Righto team we all know the story Winter has set in, it’s freezing cold outside so the motivation to go workout gets less and less. You finish work, you have your workout clothes in the car but it’s dark outside, it cold and driving home to lay on the couch in front of the warm heater seems like such a better option.
So, what can we do to help stay motivated during the colder months? What can we do to ensure we keep exercising all year round? Because honestly as cliché as it sounds summer bodies really are made in the Winter. How you look in the warmer months really is determined by the work you do NOW when it’s Winter. If you stop exercising now, start eating bad and making poor choices around your lifestyle then when it gets warmer it will be all too late. You want to be putting in the work now.
Ok so let’s discuss some ways to STAY motivated during the colder months:
LIFESTYLE
This is HUGE! You want to make this part of your daily lifestyle. Like brushing your teeth. Make it a part of your daily regime where you simply can’t skip a workout exactly the same as a meeting with your boss. You need to adopt this sort of mindset around exercise.
It’s not always about getting a stronger body too or improving your endurance that should drive you. Think about how good you will feel mentally after a workout?
When you exercise you release those natural endorphins which make you feel ALIVE! We LOVE walking out of the gym feeling STRONG, both mentally and physically! Working out releases the ‘feel good’ endorphins which triggers a positive, energetic feeling. You want to use this to help motivate you!
Even on your “low” days where you’re feeling tired or a little flat you will always feel 100% better after a work out! You just need to remember that any work out is better than no workout so use this as motivation when you don’t feel like training at all.
SETTING THE RIGHT HABITS
A lot of the time especially in the Winter people struggle to get out of bed in the morning with it being so dark and cold outside. Our suggestion would be setting one alarm only and leaving it on the other side of the room, so you HAVE to get out of bed to go turn it off then you’re up and wake so you may as well go train. The snooze button is too easy to press when the alarm is next to you. Once you start doing this for a week or two your body clock will start to change, and this is a great way to get you in the right habit. Setting the right habits like this is so important to your overall success. Remember it’s the sum of small, daily habits and efforts over a consistent time period that gets you to where you need to be.
NUTRITION
In the Winter this is the time where people turn to comfort food which in return can become a vicious cycle for their body if they don’t take control. If you do have a slip up don’t let it beat you. Don’t let one bad meal then turn into a bad day then turn into a bad week which then leads to the wheels falling off completely. Stay on point with your nutrition especially during the colder months which then has you feeling more energetic, less lethargic and gives you more energy to train the house down.
RECORD YOUR PROGRESS
Seeing changes in your body is so rewarding as it means you’re on the right path and all your hard work you’re putting in is working! Yes, it takes time to see change but when you do it's more motivation to keep going harder and harder. Make sure you record your scale weight each week, record your weights and scores in the gym, take progress photos, take your measurements, write in your diary each night how you’re feeling and literally record everything. Then you can look back at how far you’ve come which helps you stay motivated especially when at times it feels like you’re not going anywhere. Recording your progress is so important in this game.
BUT NEW WORKOUT CLOTHES
Yep, we guarantee this will help motivate you! Go out and buy a new pair of runners or some new workout clothes as you will be surprised how much this lifts your mood to go workout! When you look good, you feel good. Buying new workout clothes is a great way to get you in the gym training hard.
MINDSET AND OUTLOOK
Work on your mindset as this truly can affect your workout. Good and bad! Are your thoughts mainly positive or negative? What do you tell yourself every morning when you wake up? How do you perceive yourself? Self-love is extremely important. Your mind is your most valuable tool and so powerful it can literally either make you or break you into this game! What you feed your mind becomes your reality whether you like it or not!
If you’re serious about wanting to improve your body or improve your general health and fitness, then you NEED to get your mind right first. It takes persistence and patience! But, just like your body, your mind can be trained to be more positive towards yourself and life in general. Work on this daily. Continue to flood your mind with positive thoughts. Continue to tell yourself that you CAN achieve the body of your dreams and that you CAN lose the weight you want to help you get that dream job or find the partner you want or to be able to play with your kids more or whatever. Keep telling yourself daily that you CAN and we guarantee it will come to real life.
SETBACKS
Understand that no matter how hard you work, how dedicated you are there WILL be setbacks and plateaus along the way. This journey isn’t always linear. At the end of the day, it all comes back to how bad you want it?
If you want the body of your dreams, then you need to WORK for it. You need to understand that failure simply doesn’t exist. You will have setbacks yes but that only is just that a “setback”. It doesn’t mean you quit. It doesn’t mean you stop completely. You work through it as best you can to then keep yourself MOVING FORWARD! This is the absolute KEY to success guys.
GOAL SETTING
Goal setting in this game is so incredibly important. Ask yourself why are you exercising or eating healthy? What is it that you want to achieve? Set realistic, specific, and attainable targets for yourself. Picture the outcome that you want to achieve. Actually, write your goals down visually and put them around the house so you stare at them every day. Man, we cannot stress how much this helps. Whether it’s to lose a few kg’s, tone up, run a marathon, whatever – creating that mental picture for success is what will get you to your goal. Step out of your comfort zone, don’t fear a challenge and then go and work your arse off for it!
FIND FORMS OF EXERCISE THAT YOU ENJOY!
Lastly, find forms of exercise that you enjoy doing. Whether it’s boxing, swimming, cycling, HIIT, bootcamp or smashing the gym choose forms of exercise that you love! You’re most likely to keep up the regular exercise doing something that you love so this is crucial in your overall success! Also find a workout buddy. Training with a friend is way more fun and will have you less likely to flake this we can GUARANTEE.
We hope all these tips help TEAM! Remember Summer bodies really are made in the Winter so go out there and smash it!
Team Uncensored!
