Before I formed a plan to lose weight and get fit, I had started and failed numerous times. It wasn't that I didn't know the steps I needed to take, it was that I allowed myself to think I might never reach my goals, or that reaching them was too difficult of a process.
It can be overwhelming in the beginning. There are so many people telling you to do this or that and miraculously you will lose weight and be fit with very little effort on your part. The reality is much different and without proper mental planning, more than likely you will begin to give into frustration, which often leads to abandoning your fitness goals altogether.
What do I mean by mental planning?
I think of mental planning as setting an ultimate goal along with several benchmark goals or smaller goals that will be reachable in a shorter amount of time. Realizing that you will have setbacks along the way, but conditioning your mind to allow a setback to be part of the process and not the end of it.
During my journey to fitness, I developed a few mental phrases I would repeat to myself when I was feeling like giving up, the one that still resonates to this day and urges me to continually move forward is "if not now, when?". It's a good question to ask yourself.
Think of all those plans for fitness routines and diets that were started and abandoned within a few weeks often leaving you feeling worse than before you started.
I took a full week before starting my plan to mentally prepare myself.
I wrote down my goals, started a food journal that honestly showed how much food I was eating each day, then I planned ways to move past my first setback without giving up.
As it turned out, what worked for me was intentionally planning a 'setback' dinner. Two weeks into my program, I planned a dinner at my favorite restaurant and indulged without regret. The plan I had come up with was to allow myself the indulgence without guilt, provided I got right back on track the next day.
For me, this plan worked. I felt like I was controlling what may have been a setback had I not planned it. Once I got past that I knew I could plan my actions instead of giving in to a craving that left me feeling out of control and ultimately giving up.
Keeping a journal was also helpful, on a hard day, reading about successful days can help you reaffirm your commitment.
Plan for setbacks as much as you plan for successes and you, like me, will reach your fitness goals. I lost 84 pounds and am convinced without the right mindset, it would not have been possible.
It can be overwhelming in the beginning. There are so many people telling you to do this or that and miraculously you will lose weight and be fit with very little effort on your part. The reality is much different and without proper mental planning, more than likely you will begin to give into frustration, which often leads to abandoning your fitness goals altogether.
What do I mean by mental planning?
I think of mental planning as setting an ultimate goal along with several benchmark goals or smaller goals that will be reachable in a shorter amount of time. Realizing that you will have setbacks along the way, but conditioning your mind to allow a setback to be part of the process and not the end of it.
During my journey to fitness, I developed a few mental phrases I would repeat to myself when I was feeling like giving up, the one that still resonates to this day and urges me to continually move forward is "if not now, when?". It's a good question to ask yourself.
Think of all those plans for fitness routines and diets that were started and abandoned within a few weeks often leaving you feeling worse than before you started.
I took a full week before starting my plan to mentally prepare myself.
I wrote down my goals, started a food journal that honestly showed how much food I was eating each day, then I planned ways to move past my first setback without giving up.
As it turned out, what worked for me was intentionally planning a 'setback' dinner. Two weeks into my program, I planned a dinner at my favorite restaurant and indulged without regret. The plan I had come up with was to allow myself the indulgence without guilt, provided I got right back on track the next day.
For me, this plan worked. I felt like I was controlling what may have been a setback had I not planned it. Once I got past that I knew I could plan my actions instead of giving in to a craving that left me feeling out of control and ultimately giving up.
Keeping a journal was also helpful, on a hard day, reading about successful days can help you reaffirm your commitment.
Plan for setbacks as much as you plan for successes and you, like me, will reach your fitness goals. I lost 84 pounds and am convinced without the right mindset, it would not have been possible.