The hardest part is over. You’ve committed to losing weight and getting healthier. Perhaps you’ve enrolled at your local gym and begun a serious workout regimen. At first, it can seem like the pounds are melting away, especially if it’s been a while since you actively exercised, but inevitably, at some point, you’ll hit the wall.
Maybe you'll feel like you’ve reached your goals and you shouldn’t have to work so hard anymore. Maybe you'll have trouble getting back into the swing after a vacation. Whatever the reason, it’s vital to find effective strategies for negotiating these unavoidable stumbling points and maintaining the momentum you've worked to build up.
Identifying roadblocks
A number of different challenges will likely confront you as you begin a fitness regimen. “One of the biggest challenges encountered early on is lack of confidence,” says Christy Greenleaf, Ph.D., associate professor of kinesiology at the University of North Texas. “Men who are just getting started may feel uncertain about their physical abilities and question their ability to be active.” This is why it’s important to gradually ramp up your physical activity — don’t go for broke right away. Focus on developing a level of activity that can be maintained long-term — not just in short, sporadic bursts.
Another challenge for new exercisers is unrealistic expectations. “Slow changes in body weight and body mass are realistic, healthy, and are more likely to be maintained over time,” says Greenleaf. Set reasonable goals for yourself — don’t pay attention to airbrushed celebs and outlandish claims of rapid weight loss.
As you get closer to your fitness goals, you may face a new set of challenges, including fear of weight regain and loss of motivation. It’s easy to feel like the battle is over and that you don’t have anything to work toward anymore. Don’t let yourself slide into this mindset, however, or you might see those numbers on the scale begin to creep back up.
To assist you in meeting these challenges when they do arise, here are a few strategies that will help keep you on track and motivated:
1. Start slow. “The most common pitfall is doing too much too soon,” says Sabrina Peterson, a Seattle-based personal trainer, and corrective-exercise specialist. Especially if you haven't been active in a while, it's important to start gradually. Jumping right into a hardcore seven-day-a-week workout routine will lead to burnout and frustration. Peterson advises that “starting slow and ramping up will help you feel successful rather than overwhelmed.”
2. Set goals. Set both short-term and long-term goals for yourself that are realistic and attainable. Have the short-term incremental goals move you toward your long-term goals. Also, make sure your goals are quantifiable and behavioral, rather than appearance-based. “Behavior is controllable and immediate,” Greenleaf points out, “whereas changes in appearance are often more complex and slow.”
3. Put it on your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself and keep it. This appointment is just as important as any other commitment, so set a regular time for your workout and position reminders to yourself in strategic places, like on your fridge, in your office, or on your bathroom mirror. Keeping a workout journal can also be an effective motivator and a way to track your progress.
4. Have a backup plan. There will always be obstacles to even the best-laid plans. Illnesses, bad weather, and family commitments can all derail even the most motivated exerciser. Having a contingency plan for such occurrences is essential to maintaining your momentum. So if you can’t make it to the gym one day, a backup plan could include going for a brisk walk or even a run during your lunch break. And there are always office crunches.
5. Find social support. One of the best ways to stay motivated toward achieving your goals is to involve friends and family. Also, having a workout buddy to be accountable to can be a shot in the arm on those days when you feel your motivation starting to flag.
6. Switch up your routine. Not only does the same workout routine get boring after a while, but it can also become less effective. “In order to keep seeing results, you need to switch up your workouts about every six weeks,” says Peterson. As your fitness level rises, your workouts should become more demanding — that means more reps per set, or longer and more intense cardio sessions. But it's also beneficial to change the exercises you're doing in order to work different muscle groups and avoid stagnation. So if you've been running for a while, try swimming, or if you've been doing regular bench presses, switch to a dumbbell bench press.
