Folks, I’m going to share with you the 10 best mental hacks for achieving your health and fitness goals.
Doing something on a whim or with the best of intentions seldom works.
Less than 3% of Americans live a healthy lifestyle according to one study!
If your head is not in the game then most of you won’t succeed because life offers too many distractions and pitfalls where it’s too easy to succumb to temptation.
To achieve your health and fitness goals, the best approach is to be mentally prepared.
When you can visualize your objective and know what you want to achieve – You Will!
Keep in mind that mental preparation is not enough in itself. It’s something that you have work at and re-visit every day.
The best time is to think about your goals and your plan is first thing in the morning and just before you go to sleep.
When faced with temptation, stress or if you’re just having a really bad day then take a moment. Step back and tell yourself not to succumb.
Most importantly, even if you slip up and it will happen to many of you – don’t let it stop you. It’s just a glitch so forget about it and move on.
Use the 10 best mental hacks for achieving your health & fitness goals below to reinforce yourself.
Get back on track and the self-discipline will become routine and become a regular part of your day.
10 Best Mental Hacks for Achieving Your Health & Fitness Goals
Here’s my favorite top 10 to help you to develop the mindset to become the new you.
1. Make a Plan
If you’ve been a couch potato for awhile and not exercising or eating properly, ask yourself what you want to achieve. Sit down and ask yourself:
“Where do I see myself and what do I want to achieve over the next year?”
It might be something simple such as dropping 10 or 20 pounds. It might be that just you want to feel healthier and be in better shape.
The most important point is to be realistic. And, you don’t have to achieve it all at once. If you want to drop 20 pounds, then see your goal as losing 1.6 pounds per month.
It takes time for the body to revitalize its metabolism so don’t despair if it doesn’t go exactly as planed. If, after 2 months, you only lost 1.5 pounds – don’t get frustrated and be patient.
Read your plan every morning and every might and don’t beat yourself up if things don’t go as planned.
Plan Ahead!
2. Be Realistic About Your Health and Fitness Goals
Every person’s needs, time availability, and work and family commitments are different. You don’t have to become a Vegan tomorrow or start running marathons to be fit.
Good habits take both time and planning.
Just make a few new changes each week or each month and don’t try to do it all at once.
Adjust your plan that you made up to suit your time availability and current lifestyle situation.
You don’t have to go out and spend a lot of money on diet programs, gym memberships or equipment either. You don’t have to be a jogger to get healthy.
And don’t do things you don’t want to do.
Do things that you use to do which gave you pleasure such as riding a bike or going for a swim. Do up a meal plan for the week that reflects your new and improved healthy lifestyle.
Get in the habit of making a healthy lunch to bring to work instead of grabbing the proverbial burger on the run.
You can build up and achieve your goals by planning and making time to fit your new lifestyle into your day. If it was pouring rain or too cold for your walk or run, then place walk or do some crunches or other cardio movements in front of the T.V.
Be realistic!
3. See Each Month as a Mini Goal
Let’s take losing weight as an example here. Don’t guess at your eating habits. Take a cold hard look at what you’re eating.
Begin with a journal using your Smartphone or go “Old School” and write it down in some kind of a journal.
Be honest and include everything! After a week, 2 weeks or even a month, take a very critical look and review your eating habits.
Make the mini-goal of your first month something simple and eliminate or substitute 2 or 3 items that you know aren’t good for you with something healthy.
You could even make your first mini-goal something as simple as learning more about what foods are unhealthy and why they are unhealthy.
Do something like making it a point to take walk after you eat lunch or before or just after supper.
Don’t despair if you lose little if any weight after the first month.
Stick with the plan and work at your next month’s plan by eliminating a few more things that are bad to eat and increase your physical activity a bit more.
Each mini-plan will help you change your body’s metabolism and you will begin to see results. Your weight might not change much but will begin to see fat transform into muscle as you exercise more.
Your energy levels will slowly increase and you will even feel more rested when you sleep.
Be Patient!
4. Visualize the New You
Make a point of finding a few minutes each day to see the “New You!”
Before you eat or drink something, ask yourself if what you’re about to eat or drink reflects the “New You.”
Does the new you add sugar to their coffee or drink lots of sodas.? No! The new you is going to eliminate as much sugar as possible.
Did you know that many physicians view white processed sugar as the “White Death”? Google it and find out why white sugar is so bad and in how many foods and drinks it can be found.
Does the new you spend all their leisure time texting, streaming or laying on the couch?
Of course not because the new you gets out of the chair and off the couch and does something like riding their bike, a brisk walk and or a Saturday hike.
Start your day by visualizing yourself eating more healthy and being more active. See yourself having a bowl of vegetable soup or a fillet of fish for lunch or supper instead.
Oh, and let’s consider doing away with or reducing those plates of bacon and eggs for breakfast and opting for a healthy start before you start your day.
See yourself as you want yourself to be and…
Visualize the New You!
5. Don’t Fret About the Occasional Cheat Day
I love pizza! And, I love ribs!
