8 Tricks To Accomplishing Your Fitness Goals

Every year starting January 1st, people make new year goals to get in better shape. According to an online study, after six-weeks, 50% of people give up on their fitness goals. After 90 days, 81% of people have given up on their original new year goals.

The number continues to increase with time, leaving only around 11% of people sticking with their original goal for the full year.

With this low number of successes, the question becomes, why is it so damn hard to accomplish your fitness goals? Why do we fail at such a high rate? Why do we fail, try, and fail again when it comes to fitness?

While I am not a doctor or psychologist and don’t have the proper academic answer for these questions, I do have a starting point. It is to share some TRICKS to be MINDFUL about when trying to reach your fitness goals. 

Over the last ten years, I have worked with hundreds of clients as a personal trainer or consultant to help them reach their goals. Many reached their goals, and many failed.

I was extremely mindful and thoughtful of why some fail and why some succeed. I spent time thinking of the TOP 8 TRICKS to maintaining your fitness goals for a lifetime. If just one TRICK is helpful or an eye-opener, this is worth reading.

1. I WILL START AGAIN ON MONDAY– If you set a fitness goal you will slip up. You will miss a workout, and you will eat something unhealthy. When you do, move on and get back on track the next day. Don’t turn one bad day into a bad week. Please do not approach your goals as an all or nothing. When you slip up, don’t allow yourself to START AGAIN ON MONDAY. If you do this, you will be starting again on Monday your whole life. Maybe you don’t get 100% on the week, but 90-80% is still progress!

2. DO WORKOUTS YOU ENJOY– There is not one magic workout program. The secret for sustaining a workout program is doing workouts you enjoy. You will never catch me training for a marathon because I don’t enjoy running long distances. I also never expect my clients to love boxing workouts as I do. Find workouts you are excited about doing (yoga, lifting, running, cycling, hiking, playing sports, group classes, etc).

3.  DIETS DIE- I cringe when people tell me they are on a DIET. Diets are restricting and not sustainable. Do you know anyone who has been on a DIET for their whole life? Diets can get you jump-started, but they DIE. The reason people start and stop DIETS over and over is that they are unrealistic to do over a lifetime. At some point, DIETS leave you discouraged, forcing you to give up completely, and go back to your old eating habits. Instead of focusing on a DIET, focus on EATING HEALTHY. If you focus on EATING HEALTHY it will give you the freedom to enjoy life, and eat what you want on occasion. It is vital for lifelong success that you occasionally eat the cake, ice-cream, pizza, pasta, etc. Also, allow yourself to indulge at special events like weddings, parties, or birthdays. It will make your lifelong goal of EATING HEALTHY more sustainable when you don’t feel restricted and deprived of certain foods. (What eating healthy looks like is for another blog 🙂 

4. PAY MORE ATTENTION TO HOW YOU FEEL THEN THE WEIGHT ON THE SCALE- When you start to work out and eat healthy your weight will fluctuate. It will drop, increase, and will stay stagnant for a while. There are many factors to why this happens. They vary from gaining muscle, to what you ate, to your sleep that night. All of this is normal. If you only focus on the weight on the scale it is easy to give up. Pay attention to how you feel when you work out and eat healthily. Do you have more energy? Do your clothes fit better? Are you in a better mood? Are you gaining more self-confidence? The list goes on. If you do this and do not obsess over the number on the scale, you will see the number drop with time.

5. HAVE A SUPPORT TEAM– The most important support team should come from the people living in your home. In my experience, it is challenging when you are trying to create better lifestyle habits for yourself, and your partner/household is on the other spectrum. This does not mean they need to be doing exactly what you are doing, but there needs to be an understanding and respect for what you are trying to accomplish. Your support team needs to be your biggest supporters and people who want you to succeed.

6. SET REALISTIC SMALL GOALS FIRST- As a society, we are flooded with the instant lose weight quick ads everywhere you look. Lose 30 pounds in 30 days, or take this pill and watch the weight melt off (approved by Shark Tank). Believing this will only discourage you when the same results don’t happen for you. You have to be realistic about who you are and where you are in your fitness level. Avoid comparison on where other people are at in their fitness journey and set your own REALISTIC goals. For example, if you only work out six times a year, it’s hard to say you will work out six days a week next week. Start small! Start with a goal of one day a week you will work out, and if you accomplish the goal add more. The same goes for eating. Start with a goal that this week I will avoid all trans fats (just an example). If you accomplish that, allow yourself to set another goal. Only allow yourself to set a new goal if you accomplish the first SMALL GOAL. Going to 0-100 rarely happens and causes burnout/frustration. Setting small goals will help to create better habits. Once you create better habits, you are on a path to a healthier lifestyle.

7. GET YOUR SLEEP– Try to shoot for 7-8 hours of sleep a night. A good rest starts with a good nighttime routine to wind down if you have trouble sleeping (meditating, reading, praying, shut down all electronics, a hot shower, etc). A lack of sleep can affect hormones that regulate your insulin and blood sugar levels, making it easier to gain or not lose weight. Having a lack of sleep will also make it harder to have the energy to work out.

8. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS- There has to be a deeper meaning for WHY you want to accomplish your fitness goals than just wanting to look good. You have to have a deeper motivation on the hard days to stay committed to your fitness goals. If it is only about your physical appearance it is harder to stay committed. The deeper meaning and motivation is only something you know. Maybe it is to set a good example for your kids that watch you every day. Maybe it is to be able to play with your grandkids. Maybe it is to be in a better mood and more enjoyable to be around with your friends and family. Maybe it is to be a person that practices what they preach to help inspire a future generation. Whatever that is for you, I encourage you to put a picture or reminder of YOUR WHY where you can see it every day.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you found one TRICK you can use to help accomplish your fitness goals. Happy 2021!