Fitness4Her

Women's Fitness

The Secret To Lasting Motivation

By

Recognizing where you are and planning where you want to be are the first steps to lasting motivation. Step by step, you can develop healthy habits that will inspire and motivate you for success. That success can be centered on your health, career, finances, relationships or weight loss. The secret to lasting motivation can be found within your own mind.

Sounds incredibly simple, but it is true. Motivation can be harnessed and trained to work for you. It isn’t always easy, staying motivated for life takes determination. It all depends on how important your success is to you.

When you want to stay motivated, it sometimes requires changing your behavior. If you are becoming bored with your workout or you reach a plateau in your weight loss, you may lose your motivation to diet and exercise. Many women lose motivation when they don’t see results soon enough. However, persistent behavior, like diet and exercise will bring long term results, if you give it time.

Stay motivated by planning your weekly menu. Make a grocery list and stick to it. Avoid foods high in sugar and sodium. Plan meals with lean meats and vegetables and buy only those foods on your list to save money.

Be aware of what you are eating. Turn off the television and be mindful of your meals. You will know when you are satisfied and begin to really pay attention to the amount of food you eat. You know your body better than anyone, give it the attention it deserves.

As much as possible, go outside and enjoy an activity. Do something physical, something that requires strength. Remind yourself of why you are in as good of shape as you are—because you exercise. Take up running for an easy outdoor acitivty. Running works your quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. It increases your metabolic rate, so that you burn more calories, even at rest. Strenuous exercise reduces endorphins. Stimulates creativity and elevates your mood. Exercise is fun and makes you look good and feel great.

Keep a fitness journal to track your success. Writing keeps you accountable for all the choices that you make. Keeping a journal is a fun way to see where you started and how far you have come. Write down everything you eat, drink and all the activities that you do including your workouts. Look forward to charting your success and take time to write everything down.

Begin each day with affirmations. These are positive phrases you repeat aloud to yourself to affirm your goals and inspirations. Saying them in front of a mirror has proven to be quite effective. When you make room for positive thoughts and behaviors you chase away the negative ones.

Remind yourself of why it is so important to you to stay in shape and live healthy. Each one of us has her own reasons for exercising and dieting. Whether it is to feel good, look good, stay healthy and vibrant, or to feel more energized, there are real reasons that you cling to your desire to live a healthier lifestyle. Celebrate your goals and your victories. Your accomplishments are important, reflect on them as much as possible to keep you motivated and inspired.

Love Letters To My Soul

By

Self-love is a good love and nothing you should feel guilty about. Be thankful for your life and everything that you are. You are enough, just the way you are. Remind yourself of that everyday by keeping a fitness journal—it is like writing love letters to your soul.

If you write words of praise and gratitude to all that you have achieved, you will feel uplifted and capable of success. A feeling of calmness will come over you once you realize what a magnificent creature you really are. One of the big things you might notice when you write positively to yourself is the way that you embrace life and accept all of its challenges.

Give your day a power punch by beginning with positive affirmations. Remind yourself of all that you have to be thankful for. Write all of these things down and read them back to yourself. Take time for some peaceful meditation, allowing your appreciation for life to fill your spirit with love and gratitude.

Dismiss negative thoughts and don’t allow them to rule your actions. Make your self-talk an affirmation of love and appreciation. I guarantee you that if you start each day this way, you will feel less stressful and you will have a better self-image, instead of punishing yourself with negative words and feelings.

The journal is your success story. It is your own account of your days, weeks and months. It is your book of personal letters to yourself. Your place to record your strengths and weaknesses, your confidential reminder of where you started and what your goals are for the future. A fitness journal works the same way and is an excellent journal to celebrate the love you have for your body, mind and spirit.

Whatever your fitness level, I urge you to begin keeping a journal. Experienced athletes will find the journal an especially helpful tool as you take your workouts to the next level. By faithfully keeping your journal you will learn much about what and how much you consume each day, so be sure to write down everything that you eat and drink for a full assessment of your eating habits.

There’s something powerful about challenging yourself by practicing goal setting. When you follow up that challenge with the accountability of a journal you further your chance for success. As I have mentioned before, it has been proven time and again, that people who keep a journal of everything they eat and drink and all of their daily activities have a far greater chance of success than those who do not.

So, don’t wait another minute. Get a fitness journal and begin setting your goals for a slimmer, trimmer, stronger and more confident you. Write love letters to celebrate your life and to inspire and motivate you to the next level for a fit and healthy body. It’s your account of your hard work and your success. It’s a celebration of who you are.

Take Control and Gain Confidence

By

When you take control of your life, you free yourself from inner conflicts, weight problems, and many health problems. You must be willing to accept responsibility for your life in order to gain confidence. In everything you do, you must take ownership of the choices that you make. But the wonderful thing about life is that it is a constant process and you have the ability to make changes to that process. You can take control of your life, you can take control of your weight when you and only you make the decision to do so.

If you want to lose weight, you must be willing to be uncomfortable at times. You have to be willing to use self-control and abstain from eating too much of the wrong kinds of foods. You have got to be willing to eat a variety of healthy foods to change the way that your body craves unhealthy foods. If you want to change the way you look, if you want to change the way you feel, you have got to take control of your choices.

