Are you considering a new workout and diet plan? If you are, you are not at all alone. Every January, gyms across the United States fill up as people flock in looking to get started on their New Year’s resolutions. Not all of them stay so committed and the places are generally pretty empty by Valentine’s Day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has data to back all of that up. There are ways to stick to your guns, stay with your workout plan and get the great beach body you want. Here are some tips to keep you motivated.
- Take pictures of yourself before you start your plan. No one likes the way they look when they first start a workout plan. You do not have that great beach body yet so do not let your initial photos send you to the Krispy Kreme. Take the photos, weigh yourself and get your basic measurements before you begin your beach body workout plan. This gives you a jumping off spot. You will be happy you did this later when you are seeing results. Many fitness experts recommend taking photos every 30 days to monitor and measure your progress.
- Limit you time with your scale to one a week. People’s weight fluctuates day by day so weighing yourself every day can be very counterproductive and end up hurting you in the long run. There can also be other factors at play here. How much salt you consume from one day to the next can have a big impact on your weight each day. Pick a day and a time and weigh yourself every seven days. This may make you less likely to obsess over the numbers on the scale. Getting a great beach body is nit just about how much you weigh but how you feel and how you look.
- Do not cut out all of your favorite foods. Sure you want to lose weight but have you ever tried the exercise that goes like this: Do not think about bears. Try to not think about bears for five minutes. What do you end up doing? Obsessing about bears for five minutes. The same principle holds when it comes to weight loss. If you make all of your favorite foods off limits, you will think about them all of the time and then you will fail. It happens to just about everyone who tries to go cold turkey on the things they love to eat. Work on getting healthier versions of what you like. Try to eat a diet of mostly lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and veggies. If you have a slice of pizza, that is ok.
- Plan your meals. They say that a failure to plan is a plan to fail and that is very true when it comes to your diet. Every week, make a plan and buy the foods you will want to eat. Do as much prep early so that during the week when you are hungry, it is easier, faster and cheaper to go with the healthy option you have already set up. This is how you succeed with your diet.
- Prepare to be sore. Now you will experience some soreness and that should be welcomed not feared. This means your workouts are working, Now, this does not mean you should workout to the point of hurting yourself. Sustaining an injury is a sure fire way to derail beach body programs and will prevent you from getting that great beach body you want. When you know to expect to be sore, it can make dealing with it a lot easier.
- Do not beat yourself up if you fail a little. No one is perfect. If you eat crap one day or do not work out the way you planned, that is ok. Just do not let one clip up derail your entire plan. You can make it. There is always tomorrow and no one has ever been totally perfect in their adherence to a fitness plan. Do not beat yourself up just get back on track.
You can get the great beach body you want and become healthier in at the same time
