Five Easy Tips to Jumpstart Your Exercise Regimen

Five Easy Tips to Jumpstart Your Exercise Regimen

Beauty and fitness go hand in hand. While beauty isn’t limited to any shape, size or number, a fit lifestyle gives you a glow and confidence that can’t really be mimicked by the use of cosmetics.

If you are planning to start an exercise regimen these five tips will surely help you get up and get going. It doesn’t matter whether you want to get fit for aesthetic purposes or for your health, the goal here is to get going!

Exercise
Exercise

Tip One: Set Realistic Goals

  • If you haven’t run a kilometer in your entire life you won’t the next week. Perhaps it’s better to set a goal that you will walk about 1/4th of a kilometer first and then work from there.
  • By setting unrealistic goals you are setting yourself up for failure before you begin.
  • Conduct a mini stamina test- see how far you can workout for a day. Whether it is timing yourself on a treadmill or elliptical or seeing how far you can walk. Work your way up slowly and steadily.
  • If you have a busy schedule, don’t commit to working out more than 3-4 times a week. While working out results in an increase in energy, you don’t want to exhaust yourself by overworking your body.

Start small for big results!

Running
Running

Tip Two: Make it a Family Affair

  • Family and friends are the number one reason why people stick to bad habit. On the flipside these very people can be your motivators when it comes to getting fit.
  • You know how the most mundane tasks become excited just by performing them with your best friend, spouse or children? Well get them to workout with you. This could be a walk, a swim or even just a game of tennis.
  • Working out with family and friends makes it easier to track your progress too.
  • Try to plan fun activities that involve being physically active. My family likes going to the park together, helps us spend time together and burn some calories. Two birds one stone!
Cycling
Cycling

Tip Three: Buy Workout Clothes/Shoes

  • If you’re comfortable going to workout in your pajamas that’s great. But buying workout clothes can be a great motivator in starting a workout regime. You’ll never feel like being active in sloppy gear.
  • You don’t have to burn a hole in your pocket. Just pick up a bright t-shirt and shorts/capris, doesn’t matter what the brand is, just make sure these are your special workout clothes.
  • Remember when you buy sneakers it’s not the brand that matters, it’s the fit. Don’t buy shoes that are too tight or lose.
Exercise
Clothing

Tip Four: Pick a Soundtrack

  • Listening to music greatly affects your how you feel. In fact Psychologists believe that behavior influences attitude and not the other way round. How can you use this to your benefit? Just listen to some “peppy” music that gets you going before or during your workout.
  • If you’re feeling particularly lethargic on a certain day, just head to YouTube and play whatever video gets you excited and pumps up. Whether it is “Munni Badnam Hui” or “Baby I Like It” it doesn’t matter. But please try to stay away from songs that make you feel mellow, save them for nighttime.
  • Listen to inspirational music, you know the kind that plays in movies when the protagonist goes against the odds and achieves something. Like “Eye of the Tiger” from the Rocky Movies or “Chak De India.” You choose your own soundtrack!
Exercise
Exercise

Tip Five: Don’t Body Shame Yourself

  • Regardless of whether you are a size 12 or 2 do not under any circumstances call your body ugly or disgusting. This will NOT motivate you to get healthier.
  • Remember you’ve got only one body, you have to love it. In order to get fitter you have to work with your body and not against it. You’re working out to change your body not replace it!
  • Calling yourself names and putting yourself down will only lower your self-esteem, and not numbers on the scale.
  • Think of it this way, would you be productive working with a coworker or peer you hate? Isn’t it easier to get results when you work with people that you like a get along with?
  • Love yourself. Love waking up in your body – that’ll make you more likely to get out and get going with it.
Exercise
Exercise

Making a healthy change takes motivation not self-deprecation!

I hope these tips serve you well. If you try them let me know how that goes. Please share your own tips too!

Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

IMBB RECOMMENDS

26 thoughts on “Five Easy Tips to Jumpstart Your Exercise Regimen

  1. Ultimate Tips Devie!! :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:! I really agree with the points related to getting the right attire for work out, and having a perfect playlist! I never feel bored whenever I am listening to my kinda music while doing work out. It becomes even easy to plan the exercises. Instead of dreading and looking at clock for 15 minutes. I set my exercise plan to go for “these 3 songs”, and then shift to next. It really works amazingly and doesn’t make anything tiresome!! Amazing Article!!!! 🙂 🙂

  2. Nice writeup Devie!!
    I just wanted to add a point of eating healthy..
    I remember that I never lost a gram when I used to work out and continue eating same or more (used to think ill burn them 😛 ).
    Once you have made up your mind to work on yourself I think you should eat wisely.

