How to Quit Sabotaging Your Fitness Goals

No getting around it, being fit and healthy—and staying that way—requires discipline and dedication. But I get it. You’re crazy busy. Juggling work and family and those endless curveballs life likes to throw your way isn’t easy. When you’ve got to cut something from your day, your gym time is too often the sacrificial lamb. But that doesn’t mean you should give up trying to work out altogether. Stop the self-sabotage! Taking care of yourself isn’t any less important than taking care of everyone else around you. In fact, you can’t give your best to anyone if you’re constantly compromising your own physical well-being. So how to squeeze in fitness, no matter what? Below are a few accessible and affordable tips anyone can do.

Incorporate as much activity into your daily routine as possible.

No, I will never tell you it’s ok to just take the stairs instead of the elevator.  However, N.E.A.T or “non exercise activity thermogenesis” is a hell of a lot better than nothing. This basically means stand instead of sit while on the phone or waiting at the doctors’ office. Have a walking office meeting instead of a sit down office meeting. Again, this is not a panacea, but it will add up over time.

Create a mini home gym.

Relax—I’m not talking about buying expensive equipment or clearing out an entire room in your home. All you need is an 8-by-8 square foot area of space to work in, and a few portable items such as dumbbells that adjust from 3 to 8 pounds, a resistance tube, and a yoga mat. But your most valuable tool? That would be your own body weight. Do squats and lunges to work your butt and thighs; push-ups and downward-facing dogs to work your chest, shoulders, and triceps; crunches and planks to work your abs; and jumping jacks and mountain climbers for cardio.

Subscribe.

Subscriptions models are where at home fitness is at. Like movies and music, streaming is the key. Having access to hundreds of quality workouts with incredible trainers anyplace and anytime makes excuses difficult to stand by. Whether you stream videos from your iPad or pop in an old-school DVD, you can’t beat getting your burn on with a fitness pro anytime you want, in the comfort of your home. No hefty personal trainer fee required. My FitFusion subscribers (who range from beginners to fitness addicts) pay only $9.99 a month for unlimited access to over 165 hours of streaming videos from 30-plus trainers I selected myself because they literally kick butt. If you want to give the workouts a try, click here for an offer to get the first two weeks free.

Download an app.

This is another big one. Fitness apps run the gamut. Pretty much anything you need you can find. Running apps, cycling apps, personal training apps etc.  What I love about apps is that you can use them anywhere and they offer a more personalized approach. For example, with my Jillian Michaels app I can customize any program for you based on your fitness level, fitness goals, and time frame. Some of these can be expensive, but many are affordable. Mine is only a $14.99 a month (less than $3.75 a week!) and it comes with complete meal plans as well to ensure success. So what are you waiting for? Get crackin!