Because of evolution, we have many hard-wired behaviors. Two behaviors in particular are conserving energy and having a survival instinct to avoid harm. Today, food is more calorie-dense, and life is physically easier. As a result, dieting and exercising are necessary to manage your weight and fitness. However, you may struggle to find motivation to exercise and diet effectively. Fortunately, you can increase your chances of success by shifting to a fitness mindset.
What is a Fitness Mindset?
A fitness mindset is a mental attitude that prioritizes physical health, wellness, and being active. It involves cultivating a set of behaviors and attitudes that support a commitment to fitness and overall well-being. For example, a fitness mindset would view exercise as something fun rather than something required to maintain one’s weight.
The benefits go beyond physical fitness. They also improve your mental, emotional, and overall well-being. A fitness mindset helps you achieve your fitness goals and maintain a positive attitude. As a result, you are stronger, physically and mentally healthier, and enjoy a better quality of life.
Building a Fitness Mindset
It’s always hard to start something new, especially if you don’t know how to begin. Fortunately, it’s easier once you have an idea of what the path to success looks like. So, let’s talk about cultivating a fitness mindset and getting you started on the right path.
Setting Goals
People with fitness mindsets often set specific health-related goals. The goals must be achievable. For example, you can’t expect to run a marathon in a few months if you’ve never run before, but you may be able to run a 5k.
Goals should also have milestones along the way so you can determine if you’re on track. Using the previous example, you should see steady improvements, no matter how small, long, or far you’re running. If not, you may need to reconsider your goals.
Positive Attitude
A positive attitude is an important pillar of a fitness mindset. It can help overcome obstacles and build resilience to bounce back when things don’t go as planned. Furthermore, a positive attitude usually goes hand in hand with being adaptable, meaning you’re more open to changing an approach or trying new strategies.
A positive attitude encourages problem-solving instead of dwelling on the problem itself. Instead of giving up, you may look for solutions or seek guidance. As a result, you can learn and grow from experience instead of giving in to your inner critic.
Consistency
Consistency is vital to helping you build healthy habits and work toward your goals. Yet, consistency doesn’t mean you have to follow your workout plan exactly. Instead, it means you’re doing physical activity most days. As a result, you’re building your healthy habits but staying flexible to rest and recover as needed.
Nurturing Your Fitness Mindset
Shifting to a fitness mindset takes time and patience. Self-discipline is vital to help maintain your consistency. Thankfully, it’s easier when you have achievable and definable goals. However, you must not beat yourself up for minor setbacks. In fact, each one is a learning experience.
If you’re having difficulty reaching a specific goal, don’t blame yourself for a lack of self-discipline. It may be that your goal is too ambitious. Instead, redefine your goal (no matter how small) to be more achievable. As a result, you may find it easier to make progress. On the other hand, it may not be the goal but the approach that should change. For example, your goal may be to lose 1/2 lb (~1/4 kg) a week, but you’re not seeing those results consistently. Therefore, you could change your weekly goal, explore a different meal plan, or try another diet altogether.
A fitness mindset helps encourage learning to optimize your methods and approaches. Self-discipline doesn’t mean to force yourself through tough times. Instead, self-discipline gives you the opportunity to pause and question your actions to do what you feel is right to keep you on track. Although, it’s okay to give into your cravings or desire to skip a workout every now and then. For example, you can eat your favorite treats and take a day off when needed. Resting to recover or rewarding yourself once in a while for your hard work are rational choices to make.
Maintaining Motivation
Maintaining motivation is an important aspect of a fitness mindset. Self-discipline and willpower won’t persevere all the time. Therefore, finding ways to stay motivated is critical to your success. You’re going to have good days and bad. Thankfully, there are some strategies you can use to make it easier to stay motivated.
Create A Workout Plan
A workout plan can help you stay motivated by outlining what exercises you’ll do when you’ll do them, and for how long. As a result, it’s easier to stay motivated when a plan provides direction and keeps you accountable. However, staying motivated may be difficult if your plan is too hard to follow. Thankfully, you can adapt by redefining your goal or changing your plans to make it easier to stay motivated and consistent.
Mix It Up
Doing the same exercises over and over again can cause burnout and kill your motivation. Instead, add variety to your routine. For example, you can exercise in a different location, walk or ride a bike instead of running, or try something new like yoga or pickleball.
Find Activities You Enjoy
There is no shortage of advice on the best exercises that burn the most calories, gain the most muscle, and lose the most weight. You may have even talked to a personal trainer who crafted your ideal exercise routine. Although, if you force yourself to do something you don’t enjoy, you’ll never have fun. This can only lead to burnout, injury, or giving up altogether.
The best way to stay motivated is to find exercises you look forward to doing. This will increase your chances of staying consistent and maintaining a positive fitness mindset. However, don’t forget to listen to your body and rest if needed. You may be disappointed for missing a fun activity, but it isn’t worth risking an injury.
Celebrate the Small Wins
Some goals are achievable but take time to accomplish. For example, if you want to run a 5k or lose 25 lbs (~11 kg), don’t wait to celebrate until you reach those goals. Celebrating doesn’t have to be a party (unless you want it to be), but a mindful moment that you accomplished something.
Micro-progress helps keep you motivated. So celebrate every 1,000 steps taken, each pound lost, and every time you do something that brings you one step closer to your goal.
Track Your Progress
Even with a workout plan with various fun activities, you still may have difficulty staying motivated. Keeping a fitness journal can help. Tracking your progress can show you how far you’ve come and how close you are to your goals. A fitness journal can be as simple as a notebook or something more automated, such as an app and fitness tracker.
Regardless, there is something motivating about seeing all your progress unfold before your eyes. It might be that extra push you need to exercise.
The Takeaway
A fitness mindset is a mental attitude that prioritizes physical health, wellness, and being active. You can start by setting achievable goals, maintaining a positive attitude, and consistently exercising. Creating a plan with activities you enjoy, setting milestones to recognize your accomplishments, and tracking your progress can help you stay motivated as you build healthy habits and reinforce your fitness mindset. However, don’t mindlessly follow your plan or prioritize fun over your health. If your body tells you to rest and recover, you should.
FitTrend’s mission is to help you along your self-improvement journey, promote an active lifestyle, and help you achieve your goals. Our journal can help you track your workouts, weight, mood, calories, and more. Also, FitTrend allows you to connect supported gadgets to your account to make it easier for you to update your journal automatically. Create your account today and start using FitTrend for free!
Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
