If you’re trying to lose weight before undergoing a cosmetic procedure, it can often be hard to find the motivation. Sometimes you just don’t know whether or not you are doing the right thing. Other times, it feels as if you are following the right steps, only to see no results. This can be frustrating and be offputting. Instead of giving up, we’ve given you some tips you can follow to help make your exercise regime more enjoyable and make it last longer.
1. Keep track of your progress
One way to be held accountable for your physical activities is to use a fitness tracker. There are so many options, with many phones having a built-in app which will track data such as the number of steps, as well as allowing you to enter more data. Other options are to wear a fitness tracker, which can track your steps and your sleeping pattern. These apps will allow you to see whether or not you have done enough exercise each day. If you want a wearable tracker, there are plenty to choose from; you’ll definitely be able to find one that doesn’t break your budget and also suits your personal style.
2. Know your exercise goals
It’s fine to enter your data into an app to keep a record of your progress. However, it is important to know how much exercise you should be doing each day. You may look at the numbers and feel good, but it may actually not be enough to cause any results.
Many fitness apps will encourage you to reach 10,000 steps per day. This is a great goal for those who struggle to exercise or those who work in an office all day and will do minimal walking. However, if you are aiming to lose weight, 10,000 steps can often not be enough to achieve your goal. Most of the time, 10,000 steps will help us to maintain our body weight, but if you are wanting to lose weight, you may have to aim for 15,000 to 20,000 steps per day. However, if you have been injured, doing this much exercise may cause you to burn out or even cause the injury to be worse. Make sure you take into account your own personal circumstances when setting your fitness goals.
3. Make sure you are eating the right foods
No matter how much exercise you are doing, if you’re eating the wrong foods you won’t be getting the results you want. Weight loss is all about having more calories burnt off than what is input. If you are eating more than you are burning off, you are never going to lose weight. Make sure that you keep track of your diet and how much food you are eating.
While it’s important to stick to a healthy diet, it’s also important to ensure you don’t undereat. If you’re not eating enough, your body will lose both fat and muscle. Ensure that you eat enough to sustain your body and the amount of exercise you are undertaking.
4. Keep exercise fun
People are often put off the idea of starting to exercise because it’s seen as this horrible thing you have to do. But exercise doesn’t have to be unenjoyable. Instead, find the type of exercise that you actually enjoy doing. Start with walking – this could be walking the dog, or walking with a friend or a group of people. Next, it’s time to step up the intensity and find out what exercise is right for you. Don’t worry if this isn’t the same activity as everyone else. See if you enjoy activities such as swimming, cycling, yoga, pilates, weight lifting, high-intensity gym classes or running. If you are struggling, try and exercise with a friend or attend classes – this can be extra motivation and can keep exercise more interesting. If you are exercising by yourself, you can always listen to music to keep yourself entertained. The more fun you’re having, the less likely you are to quit exercising, and you’ll be able to reach your goals.
5. Change your routine
Once you find types of exercises that you like doing and you’re seeing results, it’s often easy to get stuck into a routine. This can have some benefits – you look forward to exercising, and you will progressively get better at the exercise. However, what can happen is that you will plateau, and you will start to see less or no results. This can be disheartening, particularly when it feels like you are putting in a lot of effort but not seeing the same results as you previously had been. If you find this happening, it’s time to change your exercise regime.
Some recommend that you should change your routine every four to six weeks, however, this will ultimately vary from person to person. Your body quickly adapts to exercise, and will then become comfortable with what you’re doing. So if you find yourself not achieving any results, or you are bored with what you are doing, it’s time to change it up. Try a new activity, or start by changing the tempo of your exercise, how many sets you’re doing, lift different types of weights or change your goals. This change will shock the body, different muscles will start being used and the body will have to start to adapt to a new routine. This will cause you to start seeing results again.
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