One of the biggest challenges that people face when they start a journey to get healthier or fitter is just getting started. This can be for various reasons that could be as what diet to follow. What workouts to do, how much exercise to do and the list goes on.
What can put people off
Is believing that you need to exercise every day to achieve your fitness goals. Now what I suggest is exercising around 1 – 2 times per week. Now I’m sure you’re thinking that isn’t much. But if you think about it if you kept doing that for a whole year that could be 48 – 96 exercise sessions per year. It will end up more than planning to do 5 workouts per week. Sometimes doing 3 and other times none.
People often think that you need to spend hours exercising at the gym or at home. But the good news for you is that it’s not the case at all. You could start at 20 – 30 minute workouts and it won’t feel like a lot of time invested into your week. When there are times that you may feel busy, a 30-minute exercise session will feel more realistic. You can get loads of energy from doing less exercise than you may realise.
Introducing some physical activity to your life
How about starting off walking which could be again a 20 to 30-minute walk. You could make walking a social activity by meeting up with a friend or family member. There may be some walking groups around your area which can be great to meet new people and make friends. Where people will meet and walk different routes. If you don’t know if walking groups in your area you could join some local social media groups for your local area and ask.
Rather than starting a new diet which may be overwhelming with changing everything all at once. What about making small improvements within your current diet. Which can be anything from eating more protein, drinking more fluids, and eating more fibre.
Putting it together
So doing 1 – 2 exercise sessions for 20 – 30 minutes each time and doing some walking. Plus make 1 or 2 changes to your diet. Does that sound like a lot? Hopefully, it doesn’t as we don’t need to do as much as we think we do to get results. We often think we need to be exhausted and sweating buckets which is not necessarily the case. Don’t get me wrong it should feel challenging but not to the point of collapsing in a heap, struggling to walk down the stairs.
So I recommend finding out where you are at by looking at your current exercise routine and diet. Then make targets that are more realistic for you based on the time you will be able to stick to. As time passes what you might find is that you might be able to increase the amount of exercise. Make even more changes to your diet.
