I’m starting over again fitness wise. And it’s not bad. It’s actually GREAT. Go for that fitness reboot my friend!
Have you ever started playing a game and get a few hours in and soon after you’d say “I wish I knew some tips and the right controls, or setup from the beginning”? Then you find yourself starting over again and suddenly you became more knowledgeable and ready to beat the levels?
I usually play a simple game called Fishdom on my phone few minutes before I sleep, to work my brains out before I turn in. And whenever I reach those levels that says “Super Hard”, I panicked when I have no more power ups to use. That’s because I knew it’s going to be tough. But then whenever I lose a round, I simply restart and voila! I’m playing so much better.
The same concept is true for any battle you first encounter in any game, say in an battle-based instance. You struggle to learn the patterns, you probably get eliminated a lot (Fall Guys?). Soon you crack the code. When you get on the race again later, you are now winning so easily.
Getting fit and in shape is no different. Every time we try to be fit and feel that we failed, we then learn a little bit more about how things work. Maybe we have already lost a few pounds with the plan A, but failed with your plan B. If we have already started working out for a few weeks and suddenly give up… when we come back next time, we become more familiar with a lot: what made us stop, and how to prevent it the next time around.
Each time you do a self-restart, you’re ACTUALLY getting closer to that point of making things stick to you.
Then you realize, this strategy might be critical in terms of motivation for us to push ourselves more.
Capitalize on Momentum
There are specific points in our lives like New year, your birthday, probably a Monday too, and in my case, post-ECQ. That’s when we say “okay, today is the day that things are going to change.” For myself, the gym reopens and there’s a chance that I’ll be going back to my gym workouts soon. Trust me, it helps.
When we have finally decided to start again, something powerful can happen! With this kind of mentality, we can look at today as the first day of the rest of our life. That everything else that has happened in the past, is already a indication of our old selves.
The new version will be a level-up you, and you should be able to make decisions differently.
How to Start Over Again?
We’ve been doing this thing over and over for several years already. But the next time you try to have your “Today is a new day” moment in your fitness lifestyle, remember these little tips. I’m applying them for myself this post-ECQ as I share my progress anytime during the next coming weeks:
1) Separate the OLD and NEW you. From the moment you said you’re restarting, remember that you are somebody different this time. Even if you think that you have poorly made decisions yesterday; that’s just the old you now. And change can happen in an instant, and it can be sustainable. Defeat all incoming negativities. Instead of thinking “I might fail again,” start thinking that from today, there’s nothing keeping you from achieving those fitness goals you’re up to!
2) Remember the momentum, and sustain it. Your motivation, inspiration, and thus your momentum will be running high during that first week. So use that to your advantage! A good way to start is to make any changes that will help you permanently. Here’s some:
- If you have signed up for a online fitness trainer membership, set up your appointments RIGHT AWAY. Just so after a few weeks from now when you’re ready to start slacking, you’ve already paid. And have set up those meetings, checkmate!
- Use the first week to clear out your kitchen cabinets of all your junk food. And try to buy lots of healthy replacements? Yesterday, I zeroed out my junk food (my Oreo Doublestuf cookies lol) and bought a new set of the ones that I usually eat while on prep. Like oats, sweet potatoes, brown rice, breast chicken, etc. If it’s not too much to ask, prepare your diet meals, or maybe invest on diet meal plan deliveries.
- While still on quarantine, take some time to research for recipes. With limited choices of your first set of healthy groceries, the first struggle you’d encounter will be cooking a variable set of meals that are fitness sustainable. There are a bunch of recipes online, go look for one, or ten!
- Take the time to schedule all of your workouts in your phone’s calendar complete with specific dates and times. On a weekend, I have set my alarm to workout on morning before breakfast (for fasted cardio). And since I am working from home on weekdays, I’ve set an alarm 30 minutes after logging out to prepare for workout (I still have to setup my weights and bench and other equipment so I need a lead time.
- Can you follow thru a thing for 30 days straight? Proving to yourself you can change? Like completing a kilometer of walk? Another one (which I’ll also do), is to complete 20 push-ups everyday soon as I wake up. This discipline is a jump-start to proving yourself that YOU CAN DO IT!
Also Read: Why Go For Diet Meal Plan Deliveries in Philippines?
During the week when you are already excited to exercise, have fixed your diet, and excited about change, do as much as you can to try and seek out permanent wins. That way, if your fitness excitement starts to trend downwards anytime soon, at least you have taken steps towards a permanent change that will carry over to weeks when you have low motivation.
3) Fail Differently Each Time. For every attempt you do, remember that it might not be the one that sticks either. Have that kind of thinking because that’s okay. What’s truly important is that you try to change differently. If your Mario jumped on a warp pipe the moment piranha plans appear, then you’ll obviously die the same. So try different! Use a different app, join a different type of class, maybe blog your progress like I will. Monitor your calories, or monitor your complete meal sets. Read more reliable sources of fitness tips, etc.
Change something.
Aim to be Perma-healthy
Once you’ve seen the much better results, we don’t want you to reach the feeling of perfection for one month, and then “go back to the way things were.”
Find your balance of permanently being healthy and happy.
As you are declaring that today is your “Respawn Day” – wear it like a badge of honor. That you are starting over. That from now on, you are different than the person who tried to get fit last time.
Anything is possible.
You are slowly learning the controls. You are studying the game’s playing patterns.
And now, you are getting back in the fight.
Your turn my friend:
What’s one BIG WIN change that you’d want to make today now that you’re fired up to going back in fitness?
– Jeff
P.S. And with that being said, I’m restarting my entire journey at THIS very point. Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog as I share my progress, and how I’m doing it! Let’s get fit and look good together (as my tagline says!).
Ciao again soon!
GIF Sources: GIPHY
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