When embarking on a weight loss, fitness, or health journey being prepared will do wonders at helping you meet your goals.
Whether you are trying to lose a few pounds, preparing for a fitness event, or just wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, these things will help you to prepare for success.
Create Clear Intentions
Goal setting is key in most areas of life including health-related aspirations! Start out by setting clear, concise, measurable, and attainable goals. Most importantly – write them down! Written goals are proven to be so much more successful than those that are just thought or even spoken.
Writing down your goals is a great starting place for a fitness or weight loss journal. It will help you to stay on track and to deal with the emotional aspects of your health to get your thoughts down on paper frequently.
Also, make sure to document your starting point. That could be body measurements, weight, dress size, or even your current fitness abilities.
Throughout your journey, update those measurements so that you can see how far you have come in reaching your goals. Having clear goals is incredibly beneficial to successful weight loss and fitness achievements.
Food Prep
Set yourself up for success by being prepared with your nutrition. What goes into your body is a huge aspect of losing weight or getting in shape – not just exercise alone.
Start out by getting all of the junk foods out of your home. Clear through all of the food items that will be a temptation to get off track. Go shopping to purchase lots of fresh wholesome foods and spend an afternoon pre-making a few meals.
A full week of food prepared ahead of time may not be necessary for you. But to have at least a couple of grab-and-go meals on hand will help to make food choices easier when you’re in a hurry.
Have a Plan
Decide on a plan that will help you meet your goals. Both a fitness and nutrition plan is the key to getting healthy. Try to avoid fad diets and stick to eating wholesome and nutrient-rich foods. Make a fitness plan as well.
These plans don’t have to be complicated and extravagant. It can be as simple as eating only whole foods and doing a one-hour fitness video each day. But even if your plan is simple, having a plan will go a long way in helping you to achieve success.
Motivational Surroundings
Create places in your home, your car, or around your office that will help to motivate you to stay on track. Having visual reminders throughout the places in your life that you see often will keep temptations to stray off course at bay.
You could use magazine clippings to create a dream board to hang in your bathroom. Create a fitspiration Pinterest board to flip through on your mobile device. Save a picture of yourself at a goal size as the background of your cell phone. Create a fashion board of clothing items you look forward to wearing.
There are so many ways to keep reminders around you of why you are working hard and eating well. These visual reminders will be helpful to look at when you are feeling the urge to quit or just give yourself a break.
Support System
Possibly the most important part of reaching health and fitness goals is to create a great support system. You could find a gym buddy to help motivate one another to get to the gym each day. Text your best friend and let her know what your goals are and ask if she will check in throughout the week to give you accountability.
Also, make sure to recognize the people in your life that may sabotage your success. There is no need to end friendships once this is recognized, but being aware of the people, who may not be the best support, will help you to be prepared for that reality.
If you aren’t comfortable being vulnerable with someone in your life, reach out to online resources for support. Look for weight loss forums or a community on Facebook of people with common goals. Having people in your life to offer support will help to keep you on track when your own will power is lacking.
Being prepared before embarking on a challenging journey of health and weight loss is so important to help guarantee your success. What are some ways that you’ve prepared to meet your fitness goals?
