Copyright © 2017 - 2024 Fit Hive, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Achieving your fitness goals takes a lot of work, change of habits, and a great plan. It’s not going to be easy, so let’s just throw that idea out the window right now. Exercising for 20 min 3 times a week, not changing your diet, and achieving the body of your dreams is a fairytale written by people trying to profit off this idea. The magic quick fix doesn’t exist. Changing your body is hard work!
With that said, we’ve seen some amazing transformations over the years. It’s very attainable if you are willing to put in the work.
We’ve outlined the tips used by some of our most impressive success stories.
Find your WHY
Identify the reason you signed up for this challenge! It can be anything that motivates you:
“I want to set a good example for my kids and be as healthy as possible”
“I’m going to look great in a swimsuit this summer!”
Identify the reason you want to make a change and write it down. There will be days during this challenge you are sore. Getting an extra hour of sleep may seem a lot better than going to the gym. Use your WHY to get you out of bed and motivate you to push through the hard days!
Recognize potential obstacles and make a plan
There are obstacles in life that are inevitably making it harder to reach your goals. It’s very important to recognize these things NOW, and design a strategy to conquer these obstacles. What are the things holding you back from achieving your goals? Be honest with yourself.
Think of all of the potential problems, stressors, and excuses that may arise. Write them down and develop a plan NOW to work your goals around these problems. It’s important to know that overcoming these obstacles will most likely require a change in your daily routine and the development of a new habit.
Tips:
- Write down any obstacles you can see derailing your progress.
- Make a plan today to work around these obstacles.
Non - Negotiable Items
Identify 3-5 rules that you know, if never broken, will lead you to success. We call these your non-negotiables. These are going to be the key items that lead to a successful transformation for YOU, everyone’s will be a little different. Your mind is powerful and can sometimes be your worst enemy. It’s very easy to negotiate with yourself to make a bad decision and fall back into a bad habit.
“I’m feeling pretty sore today. I’ve worked really hard the last few days. It probably won’t be that bad if I take today off and start again on Monday.”
“ I worked really hard today. I bet eating one donut isn’t that big of a deal. I’ll just do some extra cardio tomorrow.”
We’ve all reasoned with ourselves and made a bad decision before. This is where the non-negotiables come in. Write down a set of rules that you are not allowed to break.
Maybe you need to wake up at 6 am every day during the challenge to have time to workout. If you know the only way to make this happen is to get to bed at 10 pm every day, make that a non-negotiable. We’ve all let “one more episode” of our favorite Netflix series turn into 5 hours of binge watching. Set your non-negotiables today and promise yourself not to break them.
One of our best transformers to date had this to say about her non-negotiables.
“ I’m allergic to peanuts. If I eat a peanut, and the proper measures aren’t immediately taken, it will result in a severe reaction or I could even die. Would I ever knowingly eat a peanut? No way! I would never talk myself into eating a peanut. After I wrote down my non-negotiables, I approached them with the same mindset I have with my peanut allergy. It’s not even a question, I would never break these rules.”
This may seem like an extreme mindset, but it worked! Think of a rule you would never break and hold your non-negotiables to this standard.
Set Realistic Non - Negotiable rules
Setting a rule to never eat junk food again for the rest of your life is very extreme if you are currently eating junk food every day. A better rule might be to only allow yourself to eat junk food on certain days of the week. “I will only eat junk food on Wednesday and Saturday nights.” Make sure you are setting these rules to be realistic and attainable.
Common non-negotiable items:
Set Goals and Be Realistic
One of the most common reasons we see people give up on their transformation is because they are unrealistic with two things:
1. Routine Changes
The parameters you set for yourself must be gradual and realistic. If you are currently not following an exercise routine at all, committing to an hour of cardio every night is completely unrealistic. Setting such an unrealistic goal is just setting you up for failure. In many cases setting unrealistic goals like this causes people to just quit altogether. Don’t try to completely overhaul your routine overnight. Make changes gradually and find out what works for you.
2. Body Changes
Is losing 30 lbs in 6 weeks possible? Yes. Is it realistic for everyone? Absolutely not. This doesn't mean you shouldn’t have the goal to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks. It just means that you should know that this isn’t always possible. If you've been sedentary for years, there is a good chance you will start to put on a little muscle very easily once you start to exercise regularly and eat more protein. Set your weight loss goal, but know that there are many things that happen when your body is changing. Make sure you are taking pictures weekly to monitor the changes in your body. If you are following the plan, the changes are happening! Give it a little time. We’ve had so many discouraged clients after week 2 that end up being our biggest success story by week 6!
Tips:
- Don’t completely overhaul your routine overnight. Make changes gradually.
- Be realistic with your weight loss goal.
- Don’t get discouraged and take pictures weekly to measure progress.
Surround yourself with people who will support your goal.
“I think one of the biggest reasons I had so much success is because my husband committed to making a change with me. He woke up early with me to work out (4:45 am!), meal prepped with me every week, and encouraged me whenever I started feeling down.” - Ana Haupt
This means you must tell your goal to the people closest to you and ask for their support. We are all human and only have so much willpower. If you are surrounded by people that are constantly tempting you to get off plan, you will give in at some point.
“Come on, a couple of drinks won’t matter.”
“Just one slice, it’s not that big of a deal.”
These are comments from someone who has no respect for you or your goals. Identify your goals to these people and ask for their help.
Start Today!
Don’t wait! Start today by knocking out as many items on this list as possible!
Identify your WHY
Write down potential obstacles that may arise in the weeks to come and make a plan to conquer these obstacles.
Write down your non-negotiables
Write down your fitness goals and be realistic
Let your loved ones and the people most important know about your goals and ask for their support
Copyright © 2017 - 2024 Fit Hive, LLC. All Rights Reserved.