Have your workouts and/or your healthy eating plan fallen by the wayside? You’re not alone. When work gets busy or community and family obligations start increasing, the first things to fall off our to-do lists are often the self care activities that keep us fit and happy. Namely, exercise and preparing healthy meals. Don’t fret. Coach Nadia is here to help with a few solid tips you can use to get you back into your routine anytime you fall off track.
Revisit Your Goals
When you fall off track, it’s helpful to reflect on your fitness and health goals. Why did you start exercising and eating healthy in the first place? Did you want to feel stronger and increase your energy levels? Get better at the recreational sport you play? Lose the weight and/or body fat you gained during the pandemic? Gain weight? Get more flexible? Take some time to reflect and write down your initial goals.
In addition to recalling your specific goals, make sure you understand why you chose that goal in the first place and whether or not it aligns with what’s most important in your life right now. Often, we choose goals not based on what we want but based on what’s expected of us [Note: I touched on this in my blog Health and Fitness Habits to Give Up in 2021]. This is one of the quickest ways to lose motivation and fall off track.
Refocus to Get Back on Track
Set a new goal, one that aligns with your values and your current, busy lifestyle. I personally like habit goals because they are long lasting and have benefits that span way beyond any one result-related goal. Related post:
My favorite habit goals related to health and fitness include the following:
- Listen to my affirmations podcast during my morning commute
- Set aside at least 20 minutes per day for exercise
- Make sure there’s always pre-made salad or protein smoothie ingredients in the fridge
Setting small, habit-based goals is a great way to infuse new patterns into your daily activities without too much disruption. Over time, this can add up to big changes.
Adopt a Grab and Go Eating Plan
Many fitness professionals praise bulk meal prep as a great way to get a lot of the work of planning and preparing your meals for the week in one session. They’re not wrong. However, this can also be SUPER time consuming. Many of the nutrition clients I work with say that it’s overwhelming 😵 As a result, they often give up on meal planning completely and fall off track. Well, I’m here to tell you that there’s another way! You can save yourself a lot of time by switching to a more practical nutrition plan. Grab and Go Nutrition is my go-to recommendation for busy professionals. There’s little to no cooking required AND you’ll save a ton of time each week by cutting out the cooking. Click here to read my grab and go nutrition blog, which details how to adopt this method.
Commit to a Regular Schedule of Workouts
A consistent workout schedule will vary from person to person. It can be anywhere from 2 to 6 days, as long as you repeat the same regimen on a weekly basis. The key to keeping yourself accountable is to establish exercise as a regular part of your routine. Instead of thinking of workouts as option, treat them as an obligation or an item that you must check off of your to-do list. It may help to…
Schedule Group Classes or Personal Training Sessions
Left to our own devices, many of us have a hard time keeping ourselves accountable. Going to the gym on your own and building your own routine can also be more time consuming. You can be more efficient by booking a one on one session with a trainer or attending a group class. Your coach does the work of planning a safe, but challenging workout that fits within a designated time-frame. Since most studios have a cancellation policy that charges you for no-shows, you also have built-in accountability.
Pro Tip: I recommend that you attend workouts at the same time each day (or at least keep the same weekly workout schedule). Our bodies and minds love maintaining regular patterns. It helps create a sense of safety and confidence and is a great way to ensure that you stick to your program.
Put Your Workouts on Your Calendar
I have quite a few clients whose schedules can be changed at the whim of others. Others get so involved in work tasks that they lose track of time and end up missing their workouts because of it. Give yourself a fighting chance by taking the following steps:
- Sync your workout calendar with your work calendar
- Inform supervisors and members of your team that you are unavailable during your designated workout times
- Set 2 alarms, one 30 minutes before your workout, so that you can wrap up any work you’re doing. One 15 minutes before so you can shut everything down and get dressed to go. If you’re commuting, set one 5 (or more) minutes before you need to be out the door.
Create a Back-Up Plan and Never Fall Off Track
If you’re a busy professional, there will likely be times when you simply can’t leave the office to head to the gym, when meetings pop up that you are obligated to attend, or when your family or loved ones need attending to. In that case, make sure you have a back-up plan.
Increase Your Non-Exercise Activities
My number one piece of advice for anyone struggling to fit in their workouts or for beginners is to move more daily. It makes a huge difference in your results, with or without regular, structured workouts. Click here to find out why that’s important and how to do it.
Complete Online Workouts
These days, there is no shortage of workout apps or free online workouts. Do a little research and find a handful of workouts that you can pull out in a pinch. They should contain exercises that help get you closer to your specific goals. I’ve got a gang of short workouts on my YouTube channel.
- core and cardio warmups
- full body strength routines
- Focused workouts for your legs, arms, or abs
- Yoga practices
Feel free to head over to my YouTube channel and check it out to see if there’s something there for you. Make sure to subscribe and hit the bell so you get notified when new workouts come out.
When You Fall Off Track, Believe In Yourself
Falling off of your workout program or your nutrition program is inevitable. Life happens. So it was only a matter of time till you would experience a blip. But it’s not the end of the world. If you put the practices I mentioned above in place, not only will instances of falling off track will become few and far between. You will also become more adept at recognizing the signs so that you can course correct when you feel a shift in your routine. I believe in you. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Nadia
PS – Are you looking for a workout program that you can complete on your own? One that’s tailored to your specific needs and fitness goals? Click here for more information about working with me.