It’s about this time of year when many of us start to lose momentum or even stall altogether. When all the lofty promises that we made for ourselves at the start of the year start to fizzle out and we’re left on that old familiar trajectory. Just muddle through until January rolls around and we make all those promises all over again. If this sounds achingly familiar, don’t be downhearted. You are far from alone. The statistics show that around 80% of New Year’s Resolutions are eventually abandoned way before the first month of the year even draws to a close. We’ve been making the same promises to ourselves since the days of Ancient Rome, and while we might not know if our ancestors fared any better than us, it’s safe to say that now we have more reasons to struggle than ever. We have more and more pressure on our time and our finances and tempting treats are more tempting and available to us than ever before… especially when there are so many sweeties left over from Valentine’s Day.
Leading a healthier life involves a lot of changes. Some of them are large and difficult to sustain and some of them are fairly small yet we struggle to be consistent with them. If you feel that your motivation is flagging in February, that’s no reason to consign yourself to unhealthy habits for the rest of the year. You need to remind yourself of Everything You Need To Get Fit in the New Year and eliminate the barriers to your progress. Of course, that’s easier said than done, especially for frantically busy mums.
Here we’ll look at some practical tips on maintaining the motivation to lead a healthier life…
Make yourself accountable to somebody
It’s so easy to give up when we don’t have to answer to anyone. When the birthday cake does the rounds in the office and there’s nobody to advise us against grabbing an extra slice. When we get back from work to an empty home and there’s nobody to tell us to get changed and hit the gym rather than collapse in front of the TV. When there’s nobody to lend us a hand in the kitchen so that we don’t take the easy way out and throw a frozen pizza in the oven.
Making yourself accountable is perhaps the most important step you can take in getting your motivation back. This can be your friend, your Personal Trainer (get them to hound you even if you don’t have a session booked), a work colleague or better still your significant other. Which brings us to…
Insist on spousal support
Your other half can be a guiding force in helping you to maintain your motivation… or they can be the single biggest cause of damage. It can be all but impossible to commit to your steamed veggies and tofu steak or salmon fillet if your other half is about go tuck into a greasy double bacon cheeseburger and chips.
For the good of their health and your relationship do all that you can to get your spouse to support you by texting you reminders to go to the gym, lending you their support in the kitchen and helping you to avoid processed fatty, sugary and salty foods.
Get the little ones involved
Our nation’s kids are some of the least active anywhere in the developed world. And who can blame them? Growing up in the digital age they have the world quite literally at their fingertips. They have the means to engage with their friends, keep themselves entertained and learn about virtually anything via the little plastic and glass rectangle in their pockets.
However, getting them off the sofa can be a huge boost in getting the whole family motivated and active. From a long walk after a heavy Sunday lunch to short activity / exercise breaks when the commercials come on the telly, there are lots of great ways in which the whole family can get active together.
Parents are hardwired to put their kids’ needs first, and helping your children to lead a healthier and more active life could be the biggest step you take in making your own life healthier.
Rid your home of temptation
If you keep your kitchen cupboard well stocked with chocolate digestives, there’s a good chance you’ll reach for them every time you feel stressed, or frustrated or upset. Once we’ve started to make the association between unhealthy foods and comfort it can be difficult to undo that association.
But given that it’s one that can seriously derail our health and fitness goals, we need to give ourselves some tough love. Throw out all the processed sugary and fatty foods in your home. All the pretzels, all the fizzy drinks, all the biscuits and choccies. Nobody in your household needs them. Not even your kids. Especially not your kids. Make sure you only have healthy options in your home.
You will feel like you’re missing a limb for the first few days. But after two weeks you won’t even miss chocolate digestives!
Plan and prepare your meals
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. You get back home after a nightmarish day at work and both the cupboards and the fridge are bare. What do you do? Why, you pick up your phone and go on Deliveroo or Just Eat, of course.
And therein lies the problem. Not only can this seriously compromise your health goals, it can be extremely costly as the months go by. Planning and preparing your meals throughout the week is by far the best way to keep yourself on track and keep temptation at bay.
Don’t beat yourself up about falling off the waggon
Finally, it’s better to be 80% compliant 100% of the time than to be 100% compliant for a fortnight before lapsing back into old habits. The last thing you want is to associate a healthy lifestyle with feeling miserable. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the waggon every once in a while and wind up treating yourself. In fact, a strategically timed cheat meal once a week can give your metabolism just the kick it needs.
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