There – I said it and I admit that I occasionally cheat. Occasional cheating is okay as far as I’m concerned. It does the soul and spirit good to indulge yourself! But… only if it’s occasional and in moderation.
You had a bad night’s sleep and a lousy day in the cubicle. Traffic was the worst and you just feel lousy mentally and physically.
Give yourself a break and pamper yourself a bit. This does not mean eating a whole tub of ice cream or an entire pizza though.
Have a small bowl of ice cream or a slice or two but rein it in and don’t overindulge.
Keep in mind that tomorrow is another day. Call a friend and get together and have a little fun.
Just don’t let it become a habit and visualize yourself as getting back to the plan. Use both your plan and visualize yourself as the new you tomorrow.
An Occasional Cheat Day is Okay!
6. Join a Support Group
You’re not alone! It’s always best to connect with like minded people. You can find tons of these groups online such as though Facebook and other social media sites.
You’d be surprised how many people like yourself are not happy with their weight and overall health. Many of these folks are struggling just like you.
And, a lot of these people have some great ideas that will appeal to you and can help you to adjust your plan. Some techniques won’t be suitable for you but many others will.
Help and encouragement will help you reinforce your goals. Start talking to like minded people.
Talk to your friends and family about your weight and health goals. Ask them to help you achieve your objective by requesting they participate indirectly.
Or, some of them might want the same thing and you can do it together.
Don’t Dot It Alone!
7. Get the Rest You Need
Fatigue is one of the biggest metal and physical drawbacks you can encounter. One of the primary reasons why people don’t seem to have the energy to achieve their health goals is because they are too tired.
You need to sleep! Every person should strive for 8 hours of sleep every day. The body needs rest. You might think being a night owl is cool, but when you’re dozing off at your desk at 3 in the afternoon – it’s not.
Falling asleep in your Lazyboy after dinner is your body’s way of telling you that you’re not getting enough sleep. So, forget the late night shows and retire earlier.
You can’t have a positive attitude and stick to the plan if you’re tired. A good night’s rest is a vital mind hack that every person should adopt.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep!
8. Be Accountable to Yourself
At the end of each month, be truthful with yourself and give yourself an honest evaluation of how well you followed your plan.
Consider your results. Ask yourself how well you improved your diet, reduced calories or followed your exercise regime.
How many cheat days did you really engage in?
And, if you did fare poorly, also ask yourself how many days did you follow your plan? Focus on what you did and not what you didn’t do.
If you’re not happy with the results – don’t use your lack of success as an excuse to give up. After all, consider that you didn’t do everything wrong and be proud of the days that you followed through.
Re-work your plan for the following month and alter your goals to improve upon all the good days where you achieved you goals.
Above all else – be honest with yourself and ask yourself how and where you can improve. Just don’t focus on the negative. Every day, week and month is going to be different.
Talk to yourself and tell yourself that not only can you do better – you WILL do better.
Think of the next month as another new beginning.
Be Accountable to Yourself.
9. Keep Moving Forward
Your new you is an ongoing work in progress. It doesn’t matter where you are now. Take the approach that you want to keep improving.
Person A might be able to boast they dropped 30 pounds this year claiming they used such and such a diet.
On the other hand, you might have only lost 7 pounds and think you should jump on the diet bandwagon because you feel disappointed.
There are few diet plans that really work in the long term. Many people who lose weight on diet plans often regain that weight when they stop.
Many diet plans require eating habits that are alien to what you are use to and this is why many people give them up after a month or two.
The same thing applies to many popular exercise routines when they become too hard or exhausting.
Losing weight and exercising the smart way is best achieved with “baby steps.” Losing weight is best achieved by eating smart and can include many of the foods you love.
Exercise will give you that “6 pack” or tight tushy but it is best achieved as a gradual progression.
Just think of your approach as 1 pound at a time and a slightly harder cardio work out that suits you. You don’t have to be a marathon runner.
If 2 or 5 miles seems too much like work then you’re not going to enjoy it. If you’re happy with doing a 1 or 3 mile run and don’t want to do more – then don’t.
If you only lost 5 – 6 pounds this year then be proud of what you did and lose another 5 or 6 pounds next year.
Keep Moving Forward!
10. See the Finish Line
The finish line is the weight and health goal you want to realistically see for yourself.
If you constantly see yourself as losing 30 pounds by eating healthier then you will keep reinforcing your goals and become more determined each time to see it through.
If you see yourself running 2 miles or swimming 20 laps in the pool without puffing and struggling then you will. The first ½ mile and the first 10 laps in the pool will become easier.
You will make a conscious decision about what you should eat at breakfast, lunch and supper until you reach a point where it becomes your new routine.
But the finish line doesn’t mean you just stop and say “Okay! I’m done so I can quit now – right?”
Wrong! The finish line is your goal to continue to maintain a healthy and exercise regime that lasts your entire life.
The Finish Line is Just Your New Beginning!
A Final Note
I hope you enjoyed reading my 10 best mental hacks for achieving your health & fitness goals. Use them how you wish as I believe they will help you in your quest. I’m sure there are others you can employ so create your own.
Good Health to You All!
