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.
affordable house cleaning Wilmette ..Generally, weight loss surgery such as the gastric bypass will... Read More
1. Carrying around excess body fat will decrease your energy... Read More
Losing Weight is All About Counting Calories/Carbs and Exercising. Or... Read More
Adaptation is the most important concept I teach. The human... Read More
"Life would be perfect if only I was thin." That... Read More
There are many factors responsible for abdominal fat like processed... Read More
In March 2003 our then 13 year old daughter, Helen,... Read More
Yes, you must be aware of the following 7 points... Read More
The Atkins diet Plan breakfast can usually composed of eggs... Read More
"Hey, you have reduced now, compared to the last time... Read More
It happens every morning when you mosey out of bed,... Read More
Want an after dinner snack? Jealously watching your family consume... Read More
The scourge of obesity has reached such gigantic proportions across... Read More
I'm sure you have pondered this question, for it is... Read More
It's the travel time, meaning hours spent sedentary. It prepares... Read More
Weight loss information is often confusing and misleading. The more... Read More
Many patients of gastric bypass report feeling fearful of succeeding... Read More
I want to talk about the "all or nothing" outlook... Read More
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERS!The health clubs are always racking... Read More
Infrared Radiant Heat (IRRH) is a form of radiation that... Read More
The act of taking the first step is what separates... Read More
Your brain has this really interesting system that is kind... Read More
Just because you're working hard, doesn't mean that you're working... Read More
Stop Weight From Creeping Up By Staying AwareEveryone has small... Read More
Although liposuction is one of the most commonly performed cosmetic... Read More
quick home cleaning Northbrook ..- Are your ideas of obesity and fat control based... Read More
If you're a low carb diet enthusiast, you've probably tried... Read More
For about 50 years now, Americans have been eating low... Read More
It's been called the world's oldest medicine, the miracle fat... Read More
All weight loss diets make you FatThat's right, because on... Read More
Ever wonder if you have a serious problem with binge... Read More
Have you ever seen an overweight rock climber or yoga... Read More
Students today are faced with the serious reality of unwanted... Read More
? Can you give me an exercise that will get... Read More
I have put off writing a motivation article because of... Read More
Fat burners have become very popular in today's society, especially... Read More
In the battle to look good, there's a cosmetic treatment... Read More
The percentage of Americans who are overweight and obese is... Read More
There's one thing that most people forget about when it... Read More
When obesity gets out of hand, unresponsive to dietary, lifestyle... Read More
How to burn fat fast is a question that burns... Read More
Do you know this year Florida will go through a... Read More
Weight Loss tipsAll throughout my childhood and teenage years I... Read More
First off, let me start by saying this list is... Read More
RISING POPULARITYGastric bypass surgery has become a popular surgical procedure... Read More
You've seen them a hundred times: "Before" and "After" pictures.... Read More
"I am going to start a diet tomorrow". How many... Read More
There are many factors that cause us to increase body... Read More
Do you want to lose weight? Of course you do,... Read More
This is the second article in the series, Weight Loss... Read More
Weight Loss |