New Year – New Me! January 2017 you took the leap to change your life, you did your research opted for a healthier diet and decided to avoid the latest fads.  You bought the latest fashion must haves in fitness gear, got outside, exercised, beamed with healthiness and felt amazing for it, but why is it a couple of weeks into February you started coming up with excuses to quit?

#1 The Fear of Failure

Exerting oneself physically and mentally is the most prominent reason we set ourselves up to fail. Our minds play such a huge part in why we might look to find excuses. Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone, to our brains is a big no no, automatically triggering signals for us to say stop, creating a destructive pattern and negative thinking and bingo there goes your workout routine.

Here’s where Nootropics can step in to help alter negativity, enhancing mood and motivation. You might have heard of Nootropic supplements and wondered how they might help. But before you give them consideration they are not an easy way out or an alternative for hard work, but they might just help in keeping you motivated. A great reference to learning more about Nootropics and the pro’s and con’s can be found here.

#2 You Set Your Goals Too High

Too much, too soon, you don’t see immediate results, you become despondent and you give up.

Design a program that is realistic both on the time front and on the level of exercise.  Start slowly and build up.  And, don’t forget to include warm up and cool down exercises to prevent injury and pain. It’s so important to set goals that are realistic, obtainable and motivating.

#3 No Exercise Mate or Personal Trainer

Don’t underestimate the power of an exercise mate or personal trainer.   When you wake up in the dark, on a cold Februarys morning for that 5-mile run, it’s easy to press the snooze button and go back to sleep.  However, if you know your exercise pal is waiting for you around the corner, you have no choice but to crawl out of bed, put on your running clothes and go for that run.  Having an exercise mate cancels out so many excuses for not sticking to an exercise program and gives you that extra bit of motivation to hit your goals together.

#4 Not Scheduling Exercise as a Priority

I bet your biggest motivation for change was to put yourself first. By making exercise a lesser priority your failing yourself and switch your mind back to old habits. Exercise and diet are vital components to living a long and productive life, always remember be in it for the long run, change your diet and have a consistent approach and you will hit your goals.

#5 You are What You Eat

Exercise and a healthy diet go hand in hand. Starting an exercise program, whether it’s for weight loss or general health, needs a holistic approach.  You are not going to reap the benefits, if you exercise and carry on with un-healthy eating habits.

Eating a balanced diet full of nutrition together with exercise is the only way to achieve optimum health and fitness.  You need to carefully plan your diet depending on the extent of your exercise regime.  There is no point in pumping the iron if you are not getting the nutrients you need to produce those magnificent muscles. My Weekly shops not as strict as you may think!

#6 Choosing the Wrong Activities

It’s so important to sculpt an exercise program around activities you enjoy rather than doing them because your best friend does.  If you hate riding bikes, why choose a spinning class?  If you don’t enjoy slow activities, then skip the Yin yoga class and join an Ashtanga yoga session.

People who aren’t used to exercise often start out with walking which is an excellent way to begin an exercise program.  You’d be surprised how many reluctant long distance runners began by walking a couple of times a week.  They slowly got into a routine and decided to try jogging, which eventually led to running.  If you’re enjoying your chosen exercise and workouts, then you are far more likely to continue with them.

#7 Boredom

It’s so important to mix it up, not only for your body but for your mind.  There is nothing more tedious that doing the same type of exercise day after day.  Try and incorporate different types of exercise into your program.  You obviously need some cardio – that could be running, walking, a dance class or cycling.  Try to add some stretching and muscle building with Yoga, Callanetics, or Pilates.  There are so many different exercise types and classes out there to try and explore.  You are spoilt for choice.

#8 Wrong Mindset

You need to form long term goals and visualize the results every day.  Rid your mind of excuses and negative thoughts and concentrate on the positive.  It may sound difficult, but as you see the results of your labours appearing, so your mindset will become more and more positive, leading to better and better results.  A win-win situation. When you start to feel like you’re making excuses, it’s time to really re-evaluate and remind yourself why you chose the path of exercise, health and change. Once you know the reasons, you can stop the excuses, embrace failure, get motivated and moving!

This post was written by Kelly Crawford. If you would like to write a guest post for LEP Fitness please Contact Nick 

Author Bio:

Kelly Crawford is passionate about health, well being, running and minimalist. As a competitive runner, she has insight into the struggles of  balancing work-outs with good nutrition and injury prevention. She is a contributing writer for HardBoiledBody.com – a site dedicated to health,  nutrition and fitness advice.

• https://www.facebook.com/hardboiledbody
• https://twitter.com/hardboiledbody