The journey to physical wellness starts with consistency and effort to achieve peak conditioning. The path to that point can be tough, as sacrifices must be made, such lifestyle adjustments including a cleaner diet or strict training program. For some, the restrictions make the journey less enjoyable and they find that it is much harder to maintain their results because once a plateau is reached, the person falls off the wagon. In general, this decline happens because the person has felt that they have missed out on something and have not been to enjoy themselves. I am here to offer a few quick tips to assist in remaining consistent while rewarding yourself along the way.
So here’s my ‘Top 3’ tips to reward yourself while staying fit:
#1 – Avoid fad diets and overly restrictive programs that require deprivation in order to attain the desired results. What I mean here, is that a hyper-restrictive program is usually intended to get a specific result in a short mount of time. Unfortunately, as quickly as the results were achieved, the reverse can happen as well. Consider how unpleasant a 14-day, 1200 calorie per day diet would be…think of all of the things you could not eat during that period and how deprived you would feel by the end of it. My advice here is to understand that such a restrictive program is only good to get you to a certain point and you must have a consistent follow-up program at the ready that is less restrictive with built in treats.
#2 – Show off your results! Do not be afraid to step out and show outing enjoy the hard work you’ve put in to achieve your goals. I recommend investing in better fitting workout gear and upgrade your swagger a bit!
#3 – Incorporate the activities and foods you like into your program. When I began my fitness journey, I understood that in order to maintain any results that I had achieved, I needed to have built in treats for myself. I love gummy bears, so once per week, I sacrificed calories in a meal to have a small bag of gummies. The best thing about the adjustment is that there was no guilt for messing up my diet plan AND I got to enjoy my favorite snack in a sustainable way. I recommend the same for anyone.
To wrap things up, I encourage each individual to create their own plan of attack and try not to force yourself into someone else’s mold. Find a plan that you can sustain for years to come and adjust it as life changes but avoid overly restrictive programs that limit your ability to feel rewarded and proud of your progress.
If you are interested in following along with my journey or contacting my company to sign up or get a training demo, I can be found on social media platforms:
Website – Total Camo Fitness
Facebook – Total Camo Fitness
YouTube – Total Camo Fitness
Phone – (254) 307-1355
I just started my fitness journey and it’s not easy!!! Consistency is definitely key…and knowing that results aren’t overnight.
Before I became a personal trainer, I false-started at least 3 times with getting to my workouts and doing good work. And it cost me dearly! Not only did I miss my goals, I was paying for a membership that I didn’t use. Planet Fitness has gotten quite a bit of cash out of me for free, lol. The wasted money and time motivated me to get into shape and stay that way because as you said, results don’t come overnight.
You’re so right about hitting a plateau and falling off the wagon…been there, done that many times, lol. However, anything worth having or doing requires discipline, consistency, and a bit of sacrifice. I do like that you have built-in rewards.
“Anything worth having…”, you hit the nail on the head right there! Sacrifice is so necessary in fitness because it is so much harder when you try to manipulate the system and not change how you operate to get results. And the rewards are a must…gotta treat myself to gummies or cheesecake on okay, haha!