Our Top Tips to Staying on Track

Staying on track with your fitness goals can be challenging, especially when life gets busy or motivation wanes. However, with the right strategies, you can maintain your focus and make steady progress toward a healthier and fitter you. 

Here are some top tips to help you stay on track with your fitness journey:

Ensure your Goals are Time-Bound ⏰

Go back to your list of goals, and make sure they are time-bound with a clear date you want to achieve them by. One of the best ways to stay on track is to have deadlines for your goals, for example in time for an upcoming vacation or holiday. This way it will add a sense of urgency and structure to your objectives, which will boost your motivation to work towards it. Nothing better than having an exciting event coming up and feeling your best for it!

Take Accountability for your Actions 💬

Accountability should be the foundation for every task or goal that you set out to achieve. Knowing what is within your control, and more importantly knowing what to do about it will be a game changer not only in your health and fitness journey, but in your life.

Mindset Coach and Neuroscientist Alexis Fernandez shares her top hacks to help you stay accountable and make long-lasting lifestyle changes. Alexis's first step to accountability is taking ownership for your actions, and being prepared to do this journey on your own.

"If other people join you, that's amazing and while it definitely helps, every time you put the fate of your goals in the hands of someone else, you no longer take full responsibility for your own trajectory.

If you're relying solely on a training partner to workout with, or waiting for motivation from a family member who said they would help you stay accountable, then you're at the mercy of someone else, and this isn't acceptable, especially for long-term success". 

You need to be determined that no matter who is with you or not, and no matter who ‘lets you down’, you will not play the blame game or put the responsibility on anyone but yourself.

"You can only change if you can identify where you can take responsibility or ownership over something. If you don’t take control of your actions and hold your power, you will always feel that things are happening TO you and that you're just reacting to the situation".

The more control and ownership you have over your goals, the more likely you are to take action and follow through. 

In saying this, it's still so important to have a support system to cheer you on! If you're looking for a community of like minded people to stay inspired and accountable, our Move With Us Community Forum is a safe and supportive space to share your goals, wins, and ask questions. Whether you're completing a Program or not, we would love to have you as part of our Facebook community of over 95,000 inspiring women around the world.

Prioritise Consistency over Perfection 🌟

Consistency is the cornerstone of success in fitness. It's better to have smaller, regular workouts than to aim for perfection and burn out quickly. Having a well balanced life is so important when it comes to staying on track with your health & fitness goals, so if sometimes you are unable to follow your meal guides or complete a workout due to a social occasion or work commitment - it’s no biggie! 

If it’s possible, try to plan ahead as best as you can, like eating a balanced nutritious meal prior to your social event (so you don’t show up starving!), getting in a quick early morning walk instead of your usual 45 minute gym session, or opting for a lower calorie alcoholic drink. In saying this, sometimes it's not possible and it’s more important to just be in the moment, soaking up the fun with your friends and family! 

Remember - socialising is a fun part of life and guilt should play no part in it. Did you eat a second piece of cake on your birthday because it was just too delicious? Lucky you! Enjoy a couple of your mum’s famous cookies at your yearly family gathering? Absolutely fine! Food is here to be enjoyed and having negative feelings towards any of your food choices afterwards is definitely something we want to avoid. One or two off days or meals will not impact your fitness goals in the big picture, consistency always tops perfection!

Listen to your Body 👙

Some days you may struggle to drive yourself to the gym, but the best thing you can learn to understand is if your motivation is just low or your body is begging you for a rest. We all struggle with low motivation days - maybe the weather is bringing you down or your period is coming, this is totally normal! On these types of days, we need to use our discipline to get us to the gym instead and maybe just being there and getting it done will get us out of the slump. If you get a workout done when motivation is low - you always feel better after when those post-workout endorphins are flowing! 

However, some days your body is just begging you for a rest - maybe you have had a massive training week or you’re fighting off a sickness. During these times, it's so important to listen to your body so that you don’t get burned out, sick or wind up with an injury. We would recommend skipping your planned workout on these days and opting for a light walk instead or just running a bubble bath and taking a rest day. It’s always okay to have a rest day if your body is craving it, you can always reschedule a session or have a Deload week instead. Staying flexible and adaptable is the best way to ensure you stay on track with your goals.

If you’re currently participating in a MWU Program, you've already made the important step of committing to your goals for the next few weeks. Treat your fortnightly check-ins like an accountability check point. Each check-in is an important opportunity to assess your performance, reflect on how you're tracking, and make any necessary changes to your plan so you're on track to reaching your goal.

Now is the time to take accountability and chase your goals. Don’t hesitate, don’t procrastinate, start today.