Z. Johnson
Have you heard that mindset is important to achieve a better lifestyle? It is actually one of the key components for your health goals. When you decide you want to go for a healthier life that includes fitness, you should get your mind on the right mode. But how do I develop the right mindset towards fitness? It is not that complicated.
As you may notice, this goes way beyond just making the right food choices and workout routines. It’s a matter of cultivating the proper mindset that will help us to focus on our fitness objectives. As well, the right mindset towards fitness will help us to keep going to not sabotage our own success. I can tell from my own personal journey, not only as a health consultant, but for my own fitness journey that this has helped me a lot to be dedicated and persistent. Keep reading the following strategies to achieve the proper mindset.
Achieving the right mindset towards fitness:
Start with self-acceptance and self-love
Many people struggle with self-acceptance and body image issues. As a health consultant, I can relate to this about some of my clients. It is very easy to fall into the trap of the beauty standards and how we should feel about ourselves. However, remember that you must accept how you are at this moment. Love yourself, no matter what. There is always room for improving your self-esteem and confidence. Live up to your own reality. Taking a leap to a healthier lifestyle because of self-love, rather than hate, is the biggest step to develop the right mindset towards fitness.
Surround yourself with like-minded people
This is also a big one. You should always surround yourself with people who have the same aspirations, mindset, and lifestyle goals. Basically, being around people who want to look and feel better is contagious. And I say this through personal experience. You are not comparing to anybody else, but you want to get the motivation and accountability from someone who can support you. Get yourself surrounded with positive people, it will definitely help with the right mindset towards fitness.
Work towards achieving balance in your life
Life is about balance in many areas. I’ve seen way too many people get obsessed with “getting leaner” or “fit” that they sometimes forget the essential. Mental wellness is crucial. No extremes are good. Focus on different habits that will get you closer to your fitness goals, but also, nurture your mind and soul. There are many hobbies and activities you can develop along the way.
Set good standards, but realistic expectations
This is another huge aspect when it comes to a healthy lifestyle and fitness. In order to have the right mindset towards fitness, you must be ambitious but also realistic. It is very easy to sometimes get confused about goals, timeframes, body images and expectations. Don’t get too obsessed with what you see in the media or around you: 90% of the people who have achieved a fitness level took some time, to not say years, to get where they are. For example, it is a good thing to think that you will lose 20 pounds in 10 days, however, rather than being motivating it results as unhealthy. Good lasting results take time and commitment.
Cultivate a healthy relationship with food
Now that we are focusing more on mental health and awareness, I must stress the importance of having a healthy relationship with food. As a nutritionist, and in my daily living, I’ve seen too many people going crazy about the “dieting” culture, following the latest diet trends, most of the times without evidence or good basis whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong, there are many types of eating lifestyles. But, in these recent times, social media and even some celebrities promote “fad diets” that honestly are taking things too far. This is the reason why there are many eating disorders and phobias to certain foods. My premise and focus is that we must all enjoy from a variety of whole foods, making good choices without falling into extremes. Let’s avoid dietary deficiencies, that can set back our fitness progress.
Nurture a healthy relationship with exercise
Just as with food, focus on developing a healthy relationship with exercise. There is nothing wrong with working out 5 times a week, if that works well for your lifestyle. The problem is when exercising interferes with other aspects of your life. Remember, that it is all about including a healthy workout regimen into your life. In other words, exercise is part of your life, your whole life should not revolve around it. This will create a good mindset about being active and avoid unhealthy obsessions like vigorexia.
Consistency is key when it comes to the right mindset towards fitness
I cannot stress this enough. We’ve all heard that consistency is the clue to achieving success in a fitness lifestyle. Now, I can say that from my personal experience, it wasn’t easy at the beginning. To be honest, I hated working out. But, one day I decided to change my mindset about including more exercise in my schedule. I made small adjustments to my eating regimen, and decided that I was going to be more disciplined about my habits. Simple actions, like setting up time blocking in my calendar for workouts, have really made a difference in my routines. As a result, my whole approach and mindset towards exercise changed.
Visualize where you are and where you want to be
Making room for upgrades in our life is always necessary. And when it comes to health, there are always changes to be made. Because of that, it is good to be mindful about the stage where I’m at and then envision where my progress should be. For instance, going to back to setting ambitious realistic expectations, you can think of how you would like to see yourself and feel in a matter of months or years from now. It is the power of visualization that will fuel the right mindset towards fitness.
Fitness mindset: Always learn new strategies
Having a healthier lifestyle is also about being creative. Trying different new things will help us not only experiment and see what works for us or not, but also evaluate the changes that need to be made along the way. Doing different strategies can boost our results, and as well prevent boredom. A clear example of this is when you have the same exact breakfast everyday. There comes a time when you will want to try a different kind of meal. The same thing happens when doing a workout routine. In order for your body to evolve, you have to try different types of exercises. It is a must to be in constant change, otherwise, you will hardly see results that pay off.
Keep the motivation going! The right mindset towards fitness
Staying motivated is crucial. Especially when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Many people wonder, how do I manage to stay motivated even during the difficult times? I get you. It is not easy to stay motivated when the days are not so bright. But, something that has helped me is to remember my why, the reason I’m working towards a better version. As well, I think of how good I would feel in months from now if I achieved the goal I already set. Accountability partners and healthy buddies also help a lot!
Be positive and enjoy the process
Being positive is one of those things that we often tend to forget. Sometimes we get caught up in different situations, or even in our own environment, that it can be difficult at times to keep up. However, it is not impossible. The key is, again, make sure you are being surrounded by people that can lift you higher. Enjoy every step of the journey. It should not be a burden, but a delight. Apart from that, learn from people who are always achieving good levels of health success in their lives. Think that if other people can do it, you can too. You got this! Always remember that!
You are your own best competition!
Another thing that you must bear in mind is that there is no one else better than you. You are unique, you are talented, you have strength and all what it takes to get where you want to be. It only requires some commitment, changing to the right mindset towards fitness and learning along the way. Avoid comparing yourself with others, as everybody’s circumstances and lives are different. Focus on yourself, celebrate your daily wins, and look forward to a better version in a healthy way.
In short…
Developing the right mindset towards fitness is simple. It takes just a few steps to get to a better attitude about being healthier. Remember that having success in your healthy journey starts from your mind. If you focus on being positive, realistic, consistent, and focus on learning each day, this will get easier and will turn into a lifetime habit. Stay healthy! Share this article with your friends, let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Xoxo.
