Activ8 Advice: Preparing Yourself for Success

By PCYC Lang Park Gym+Fitness Trainer, Leigh Kable

To get the most out of your challenge, here are a few tips that you can employ that will make a difference to your challenge journey. You have already made the first and most important step – you have signed up and committed! The magic still will not happen on its own, so to make sure you don’t become a Week 3 casualty, consider the following or add a few more of your own – and share with the Facebook Challenge group!

• Spring clean your diet: Clear out your fridge, pantry and workspace to remove foods you will be looking to eliminate during the challenge. Snack foods are often highly processed and energy dense, so a challenge is a good time to spring clean your diet of bad habits and create healthy new habits.
• Identify your triggers: Think about your triggers if overeating is a problem. For example, if the sight of the toaster makes you want toast, make sure the toaster is out of sight to avoid that trigger. Having healthy replacements on hand for what you would normally eat is a must.
• Identify previous limitations: Identifying your previous limiting factors and what has stopped you in the past is an important step in addressing them. Common limiting factors may be a busy lifestyle, illness or medical condition, stress/depression, inactive leisure time, excessive TV viewing or screen time, misinformation, unhealthy environment, reliance on cars, too much eating out, and unrealistic expectations, to name a few.
• Be prepared for change: Try not to have an all or nothing attitude. Adherence to your training plan or food intake is great, but learning to work around the challenges is necessary too. If you slip up, acknowledge it and move on! There will be some trials in an 8-week time frame but also some unexpected successes.
• Don’t make excuses: Be a solution seeker and don’t look for reasons to let yourself off the hook. Your exercise will be done and dusted by the time most people are getting up and you will not have to find that time for exercise later. Take 3 minutes each morning to reflect on your goals and why you have them.
• Let friends and family on board: Let them know that you will appreciate their help and support during the next few weeks. If you have any family events or other functions during the challenge, decide in advance what your strategy will be and stick to that plan.
• Alcohol influences results: Remember that alcohol will have an impact on your results, so you could consider cutting it out for the duration of the challenge. Not only does it influence metabolic processes and interfere with fat burning, you will crave salty or fatty foods to go with it.
• Take the challenge step by step: Take it week by week. Organise some treats for yourself applicable to your goals and your moving towards them, for example a massage, a med ball or a fancy new skipping rope. Appreciate your efforts for yourself in the same way you would if supporting a friend.

Train smart, eat well, and sleep enough.  Listen to your body and adjust training if you are feeling pain or an overload of soreness. And most of all – if you need help just ask for it! Our trainers are there if you need them.

Happy planning and good luck!