You don’t need to wait for a specific day of the week or time of year to start your health and fitness journey. In fact, the best time to take action and make a positive change in your life is the present moment.
Take a moment to consider this: You can plan for the future, but if you don’t take action in the present, your plans will never take off. The good news is that starting out doesn’t have to be difficult.
If you want to start working out here are some simple yet effective tools and tips to help you begin right now.
Here’s how to start right now
If you’re hesitant to begin working towards your fitness goals, or you can’t see a way forward, here are some achievable steps you can take to overcome your obstacles and conquer your first workout today.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment
If you feel “too busy” to change old habits, you can put off taking care of yourself until you find more time, have less pressure with work, or fewer commitments.
But you don’t have to wait for the perfect moment to start making healthy choices — you can start right now.
Get motivated by making one small change, and see the difference it can make!
Build confidence through action
Self-doubt can be one of the biggest barriers to starting or restarting your fitness journey. If you’ve tried before and experienced a setback, you may feel like you’ve failed.
Fitness is a journey with many twists and turns. Practicing gratitude is one way to help you overcome any self-doubt and focus on the positive action you can take right now.
Plan to create new habits
Once you have made the decision to start your health and fitness journey, take the time to plan how you’ll take action.
Start by making one small change at a time to create new healthy habits — this will ensure you make sustainable changes to your lifestyle. Remember being healthy is a lifestyle, not a quick fix.
One way you might do this is by focusing on improving your sleep and setting your phone aside half an hour before bedtime. Getting more rest will help you to feel better each day, and sleep is essential for recovering from your workouts too.
Set a goal
Setting healthy goals that are realistic and achievable can help you measure your progress and establish healthy habits.
When you create your fitness goals, break them down into smaller goals you can achieve quickly — celebrating small wins will help keep you motivated and remind you what you’re working towards.
Consistency gets results
You can work out at home two to three times each week and still achieve great results — the key is to work out consistently!
A 2019 study by the University of New South Wales in Australia found that for women who do resistance training, the frequency of workouts was the best predictor of increased strength — not whether their training was completed under the direct supervision of an exercise professional or whether they completed exercises to exhaustion.
If you’re new to training, you can try a program like Bodyweight Strength with Anissia Hughes on the Sweat app to start building a fitness routine — the program doesn’t require equipment and your goal is to complete two 20-minute workouts per week.
Reward yourself with rest days
Rest days are just as important as your workouts!
When you follow a workout program, make sure you include at least one full rest day each week to allow your body to recover.
Plan to eat well
When you’re busy it can be harder to eat healthy at every meal. Choosing nutritious food can help to accelerate your results from training, and you’ll also have more energy.
The best way to start healthy eating at home is to educate yourself — knowing which foods are going to help you stick to your goals make it easier to establish simple healthy eating habits and implement them as part of your lifestyle.
Prepare your tool kit for tough days
You can expect to encounter setbacks during your fitness journey. If you lose motivation to work out, you may want to try a new training style to find something that you really love!
There are other times where you may love the training you do, but you might need to use discipline to keep you moving towards your goals.
If you are afraid of losing motivation quickly, plan ahead to prevent it! Find some motivational quotes that inspire you and remind yourself why you’re starting.
A great workout playlist can also help to get you through tough days.
Get support
You’re bound to have questions when you start working out. With the Sweat Community, you’re not alone — you can share your fitness journey and be inspired by other women going through the same experiences!
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