What's Stopping You?

This time of year can be a pretty tough one when it comes to our health and fitness. The cold weather makes an appearance and the festivities begin which usually means lots of nights out, Christmas parties and time with family and friends; usually revolved around food and drinks.
Our minds start to wander and we begin to 'let loose' during this period. Goals go out of the window and we begin to start that downward spiral, both physically and mentally, to the New Year.

Speaking of fitness and health and putting the fact that Christmas is coming to one side for now, I am actually here to talk you to about health and fitness in general. A few weeks ago I created a poll on my instagram account and I asked my audience a couple of questions around goals, motivation to workout and social media itself; is it actually motivational to people and do people really look to it for help and support?!

In this post I want to show you one of the questions I asked, the most popular answers and I want to address each one and give you some tips on how you could maybe overcome these obstacles, make positive changes and begin to take steps towards reaching your goals.

The top things that get in the way of reaching fitness goals

I asked my audience what the obstacles are and things that get in the way of actually being able to reach fitness and health related goals. The top answers in order were-
-- Cost of exercise
-- Own diet/nutrition
-- Work and finding time to fit in working out
-- Social pressures and socialising.

Let's address each of these individually...

cost/prices

Kicking it off with most popular...money. The cost of attending classes regularly, gym memberships, online coaching/programmes and costs of personal trainers. For A LOT of people this was something that came up as the number one answer as to why they struggle to reach their goals.
Now, I'm going to get real with you all here....
In reality there are no excuses when it comes to the cost of exercise.
I'm going to chat to you about the options you have if money is an issue-

First up: YouTube. There are THOUSANDS of workouts on YouTube which are completely FREE! It costs absolutely nothing to pop your TV, phone, laptop or tablet on and set up a space in your home. The options are endless on YouTube so if you have absolutely no budget then this is the option for you.

If you have a low budget then there are affordable gyms out there with prices as low as £14.99 a month which in membership terms is a very low price! You get full access, 7 days a week so if you are worried about value for money then you really can't complain if you are going to be committed to going several times a week.

diet/nutrition

This is a tricky one and again, I'm going to get real here...
Most people know what is good for them and what isn't all that great. Most people know that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is great and eating lots of highly processed and high sugar foods on a regular basis isn't the best. But, what people don't know is how many calories they are consuming and they completely underestimate how many they are consuming on a daily basis.
A few things to consider-

Think about what you're eating! It sounds silly and it's been said one million times before but think about the food you're putting in your mouth; and the quantities too. You may be making healthy choices but there is such a thing as too much of anything so think about your portion sizes.

If you really aren't sure on nutrition and diet then a nutritionist or dietician is the person you need. Don't be fooled by PT's and their 'diet plans'. If a PT isn't qualified in nutrition then he or she shouldn't be giving you a meal/diet plan. Yes a PT can give some tips and examples but they shouldn't be telling you what you can and can't eat.

Don't be fooled by foods branded as 'low-fat', 'low-calorie' and any other diet related words. 9 times out of 10 they are packed full of other rubbish or they are only actually a few calories less than their 'high calorie' counterparts.

work/time

The third most popular answer was work and time. People struggle to find the time due to work commitments, family and general life coming first.
Again, I'm going to get real...
The excuse of time is a pretty poor one these days. The real answer here is people can't be bothered. They go to work for 8/9 hours a day and the last thing they want to do is workout after this. I get it.
There are thing you can do to overcome this time/work issue.

Firstly; simply make time. Get up 30 minutes earlier to fit in something before work. This alleviates the issue of not being bothered after a full day at work. If getting up early is truly out of the question or you have children to get ready/other morning commitments then go to the gym or a class straight from work. You don't need to spend hours there, 30 minutes is more than enough to get in a good workout.

Unfortunately when it comes to exercise you HAVE TO be bothered and push yourself to do something. If you don't have any motivation to workout alone then join a friend, get a friend to join you or go to a class.

social pressures

Lastly, people find that socialising and spending time out with friends and family can be a real pressure and hinderance to their health and fitness goals.
To be quite honest with you, people put far too much pressure on themselves in these situations. Having a meal out or drinks with friends and family will not put you back to square one, as many people think. The problem people have is they have that meal or those drinks and then continue making poor choices for the next few days. THAT is what is causing you to take longer to reach your goals. Having one not-so-great meal; Fine. Having a weeks worth of not-so-great food; there's the problem. Do this regularly and it really does all add up!

Just remember why you started your health and fitness journey and remember that it's ok to go out an enjoy yourself! The very next day is when you need to get back into your usual habits, not 4 days later. Enjoy yourself and enjoy time with friends and family!

What I would really like you to take away from this post is just relax. Don't put pressure on yourself. Life can get in the way but please realise when this is true and when it's actually just excuses. We all do it, we all get a bit lazy and convince ourselves of our excuses. Realise what is getting in the way and make yourself accountable for whatever that may be. There are ways around everything if you just sit back and figure out a way to do it.

Amie xx

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ABOUT ME

THE GIRL BEHIND FITNESS FORSTER

My name is Amie and I am the face behind Fitness Forster.
I am a freelance recipe developer, content creator and qualified personal trainer. I developed this website to share my passion for healthy recipes, fitness and travel.