Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Make an early New Year’s resolution and get started now! It’s easier than you might think, and we’ll outline a super-simple trick you can use to motivate yourself to better health, starting today.
The first step in making use of this motivational trick is to recognize the simple fact that most of us don’t like to exercise. Unfortunately, proper diet and exercise together (not just one or the other) is the gateway to better health.
Where exercise is concerned, trick your brain. Instead of joining a gym, think about the things you like to do or something you might like to try. The only caveat is that there has to be some sort of physical component.
Maybe that’s golf, or frisbee, or fencing or even whitewater rafting.
Whatever it is, if it’s something you genuinely enjoy, then you’ll look forward to doing it. The exercise you get as a consequence won’t feel like exercise because you’re having fun, and since you enjoy it, you’ll be inclined to do a lot more of it.
Where diet is concerned, the big watchword here is accountability.
Make yourself accountable by writing down everything you eat during the course of the day.
Often, the simple trick of being confronted by a written record of everything you eat is sufficient to make you steer clear of at least some of the snacks you’d otherwise be enjoying.
If that’s not enough, then enlist friends. You can help hold each other accountable. You’re almost certainly not the only person in your circle of friends struggling with weight and health issues, so take advantage of that!
Finally, set and celebrate realistic milestones. Don’t think about the fact that you’re 60 pounds overweight. Focus on the first 20 and make that your initial goal. Once you’ve achieved it, enjoy an evening of celebration (a “cheat day”) and then get back to work, focusing on the next twenty pounds.
Before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to better health.