this. My recommendation is to work with what you have first ie the office gym, the public pool, the stadium track behind your house, or the hiking trails nearby. Parks are not only for kids, they’re for everyone. Have a gym at your condo/apartment? Its already paid for so what’s the wait?!
Majority of us underutilised our gym membership. So have that as a last option and if you really need it only. But if you do subscribe to a gym,there are plenty of gym machines, classes and also certified trainers who can guide you
As for your meal plan, make sure you have plenty of greens in your meals, fruits. Protein and fat are essential. Go easy on the carb.
Switch to alternatives is brown rice/pasta instead of the regular white, same goes to bread. Brown sugar instead of white. Steamed vs deep friend, and home-made vs eating out.
Fast food? Be weary of the ‘healthy’ breakfast set and those oily fries. It will be a waste to your hard effort to spoil it with fast food which normally are processed, low in fibre, high in sugar and salt content.

All the best !

-missjewelz-