You step on the scale and the number repels you. The epiphany strikes. “Enough is enough,” you declare. You march into your local fitness center and sign up for a membership. Perhaps a pal in the same boat joins with you. After all, if you have a workout partner, your chances of sticking with the program drastically increase. For the first few sessions, you’re unstoppable. A week later, one of you can’t make it. “No problem,” you insist. By the end of the month, you haven’t swiped your membership card in more days than you’re comfortable admitting. By the next month, your gym bag is dusty and you’re five pounds heavier.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. For most of us, starting a new workout regimen is easy. Sticking with it, however, often seems next to impossible. Good news: it’s not. If you’ve repeatedly tried –and subsequently failed– to make exercise a habit, consider these tips to turn exercise into a habit.
- Reconsider your goal. Although any excuse to exercise is a good one, choosing to get active simply for the sake of dropping that lingering 15 pounds isn’t enough. Why? Because after you’ve reached your goal, you’re more likely to stop exercising. Change your thinking, and make fitness your goal. The goal should be to get into the exercise habit, not simply to lose 15 pounds. This way, you’ll continue with your fitness habit long after you’ve dropped those extra pounds. This will make it much more difficult to put the weight back on.
- Start small. Jumping right into five days of hour-long cardio classes each week is a great way to set yourself up for disappointment. Start off with a few 30-minute walks each week. Then work up to daily walks. Then try jogging. Soon, you’ll be ready for those cardio classes. Again, start small. Try one or two a week, and work your way up from there. Successful systems rarely happen overnight. Be reasonable. Start small.
- Stick to the script. It’s dangerously easy to stray from the fitness path. Knowing this, it’s wise to create a backup plan. Frequently, the days we don’t want to work out are our best days. You received a promotion. Congratulations! You decide to “reward” yourself to a day off from the gym. But are you rewarding yourself, really? Nope. Being able to fit into your skinny jeans? Now that’s a true reward. Naturally, there are times you’ll be under the weather. Unless you’re puking your guts out, or highly contagious, if it’s a scheduled workout day, stop by the gym and keep your activity light. Believe it or not, you’ll almost always feel a little better.
- Don’t give up. You’d be surprised by how many workout “fanatics” aren’t, in fact, remotely fanatical about working out. They dislike it just as much as you do. Their secret: they just don’t give up. Remember that it takes time to make exercise a habit. Increasing your fitness level will unquestionably become easier over time. Next thing you know, habit will take over, and you’ll be fit as a fiddle. Now lace up those shoes and get moving. You can do it!