Take control when you shop for your food. Make a list of the foods that you will buy, starting with a menu to get you through the week. Stick to the list and avoid buying foods that are unhealthy. Remember that processed foods generally contain large amounts of sodium and sugar. Choose fresh products whenever possible, buying locally grown foods will usually save you money. Try to be prepared at every meal to have a healthy food available to eat. This will ensure you stick to your diet and not fall to the temptation of a quick but unhealthy meal.

Women feel exhilarated when they are successful at losing weight. That is because they are in complete control over what they eat and their fitness program. They have made targeted plans to lose weight and their efforts have resulted in success. They feel confident because they are in control.

Taking control over your life will affect all other aspects, too. You will notice changes in how you think about your career, your financial outlook and your social relationships with family, friends and coworkers. When you seize control, you will no longer worry about others having control over you. Your confidence will begin to show through in everything you do.

As you gain control over your life, others may feel threatened and may try to put you back in your place. Refuse to let anyone push you around, whether it be physically or mentally, when you let others intimidate you, you are giving them control over your life.
Your new behavior may seem odd at first, but with time, others will begin to respect you for having the courage to make your own choices and to stand by those choices.

Take control today and gain the confidence to live your life. You will be happier, healthier and more satisfied.

Add Weights To Lose Weight

By

Tone up and lose weight quickly and easily when you add weight lifting to your workout. Just a little bit of weight can go a long way to helping you get thin. It doesn’t take a lot of weight and the best thing is, it won’t take you any more time than your normal workout. Once you add weight lifting to your workout, you will begin to notice more definition to your muscles in your shoulders, arms, tummy and legs. As you tone your torso, you’ll shrink your waistline.

Along with cardio, strength training is essential to any successful workout. Adding weight lifting to your strength training exercises or circuit training will give you significant results, but you have to add enough weight to make a difference.

Aim for muscle fatigue or failure. When you work your muscle to the point it can’t lift anymore, your body releases testosterone and growth hormone. This signals your body to burn fat and build lean muscle. You don’t have to worry about your muscles getting bulky—your arms will actually become firmer and more compact.

You will lose weight quicker and easier when you add weights to your resistance-training workout. As you build muscle, you will increase your base metabolic rate. The benefit for you is that you will burn more calories all throughout the day, no matter what you are doing, even when you are resting.

Within a few weeks of increasing the intensity of your workout and adding weights to your program, you will find some noticeable changes taking place on your body. Your waist will be smaller, legs firmer, arms toned and butt shapely. Your clothes will fit better, too.

When trying to determine how much weight you should be lifting, try lifting at least 5 pounds more than you think you can lift. Remember, you may be able to lift more weight doing some exercises than others, but as you continue working on weaker areas to make them stronger, the exercises will become easier. Consistency brings results.

Start by working with an amount of weight that you can lift for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions. Remember, your goal will be to work your muscles until they are too tired to lift anymore. Don’t worry—your muscles will recover quickly. However, don’t overwork them because you might experience extreme muscle soreness later.

Thirty Days of Affirmations

By

Positive thinking brings positive results. I truly believe in the power of positive thinking and affirmations. In order to achieve weight loss and fitness you must believe that it is possible. Affirmations are positive phrases that you say aloud to affirm what you believe you can do. In order to break old habits and develop healthier ones, you must change your behavior and that begins with changing the way you think. Affirmations will help you to break those habits and bring about the changes you need for a healthier lifestyle. Believe it to achieve it!

I have created a list of affirmations to build confidence, give you energy, and help you to stay focused. You can say them in the order that works best for you or change the wording to suit your needs.

1. Today I am seeing the new, slimmer me in the mirror and I love that!
2. Being me is a blessing and a thrill. I am thankful I was created to be me!
3. Breathing in, I feel healthy. Breathing out, I am healthy.
4. Step by step and rep by rep, I am creating my ideal body!
5. Today I choose health and wellness over illness in my life.
6. I am fit! I am healthy! I am strong!
7. My life is what I make of it and today I choose to make it healthy place to be.
8. When I exercise, I feel great!
9. I am healthy in mind, body, and spirit!
10. My body is a marvelous machine and I love it!
11. Day by day, my body is transforming into the vision I have for it.
12. Today I am healthy, strong, and disease-free!
13. I am strong, vibrant, and healthy!
14. I am extremely thankful for my good health.
15. Today I am blessed by the beautiful and delicious food that brings me to good health!
16. I feel vibrant and energized.
17. Today I am shedding the pounds as I shred my self-doubt.
18. Day by day, I am losing the weight and my clothes fit better.
19. My heart is strong and healthy!
20. My lungs breathe clear and strong!
21. Day in and day out, I develop the habits of health!
22. My body is the very picture of health and vitality!
23. Today I am shedding pounds as I shred my self-doubt!
24. My body is a well-oiled machine ready to meet my every need!
25. I pay attention to the needs of my body. I feed it, exercise it, and love it!
26. Today I push my limits in the gym so that tomorrow I can push the limits in my life!
27. Today I am transforming my body into a calorie-burning machine.
28. My contributions to life measure my self-worth not the scale!
29. Happiness is an attitude not a number on a scale! I refuse to be defined by my weight!
30. Food is the answer to health. Food nourishes my body and gives me strength.