How To Stick To Your Fitness Regime

If your new year started with pledging an allegiance to a new fitness regime then it's likely that by now your enthusiasm and resolve is waning a little bit .But you aren't the only one, trust me we've all been seduced by the lure of the sofa and a glass of wine when we should really be at the gym.

So, we've established that it's not easy to stick to your regime, but what about the practicality of actually sticking to it?

Well my number one tip would be to choose a form of exercise that you actually like, and you give yourself a fighting chance. A friend of mine spent years trying to incorporate running into her regime when she didn't actually enjoy running. Needless to say, she ended up missing sessions, finding excuses and generally feeling rubbish about her own dedication and exercise itself. Then a chance salsa session changed all that. Dragged along by a friend to a salsa taster session, she fell in love with salsa, decided to learn some other dancing styles and now attends high cardio dance classes 4 times a week, supplemented with pilates for toning.

Another good way to keep yourself on track is to work out with a friend- but make sure you choose the friend wisely. In some fitness partnerships when one person is feeling lazy the other will encourage them and vice versa, or in others there is an undertone of competitiveness and so you are spurred on by training to be as good as, if not better than, them. These are both positive relationships to have for your ongoing fitness as both encourage you to be better, but choose the wrong type of work out buddy and you end up with someone who has a negative impact on your ongoing regime.

My final piece of advice is to remain positive! We're all human and all susceptible to giving up r having a week off, but as long as you can overcome this and get back on track then all is not lost. Try and change the way you view slip ups, so rather than saying " I had a week off, there's no point continuing", challenge yourself to do double next week or add some time onto the sessions you do. Another area where you should change your thinking is when it comes to excuses. If you're aware of the stock excuses you use then you can combat them. So, for example, if you often miss an exercise class because you feel weak after skipping lunch at work, then keep a banana or cereal bar in your kit bag for an energy hit.