Every so often, even the most avid of gym bunnies lose motivation and find themselves spending their evenings in front of the television rather than on the treadmill, lifting weights or stretching their glutes. It’s vital that you try and get yourself out of this rut so you can return to your exercise routine. Everyone wants to be in good shape, but you need to be willing to put the work in to get to your dream physique. Depending on your ideal body shape, whether bodybuilder, toned or athletic, your route will bespoke to you.
Some people love the allure of the gym, the banging tunes, the equipment and the people. Others like to be in their own zone and treat the gym as nothing more than a means to an end. Finding your mojo is key to ensure that you can get trim fast. Once you have reignited your passion for fitness, there are four simple things that you can try to ensure that you feel the burn and get fit fast.
Diet
While heading to the gym is part of your fitness journey, you also need to look at your diet. Those cheeky almond croissants on the way to work every Friday simply won’t do. And the Chinese takeaway at the weekend can undo all of your good work at the gym. You need to make a concerted effort, not to go on a diet, but to change up your entire way of eating for the long term. Diets are faddy and will only make you crave what you cannot have. Altering what you eat, how you eat and why you eat will lead to a more worthwhile and sustainable change.
Of you adore candy bars, have them, but in moderation. Buy yourself one a week and decide when you will have it. Once it’s gone, it is gone and you cannot have any more in that seven day period. Vices that are banished can lead to binge eating and falling off the wagon in spectacular fashion.
Diet needs to go hand in hand with exercise to ensure your fitness levels remain high, and to make sure that you remain in good health. Make a list of everything that you eat in a week and start checking out the fat and sugar content; don’t worry as much about calorie counting. Consider what your plates of food look like and change them up. Carbohydrates like rice, potatoes and pasta often make up over half of our plate. You need to cut this to a quarter and supplement your carb allowance with extra vegetables. There’s nothing better than experimenting with veggie side dishes.
Attempt to eat the rainbow, without the skittles. Opt for vegetables of different colors each day to ensure that you pack yourself an antioxidant punch. Go for beetroot, red peppers, courgette, some kale and a few carrot crudites. Achieve your five portions of fruit and vegetables every day and you will achieve good health.
We can often become bogged down in diets and fads. Instead, focus on cooking your food and planning your meals in advance. If you are aiming to build muscle mass, eat plenty of protein and head to a supplement store to find a supplement that helps to repair your muscles quicker or helps you to build muscle mass faster.
Exercise
If you aren’t eager to get yourself back in the gym, you need to consider why. Is it because you get injured easily? Do you dislike the trainers there? Or is the equipment getting old? If you need to find yourself a new gym and start a new membership, do it. When ready to head back to the gym, take a pal. This can help motivate you and get you off of the sofa, into your kit and onto the treadmill. You can even add an element of friendly competition and race on the rowers, see who can do the most bicep curls and carry out a plank test. You might even be keen to take a couple of classes to add a touch of fun to your gym sessions.
Focus on the type of body shape you want to achieve and think about the muscles you want to work. If you want to lose the flab on your arms, but you don’t want too much muscle mass, boxercise will be more beneficial than lifting weights. If you want stronger thighs and a stronger core, consider balancing exercises as well as heading on the leg press machine.
To find your motivation, you may need to book a few sessions with a personal trainer. These knowledgeable professionals are the best people to call on if you want to get trim fast. They will put you through your paces for an hour and make you burn the maximum amount of calories that you can. They are keen to see you shift the pounds. Personal trainers will set up bespoke exercise plans and will advise on nutrition. They will take measurements of your hips, waist, neck, thighs and arms as a benchmark. When you start seeing the inches decrease, the pounds disappearing and your clothes fitting better, you will be more motivated to continue.
Lifestyle
We all need a boost sometimes to help us get trim. Exercise doesn’t have to be gym bound all the time. Consider getting off the bus one or two stops earlier than usual and walking a little further to your destination. If you usually drive for short journeys, consider riding your bike instead if safe to do so. Head to the park and kick a ball around. Enjoy venturing to the sports hall to take part in some team sports activities. Even if you’ve never played soccer, basketball or softball before, there are plenty of clubs that welcome beginners.
Think about your lifestyle and use every opportunity to get a bit more active, use up just a few more calories and seek out healthier alternatives to the fast food that you enjoy. Get yourself off of social media and consider a full on technology detox. This may sound extreme, but if you worked out how much time you spent in a sedentary position just scrolling through your Facebook feed you may be surprised.
Instagram does nothing for your self esteem. Your feed will be full of fake images that are perfectly filtered using Amaro or Holga settings. Some selfies will be airbrushed and photoshopped to create a seemingly aspirational image that is unrealistic and nigh on impossible to achieve. Forget wasting your time on these apps, put your tablet away and do more activities that are based in real life interests. Connect more with friends, go out for dinner, head to the movies and enjoy venturing outdoors for a barbecue every now and then. While this might not appear to help you get trim fast, it will lift your mood, enhance your self esteem and help you to regain your confidence. With greater confidence, you’ll head to the gym more often and be more inclined to have a go at a new HIIT class or spin exercise.
Getting trim fast may seem like an uphill battle and it can be difficult to look too far into the future. However, when you start to see your weight dropping, you feel better about your new healthier diet, and you look more alert, fresher and begin to turn heads for all the right reasons, you will find yourself eager to continue with your new fitness regime.