Overcoming Health & Fitness Obstacles
If you're working on improving your health and fitness, you're bound to face some obstacles along the way. Whether it's a busy schedule that makes it hard to find time for exercise, or a lack of motivation when you're just not feeling it, we all have to deal with challenges that can stand in our way.
But the good news is, there are ways to overcome these obstacles and get back on track.
With a little planning and effort, you can make sure that nothing gets in the way of your health and fitness goals.
Here are some common obstacles, and our tips for overcoming them:
1. Finding time for exercise
If you're struggling to find time to fit in exercise, try to schedule it into your week like any other appointment. Put it in your calendar and make sure you stick to it. If you can't make it to the gym, there are plenty of other ways to get active, like going for a walk or run, or doing an at-home workout.
2. Staying motivated
It's normal to have ups and downs when it comes to motivation. But there are a few things you can do to stay on track. First, set yourself realistic goals that you can actually achieve. Nothing is more demotivating than setting goals that are impossible to reach. Second, find an exercise buddy or group to help keep you accountable. And finally, make sure you're enjoying yourself. Choose activities that you like doing, so that working out doesn't feel like a chore. Some of our Clients at Unit 11 find that a Success tracker helps them. This is where you keep a calendar/diary tally of each day you take positive action steps towards your goals. Seeing the streak of ticks can be very motivating - you won't want to break the chain!
3. Dealing with illness and injuries
If you get injured, it's important to listen to your body and give yourself time to recover. But that doesn't mean you have to stop being active altogether. There are plenty of exercises you can do that won't aggravate your injury. And once you're feeling better, slowly start adding more intensity back into your workouts. You can also choose to focus and prioritise your nutrition during times of illness and injury, because eating a nutritionally optimised healthy diet will help your body heal.
4. Balancing health and fitness with other commitments
It's important to find a balance between your health and fitness goals and other commitments in your life. If you're struggling to make time for exercise, try to find ways to fit it into your day-to-day life. For example, you could walk or cycle to work, or take the stairs instead of the lift. And if you can't fit in a full workout, don't worry. Even a 10-minute fitness session can make a difference.
Dealing with setbacks
No matter how well you plan, there will always be times when things don't go according to plan. Maybe you miss a workout, or you eat something that you're not supposed to. It's important to remember that setbacks are normal and they happen to everyone. The key is to not let them derail your whole plan. Look at what you CAN do, rather than what you can't or didn't, and get back on track as soon as you can.
When obstacles do come up, it's important to have a plan for how to deal with them.
This is where a resilience plan comes in. A personal resilience plan can help you overcome any obstacle that comes your way.
Here's how to create yours:
1. First, identify your main goals. What do you want to achieve?
2. Once you know your goals, think about what might stand in your way. What challenges or obstacles do you think you might face?
3. For each challenge, come up with a few possible solutions.
Think about what might stand in your way and how you'll deal with it. For example, if you know you often travel for work and won't be able to make it to the gym, a solution might be to pack some workout gear and plan to do some exercises in your hotel room. Or if you're worried about getting off track during holidays, make a list of healthy foods you'll eat and healthy activities you'll do, so you can stay on track.
4. When a challenge crops up, choose one of the solutions that you think will work best for you and put it into action.
5. Evaluate how well your resilience plan worked and make any necessary adjustments for the future.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 until you find a suite of solutions that works for you.
By planning and being prepared for anything, you can make sure that obstacles don't stand in the way of achieving your health and fitness goals.
If you're finding it hard to stick to your health and fitness goals, remember that you don't have to do it alone. Our team at Unit 11 is here to help. We offer group fitness classes & coaching and nutrition support guaranteed to help you reach your goals. We also have our very own Certified Mindset Coach, Katie, who can help you overcome any deeper brain blocks that might be holding you back.
Do you already have a resilience plan? What challenges have you faced so far and how did you overcome them? Let me know over on Facebook
Cheering you on,
Sean & The Unit 11 Team