In my fitness consulting business, I get the opportunity to talk with people from all walks of life about their health, fitness, and weight loss goals. Whether their goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, stick to a diet plan or program, improve their cardiovascular health, or simply to maintain their current fitness level they all have one common enemy---TIME.
For most of us, the #1 challenge in the quest to stay in shape and/or lose weight is not exercising itself but being able to actually fit an exercise program into our busy schedules.
So how do you do it? How do you balance the demands of family, career, important errands, relationships, organizational responsibilities, and working out? I have found that there are five keys that will help you to be able to fit a consistent workout plan into your already hectic life.
When you fail to plan you plan to fail. Don't try to haphazardly fit your workouts into your schedule without any rhyme or reason. Don't think you're guilty? If you've ever told yourself "I'll workout as soon as I get some time", you were in direct violation of this key principle.
In order to set yourself up for success, you will need to take the time to literally write your workouts into your weekly schedule. In order to be effective, you will want to be following your exercise program at least 3 days per week. Anything less would be kidding yourself.
Therefore, right in the midst of all of your appointments, "to-do" lists, etc., should be a written plan for your weekly workout routine, so that you will never be in the dark as to when you committed to yourself to go.
Take advantage of the fact that it only takes 3-5 days per week to put together an effective, results-producing workout. One trick to help you pull it all off is to workout on the weekends. One of the benefits to this course of action is that your schedule is more flexible and under your control during this time.
What is also means is that when the hectic weekdays roll back around, you will only be responsible for working out 1-3 days during the work week.
One of the biggest mistakes that even many people who have scheduled a workout program into their schedule make is allowing it to be bumped off of their schedule to easily.
Although things will occassionally come up that will cause you to have to reschedule the workout you had planned, you must be vigilant in making sure that only the most important emergencies are allowed to temporarily take you off of your plan.
In the event that one of those important emergencies does happen and you can't make it to your workout, reschedule with yourself to make it up on the next possible day that you are available to do so. If your own health, fitness, and efforts to lose weight are not a priority to you, they certainly won't be so to anyone else.
Don't go at this alone. Let the important people in your life know what you are up to. Your spouse or love interest, parents, children, co-workers, and close friends will often pitch in and help you to meet your fitness or weight loss commitment to yourself if you make them aware and ask for their support.
Leverage these relationships to delegate some of your normal responsibilities or even allow you to shift appointments that you have with them as you restructure your schedule for your workout. If any of them are into exercise or trying to lose weight themselves, don't hesitate to form a buddy system with them as you move forward with your program.
No matter who you are, there will be times in your workout program that you just aren't able to keep it up as you would like due to outside demands. Don't be too tough on yourself when that happens.
Remember that it is what you do consistently over a long period of time, not what you do in spurts, that truly counts. Just make sure that you get back on the horse full force as soon as you can and continue to press forward, doing your best to avoid slacking off again.
No matter what goals you have for health, fitness, or weight loss, you CAN fit an effective exercise program into that hectic schedule of yours and be amazingly successful at getting the exact results that you want!
Your Lifestyle and Fitness Coach,
Lawrence Cole
yourbestbodynow.com
Lawrence Cole is a Lifestyle and Fitness Consultant based out of Pasadena, CA. He has over 10 years of health and fitness experience and designing simple, effective nutritional strategies to help individuals achieve their personal best internal health and physical conditioning.
monthly home cleaning Morton Grove ...To lose weight and get in shape you must have... Read More
According to Veronica Atkins, the widow of Dr. Robert Atkins,... Read More
I am so proud of you and your accomplishments. You're... Read More
What is negative calorie effect? Whatever food we eat,... Read More
If you are among the millions of people searching for... Read More
Is this even possible?Well hold on to your seat because... Read More
Be Prepared. For the Boy Scouts it means you are... Read More
1. Increase your water intake to at least 1 gallon... Read More
A really easy, fast way to weight loss is walking... Read More
Making the Decision:Whether you are interested losing ten pounds that... Read More
Finally - you are alone. No one else is around.... Read More
Remember there's more to you than meets the eye. You've... Read More
When you begin the decision making process to have Weight... Read More
Do a little people-watching, next time you're in the grocery... Read More
Are you overweight?Most people are afraid to admit they are.It... Read More
What's a Low Carb Diet Really Mean?When I hear low... Read More
As of the writing of this article, May 16, 2005,... Read More
If your low carb diet is going nowhere, maybe its... Read More
Atkins Nutritionals recently announced that they are filing for Chapter... Read More
Many celiacs lose weight before they are diagnosed; indeed it... Read More
Do you know anybody who does not wish to get... Read More
To begin this article I must start with it's conclusion.The... Read More
It's the travel time, meaning hours spent sedentary. It prepares... Read More
With the number of people suffering from obesity rising so... Read More
In our never ending search for the illusive "Fountain of... Read More
family-safe home cleaners Arlington Heights ...It is well known that about two-thirds of the U.S.... Read More
Many people search for a pill, a special diet or... Read More
In recent years, carbohydrates have been labeled as the nutrition... Read More
Carnitine is simply the safest and healthiest supplement you can... Read More
Although liposuction is one of the most commonly performed cosmetic... Read More
What is low carb?We've all heard about the Atkins diet... Read More
(But What You Need to Know if You Want to... Read More
Just one more day I can do this, I told... Read More
Making the Decision:Whether you are interested losing ten pounds that... Read More
If you're a low carb diet enthusiast, you've probably tried... Read More
There is no question that having a massage makes you... Read More
Every day you walk down the street it is becoming... Read More
Using healthy low carb recipes are an important part of... Read More
If you want any weight loss program to work you... Read More
Fat Loss Tip #4) Eat More ProteinYes, it's important to... Read More
A common claim from gastric bypass detractors is that after... Read More
The revolution is here. Weight Loss as we know it... Read More
In 1994, I had a RNY surgery. At 350 lbs... Read More
America is a nation of self-disclosers, amiably acceptant of our... Read More
Every weight loss surgery patient I've met said they at... Read More
If you have been watching your weight all year, you... Read More
Changing our eating behaviour is one of the critical lifestyle... Read More
The goal of many athletes and exercisers is to "get... Read More
Going away for your holidays will also bring with it... Read More
Activity means both mental and physical activity.Mental activity is similar... Read More
Weight Loss |