All clips tagged goals

Finding the perfect balance between work, school, family, friends, exercise, and leisure time is a difficult act to maintain. More often than not, socializing and staying healthy are the first to get put on the backburner. The exhaustion you feel at the end of a busy day is an easy excuse to skip the trip to the gym. When you are in the zone at work or rushing from one class to the next, fast food seems like the quickest and easiest way to stay on track. You want to meet up with your friends, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. Even if this sounds like the endless cycle your everyday life is trapped in, there is a way out. You don’t need to sacrifice mental and physical health for a busy schedule. At the same time, you don’t need to sacrifice friends for exercise and vice versa. There is a way to do both, and we hope these tips will get your balancing act leaning in the right direction!



Meet up for exercise: There are countless benefits to having a workout buddy. You are less likely to skip your workout if you know your friend is meeting you at the gym. Also, exercising with a friend allows you to do two things at once. You get your much-needed workout in, without neglecting your buddies. You and your friend can push each other to work a little harder, while watching the time fly by as you chat and catch up on the latest gossip.



Set goals together: Whether you want to run a 5K, finish a triathlon, or simply improve your diet, find a friend who wants to accomplish a similar feat. Training for a goal is much easier when you have a companion. Plus, there is always the upside of celebrating together when you reach it!



Swap essentials: Staying healthy by your lonesome can get boring, especially when you stick to the same schedule and recipes everyday! You may find yourself wandering off track because you have lost the will to stick to a repetitive routine. Make exercising and healthy eating interesting again by swapping materials such as fitness DVDs, recipes, training tips, health magazine, and pump-up playlists with a friend. Every time the two of you work out, change who gets to pick the routine. You can’t be dreading a workout when you don’t know what’s coming!



Keep a watchful eye on each other: Whether you are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy diet, keeping a food journal of everything you eat will help you meet your goals. A food journal will be more effective if you have a close friend or family member reading over it. Let someone check over your food journal; it will keep you honest and will provide for constructive feedback.



Socialize with health in mind: Instead of meeting your friend up for dinner, plan an active excursion for the weekend. Go for a bike ride, a ski trip, or even just a walk. You and your friend will benefit from the exercise and the chatting!



We all know work and school are an important part of our lives. However, nothing can surpass the importance of commitment to family, friends, and health. Daily interactions with friends and family improve mental health and can add to the length of a lifespan. Exercising and maintaining a healthy diet is also essential for living a long, happy life. In the short run, the combination of the two boosts energy and reduces stress. Not to mention, there is nothing like the support of a close friend when you are trying to reach your goals! So, forget about the excuses; call your friend up, tie your shoes and get going!

It's officially Fall, which means a fresh season and a shot at turning over a new leaf. If your focus on working out has waned, or disappeared altogether, now is the perfect opportunity to hop back on that treadmill with some tenacity - even if it means showing yourself some tough love.



Let the guilt go



Whether you've been absent from the gym for a couple of months, or a couple of years, odds are the guilt you're feeling is more debilitating than the loss of conditioning. It's alright to feel blameworthy - at least for a few minutes. However, don't let these negative thoughts hinder you from getting and staying motivated. Set yourself a time limit to sulk, then deal with your failures and let it go.



Be honest with yourself



To move forward and ensure you don't get caught in another workout slump just as you get started, determine why you took a break in the first place. Did you:

• 
  
  
• Feel too busy?
• 
  
  
• Hit a plateau?
• 
  
  
• Suffer some stress?
• 
  
  
• Get burned out?
• 
  
  

If you're reading these and silently nodding 'yes,' you need a dose of truth serum: these are just excuses. At the time, it might have been an easy way out to placate your guilt, but perhaps you were simply employing a cookie-cutter defense to justify a lack of motivation. First, change your mindset, only then can you change your body for the long haul.



Adjust your expectations



Starting a new workout regimen is exciting, but don't fly out of the gates so fast that you immediately hit a wall. Understand that you're not going to start back up exactly where you left off. While it's a bummer to realize that your past progress is masked by a layer of lounge-chair flub, don't attempt to atone for your sedentary stint by working out twice as hard. Doing so risks loss of energy and focus from over training. Instead:

• 
  
  
• Set attainable goals.
• 
  
  
• Start each workout slowly and finish strong.
• 
  
  
• Listen to your body. Push it when you can, but know when to back off the intensity.
• 
  
  
• Cross-train to keep from focusing all the stress on your target area of training.
• 
  
  
• Reexamine your technique to make sure loss of muscle and cardiovascular fitness hasn't led to poor form.

Update your techniques for staying motivated

Obviously, if you've fallen off the workout wagon, your motivation techniques lacked a little gusto. What once got you going, might not egg you on like it used to. Refurbish your goals and grant yourself new rewards for achievement. Here are some tips that might help you re-focus:

• 
  
  
• Go old school: If you've never tried pairing your tape measurements with some Polaroids, get out the old pen and paper - archaic, I know - and document your starting point. Tracking the changes in your body will help you keep up the hard work.
• 
  
  
• Go high-tech: Alternatively, if Smartphone apps are more your style, download FitSync for Android or Couch to 5K for the iPhone and use them to stay on track.
• 
  
  
• Hold yourself accountable: Believe it or not, making the decision head back to the gym and staying dedicated to these goals are likely the highest hurdles you'll encounter. Much of your exercise program is a mental game. The key is to set the right goals, then follow through.

Start today!



Procrastination is your enemy - so start now, even if it's a short workout. Remember that even a marathon starts with a first step. Don't hesitate to take yours.