    1. Agree with you 110% :yes: And guess what research does too 🙂
      In studies women lost more weight when cutting calories than when exercising! So go figure…

  3. I started with pilates a few weeks ago and I really agree. :yes:
    A good playlist will do very important part of the job , would not be the same without it.

  4. Just one thing about making it a family affair:
    It´s unbelievable but, my boyfriend can eat tons of cake, chocolade and sweets – while losing weight :silly: For him the only way to get the lost kilos back is workout, especially strength training. I need stamina workouts to lose weight.

    1. I’ve always been interested in pilates, just never took classes. I like yoga, how close is it to that?
      I am sooo envious of your boyfriend! And of all men in general (they burn calories faster..!!!!!)
      But he really needs to let us in on his secret!
      By stamina work outs do you mean cardio?

      1. Yes, cardio and other workouts like aerobic, pilates, canalletics etc., paying attention on the pulse (has to be between 120 to max. 130 b. per minute, supposed to be the best pulse to burn fat). I am not really qualified to talk about yoga, but I consider pilates being a kind of yoga light – compared to hatha yoga. And, for sure, wihout the spiriutal dimension.

        His secret is: He was into sports and workouts his whole life. And he mustn´t stop it, like he did about three years ago. Without workouts he loses weight – I wish I could say that about me :silly: I think it´s according to his metebolism … and what you´ve mentioned above: men burn calories faster.

  5. Another tip I’d like to add is, whenever you are working out, you tend to shed oodles of water and salt. This usually leads to dehydration and a craving to eat more, because of which whatever you loose, comes back (and even more) from the increased eating. The best way to cope up with this is to drink at least 1 liter of water after workout, with 2 teaspoons of glucose /Tang in it.

    Such energy drinks will take care of your food cravings and will balance the energy/water/salt deficiency, thereby preventing you to eat any more than what is normally desired for the body!! 🙂

    1. Also keep yourself well hydrated before starting the workout. Drink plenty of water at least half an hour before you hit the gym. Before beginning with any exercise, it is necessary to warm up yourself and control your breathing. Once your breathing is controlled beforehand, you can work out better doing cardio or any exercise without feeling exhausted easily. 🙂

      1. 🙂 Yeah…I love swimming. It is one of the best exercises of all, and it shows results so fast that I usually get spellbound by the results. Just half an hour of swimming a week gives me results that I’d achieve by hitting 1 hour gym daily for a month. :-/ I so much miss swimming now!! :cry:. Used to do it regularly in college!! 🙁 🙁 🙁

        1. What stroke do you practice? I’d like to see those results! 😛
          I love swimming but stopped cause I started feeling gross at public pools… and because my hair is damaged from rebonding and I can’t let chlorine damage it more! :-X

          1. yeah..chlorine damage is something really scary for swimming!! :-(. I remember when I went home after learning my first swimming lessons and practicing for a month, my mom literally screamed after looking at me, coz of what chlorine had done to my skin and hair. I couldn’t learn much strokes, just the front crawl, want to learn butterfly!

            For hair, I used to put lots of gel/hair cream (sunsilk hair cream) before putting on the cap.

  6. Bipasha Basu is one good inspiration for all of us. She looks amazing after shedding all extra weight.

    I somehow believe in buying work out clothes, they do motivate you . I cannot work out at home. I like to go to the gym and work out. I think the collaborative energy there pushes you to work harder.

    Loved the article. :yes: :yes:

    1. Yeah… I like Bips cause she doesn’t seem like she’s surviving on a carrot a day. She’s got great muscle tone so she’s obviously getting lots of protein 😛

  7. I cannnnnnnnnnnnnot walk unless I have some “walkable” music playing – and I plan it like okayy I have to walk for 6 songs or 8 songs or whatever 🙂 🙂

  8. I love the gym!!!

    Whenever I am not working out i feel lethargic, dull and bored!!

    I have noticed that exercise keeps me in good mood.. I love endorphins!!!

    Interesting note: Walking 10000 steps a day gives you same amount of endorphins as shopping!!!

    No wonder malls are popular!!

  9. Loved :heart: :heart: :heart: this!! Especially tips 3 and 4 appeal to the shopa-music-holic in me (yes that is a word).
    Since i am always on a diet :plate: this is gr8.Thnx

Leave a Reply to Devie Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *