Off the Rollercoaster – 4 Strategies to Stay Fit & Trim For Good

If you’ve been on a weight loss journey for a while now, you’ll have realised you don’t just want a fit body, you need to know how to keep it that way. You’re tired of losing weight only to regain it within a few weeks and frustrated that you can follow a workout plan religiously but then suddenly forget about it when life gets busy.

[ photo: unsplash.com by geert pieters ]

If you want to stay fit and trim for good but don’t know where to start, your best option is to book some personal training sessions with a professional. However, if you’d prefer to go it alone, below are four strategies to get you on track to find (and keep) a fit, trim body.

1. Be Accountable

There are two critical methods you need to employ to be accountable for your fitness. The first is finding a friend or loved one who agrees to consistently check in with you every week about your health goals. The second is to be accountable for what you eat. 

Food accountability means listing what you eat every day somewhere—a piece of paper or a fitness app—it doesn’t matter where, it just matters that you honestly write down everything you put in your mouth. Technology is an excellent way to track your exercise and food intake, some apps even let you share this information with your accountability partner.

2. Practice Mindful Eating

As you track what you eat, it is essential to pay attention to how you are eating as well. Mindful eating means you wait to eat until your body tells you it’s hungry, determine what is going to truly nourish it, and remain present during each bite. 

You cannot mindfully eat if you are on the phone, watching TV or reading a book; you have to be aware of how the food tastes and how many bites you’ve taken to know when you are full. Mindful eating also means that you select nutritionally healthy foods.

3. Turn off Distractions

You can carry your mindfulness practice from the table to your workout as well. Your cell phone is just waiting to undermine your efforts with a phone call, email or text message (all of which can usually wait 30 minutes to an hour). 

If you put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode while you are in the gym, your workout instantly becomes a therapeutic space in your day that is just for you to enjoy. You may even find you start looking forward to it.

4. Maximize Your Workout Time

If you are consistently strapped for time, you will be most successful at achieving your exercise goals if you choose workouts that maximize the minutes you can spare. Your two best options for short workouts with high benefits are circuit training and HIIT (high-intensity interval training). 

Circuit training incorporates both cardio and weight training by replacing rest periods with cardio bursts. High-intensity interval training alternates intense levels of cardio with low levels of cardio to keep your muscles guessing and your calorie burn high.

  

Free yourself from the frustration of diet and exercise plans that don’t last. Create a long-term fitness strategy by hiring a personal trainer or working to incorporate new habits on your own. If you go it alone, start by seeking out accountability for your new health goals. 

Instead of dieting, practice mindful eating. When you are at the gym, maximize the time you have by eliminating disruptions and performing more intense workouts. As you work on each of these steps, you will be transforming fitness from a goal into a way of life.