[I191]In A Real Life

We have explored the notion of not having time for exercise and how to think differently about your fitness, to make it a higher priority and find time to fit it into your timetable. We have also talked a lot about options, being flexible and making sure that when you look at your schedule and see you have got a really busy week coming up, you can still clearly see where you can fit in your activity and healthy eating plans, even if it is not your complete or ideal . Ensuring that you take active steps towards your goals at all times will keep you on track physically and will also reassure you mentally that you are never slipping backwards. A week without exercise or even a few days of food choices that do not work so well for you can play havoc with your mind and make getting started again more difficult than it needs to be. If you have some options of exercises that you can fit into any schedule, you will always feel one step ahead of the game, and as you put together your programmes, you will come up with your own ideas of where you can fit extra activity into your schedule. There are also plenty of ways to sneak exercise into your weekly routine and to experiment with different tricks to keep you on track. The same is true of your food routine. There may be weeks where it is just not possible to keep to your plan for optimum nutrition but that does not mean you throw caution to the wind. Use your new-found knowledge, experience and skills to work through tricky times and keep yourself headed in the right direction. Here are some more tips to keep you ahead of the game. You can add your own personal tips to the list as you create them as part of your routine. Then use this section as quick reminders of what you should be doing, and when. Tips For Every Day Pay attention to how you sit and stand. Just a few days of poor posture and slouching could make you look like you have piled on the pounds, so stand up straight to make your limbs look lithe and toned. Plan all exercise sessions well in advance and do not let anything get in the way of them. Decide what you are going to do and when you are going to do it, and then forget about it until the time arrives to get on with it. Involve someone else in your exercise plans. Tell people exactly what you are going to do and how you are going to achieve your goals. The more people you tell, the more likely you are to stick to your promises as you will not want to let yourself down by failing to live up to your talk.Think carefully about what you are trying to achieve and spend time visualizing how great you will feel when you have achieved it. Plan activities and workouts that will lead you to your results so you know exactly what days and what times you will be exercising. If you plan these times carefully and keep your end goals in mind, you will not talk yourself out of them.Find a reliable friend with common goals to exercise with you. By agreeing times and dates to work out you are more likely to see quick results than if you exercise alone.Collect photos of yourself - your favourite pictures of yourself as you want to be, and your least favourite pictures of yourself at your worst. Keep them handy with the most favourite on top of the least favourite. Every time you feel tempted to indulge in a food vice, or are struggling to find the motivation to exercise, look at your favourite photos and know that each positive thing you do is a step on the way to getting back to the way you were in the picture.Visualize success in the gym and all that goes with it. Think about working out as a key element in creating a new you ­ a stronger, fitter, healthier, happier you, oozing with self ­ confidence and sex appeal. The sky's the limit when it comes to imagining the ways in which improving your fitness could improve your life, so think of as many as possible and use them as your motivation to get each workout started.