Achieve Your Fitness Goals For 2016

Whatever you want to achieve in terms of fitness for 2016, there is still plenty of time left for you to put some realistic goals together to assist your quest for self-improvement and general fitness. Perhaps you are currently looking into a variety of different charity runs and are considering running your very first marathon, or you are simply just wanting to look fabulous just before we move into dress season this spring.

No matter how challenging your goals are, the only person who is responsible as to whether you achieve them or not, is you. It goes without saying that you can always count on the support and love of your loved ones, but you really need to remember that on those dark mornings when it is just you and the empty street, that you are doing this for you- a better you.

If you have decided to embark on a healthy regime following the start of the New Year but are finding yourself in need of support or motivation, or even if you are currently considering building up your levels of fitness, these top tips will certainly give you more than a helping to achieve your dreams.

Be Kind to Yourself: Accept There Will Be Setbacks

We all know just how disheartening and discouraging setbacks can be, but something that I have learnt is that they are perfectly normal and a natural path on the quest to fitness. It is part of discovering yourself, to breaking down those barriers that may in some way, be holding you back.

If you are really struggling, then perhaps try to visualise how you would like to look and feel and then try to picture the path that you need to take to get there. As I am sure you can imagine, it is going to be far from easy and you will need to prepare yourself. The most important thing is not that you fail but how you respond; treat yourself kindly and your body will respond accordingly.

Make Sure That You Enjoy Yourself 

While I am sure that a lot us would prefer to perhaps sit on the sofa reading of our favourite books or swapping style tips with our friends, sadly it isn’t always possible! If no one has told you before, exercise is supposed to be fun; obviously it is going to be more than a challenge but anything that is worth obtaining has never been simple and easy to grasp with two hands.

Exercise and getting yourself in shape don’t have to be a chore and should instead be something that you look forward to and can’t live without. If you are someone who prefers to exercise outdoors, then why not make sure that you run along a route that has a special place in your hear and that you love seeing? It really can make such a difference; perhaps it is running up a hill you went walking on as a child? Imagine reaching the top of that hill just in time for sunrise each morning- what a lovely way to start your day!

Make Sure You Have A Plan

While many of us certainly have the desire and motivation to lose the pounds and fit into that dress we have been trying to squeeze ourselves into for the last few months, it is no good unless you have a firm plan to achieve your goals.

If you are something of a relative newbie to fitness then it is a good idea to invest as much time as possible in trying to read up on the latest fitness trends, dietary recommendations and workout routines.  Alternatively, you could even find yourself a personal trainer and have them create you a workout regime to follow.

Keep Track of Your Progress

This one is particularly important and will be your saviour during those dark days when you are finding it a challenge to get yourself to the gym or out running. It is really important that you clearly record your progress as you go along; this can either be in the form of keeping a note of your improvements as you go along, as well as taking photos of yourself to ensure that your progress really can be documented. 

Many people fail to notice just how much progress they have made as they embark on a fitness regime, this is due to the fact that you get so used to seeing your own body every day and therefore are unable to actually see how much progress you have made. 

However, if you are one of those people who seem to live an incredibly busy life and genuinely seem to struggle to find time to even think to yourself, then there are a variety of devices out there that will help you record just how much exercise you have done and calories burnt!

Make Sure That You Get Enough Sleep

As you are probably aware, your body requires rest in order to improve its fitness, this is particularly the case if you are looking to increase the amount of muscle you have or tone up. Sadly with all the trappings of modern life, this can be more than a little difficult!

Take the time to look at your sleeping space and try to ensure that it is as minimalistic as possible, devoid of any distractions that would likely keep you awake at night; you are looking to create your own little haven in your home where you can relax and be assured of a good night’s sleep. There are numerous apps you can invest in to record exactly how much sleep you are getting, or alternatively, you could invest in a good quality sleep tracking watch and let it do its thing while you actually manage to get some sleep.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and it's made you think more about them goals you set in January. 

This post was by ThoughtShift

Love Yourself, It's Important

Photos by Nicole Marshall

Everyone has those days, where they feel rubbish about themselves and the way they look. That feeling always happens to me in January.  January has always been a hard month for me, I think it’s because it’s the month that I’m out and about, helping other people reach their goals and not focusing much on myself and my goals. I generally work late nights meaning I don’t see much sunlight, as I’ll be in the office for the full day. Don’t get me wrong, I love helping people reach their goals as I get this sense of achievement and proudness when someone I work with reaches their goal. After January, I always start to focus more on myself and start to look at what I can change in my life, to help me fall in love with myself and my life again.

I thought I would list a few things that I changed towards the end of January or will be changing in February to help motivate myself.

 Join a gym and have a program.

If you read my January favourites – you will know that I joined Pure Gym in Newcastle. At first, I found it hard to fit in the sessions but now I have set times, I go and I plan my classes and what I’m going to on a Monday morning ready for the week ahead. The gym is my ‘me time’ it makes me feel better about myself. I’ve always been one of those people that when I’m exercising I feel more motivated about what is happening around me, I find the gym relaxes me and makes me focus on me – not the things I have no control over.

Focus on my skin

I have always been lucky that my skin has never been really bad but I recently decided that I need to make more of an effort with my skin. My sister got me a lot of Estee Lauder skin care for Christmas which meant that I didn’t have to go out and buy a full range. I started using the range, but I didn’t pay massive attention but now I’m really focusing on looking after my skin. I’m still not great at taking my make up off but I’m working on that.

Look into what I’m eating

I will say that I don’t eat terribly as my mam makes a lot of my meals and I would say 80% of them meals are healthy. I started at the end of January taking a lot of meals to work so I’m not snacking as much but I still do snack but it’s mainly on breakfast cereal bars which aren’t too bad. I bought Lean in 15 by Joe Wicks, at the end of January to try out some new recipes. I’ve always been bad with breakfast but because of an app I downloaded called Fabulous which is about making small changes to your day and making them become new habits. This has helped me drink slightly more water – as I’m terrible at doing this and I’ve started eating breakfast more often.

 Try and spend more time with family, friends and boyfriend.

I recently was given more hours at my job meaning I’m working around 35 hours a week at my coaching job and then I have my part-time retail job at Fenwick Department store. As you can guess, I only get 1 day off which at the minute I spend with my boyfriend as I hardly spend any time with him so  the little time I do have I want to spend with him. I hardly get to see my friends or family and definitely don’t have any me time. After a few weeks of thinking I think I’ve decided to leave my retail job it’s not  100% yet but I think I will be leaving at the end of February as it’s not making me happy about my life and I feel like I’m missing out on so much that is happening because I work too much. I’m hoping having a full weekend off that I will get to see my friends, do day trips out and about and just enjoy my life a bit more with the people I love.

Start having me time.

This is something I started doing with small steps, I started with leaving my phone on my bed side table at 10pm I would love to do this earlier but I’m a bit of a social media lover and find put my phone down really hard. My main me time is while at the gym but I want to start doing it more at home. I’m starting to read more and turning my TV off at 10pm. It could earlier now that Celebrity Big Brother has finished (don’t hate my rubbish TV choice). I’ve learnt over the last few months that having some time by yourself is important, even if that just 30 minutes walking the dog.

 This is a list of things I've started to change or I will be starting to do in February. What do you do for me time? or have you recently got yourself a bit lost how did you change that?