Are you ready for A Fit Life?
You think you're ready right? But how long have you been thinking that? Did you know that there are actual stages of motivation to exercise?
So what is our motivation.... it might be to lose weight, to feel better, to get stronger, to tone up, to improve overall health. Or all of these. And these might also be your goals. And they are a great reason to start exercising. I know for me it is just about feeling good, my body prefers movement over standing or sitting still.
And then we have our barriers - these might be things like "it's too expensive, I don't have the time, I've got the kids with me, i'm too tired, or I don't like gyms". We all have barriers or "excuses" at different times. I certainly have days when I just don't feel like it, and sometimes I listen to that and take it as a reason to have a rest day and other times an opportunity arises and I jump in and always feel great afterwards.
There will come a time in our lives where your reason to start exercising or your barriers will out weigh the other. The motivation - where you know something has to change and it has to happen now, so you start to achieve your goals and feel fabulous! Or the barriers and excuses stick around and you either go back to your old ways and nothing changes or you don't start at all and sit around feeling terrible knowing that you should be doing something about it. We've all been there, I just try not to stay there very long
There are stages of change in our brain which move from
Pre-contemplation where there isn't a real desire to start exercising, we are just cruising through the every day, maybe knowing we should exercise but not really considering doing it.
Contemplation where the first thoughts about becoming active emerge. You may see my outdoor classes and wonder what fun they are having ;)
Determination by seeking out your options to exercise - you call the local gym or send me a message and find out about times
Action, the transition from thinking about it to actually doing it and you turn up to your first session. WELL DONE this is a big step and you should be PROUD!
Maintenance, where being active becomes automatic, this is where we all strive to be. Getting from action to maintenance is tough and this takes making exercise a priority, a part of your daily routine, pop it in your diary, grab a friend to join you and even when you are not really feeling it, turn up anyway, you will get something out of it. Creating new habits soon become the norm and YAY you have made it into the next phase of either reaching your goals or maintaining a level of fitness.
There is of course times of Relapse where we fall off the wagon, life throws us a curve ball, motivation is low and exercise seems to be one of the first things to stop.
So what comes next?
Find your spark, look back to those original feelings and reasons for starting in the first place. Perhaps you need to find a new reasons to get back into it. Either way don't be too hard on yourself, but, we don't want to stay there too long either as its hard starting all over again.
Where are you right now?
Tonya xx
