We can hardly believe the first month of 2020 is almost done! It’s time to look back on the resolutions we’ve declared to the world for the new year and the promises we’ve made to ourselves. If you have vowed to make 2020 the year to get your health and fitness back on track it can be reality check for what that actually looks like for you personally. On track to achieve your goals by setting and maintaining healthy and realistic  habits…amazing – keep going girl! But if you’ve fallen short of your own expectations and things haven’t quite gone to plan, don’t give up just yet! The first steps are always the hardest and things will only get easier for you from here on out, we promise.

That being said, asking yourselves some honest questions about your lifestyle and approach to fitness and how either might be standing in the way of achieving your goals rather than helping you. If you feel like your not on track so far this year here are 4 simple things to think about heading into a new month…

You’ve tried to do too much, too fast
Fitness should be empowering but it can potentially make you feel weaker and more unfit than ever! Especially if you start out with unrealistic expectations of yourself. If you expect the same performance of yourself as when you were in your physical prime, you can expect to burn yourself out pretty quickly. Your muscles will fill with lactic acid and unless you cool down properly after working out you might find yourself barely able to move, much less deadlift! Try not to take on too much, too fast. By all means challenge yourself, but be aware of your limitations.

You’re not enjoying yourself
Life’s too short to dedicate hours of your life to something that makes you miserable, right? If a weights sessions or sweating it out at the cross trainer aren’t the exercises for you, no amount of tenacity is likely to make you enjoy them. Try something more fun like hiking, climbing, swimming or joining a Dance School. Any of these exercises is not only a great full body workout, they can also introduce you to new people, help you to make new friends and teach you valuable skills plus get you out of your comfort zone.

You’re struggling to make time
When you have a stressful job and a busy lifestyle, sometimes they just get in the way and take priority over fitness. One of the best ways to make time to exercise is to try and get into the habit of going to bed and getting up earlier. Create a schedule and morning routine that works for you, this will make time management easier and help you to get your day off to the best possible start with a hearty endorphin kick!

Your diet is putting you two steps behind
Finally, it’s essential to remember that you simply can’t out exercise a poor diet. The more your lifestyle pushes you to rely on heavily processed foods, saturated fats and refined carbohydrates you’ll always feel like you’re taking one step forward and two steps back in your workouts. A balanced, healthy diet (everything in moderation!) is the best and there is so much recipe and snack inspo out there it does not need to be boring!

What are you putting in place to maintain a realistic and balanced approach to health and fitness this year?

TDP x