5 ways to get your mind to support your fitness

When it comes to losing weight and sticking to a healthy routine, it’s not just physical strength that we rely on. We need mental strength and a positive mindset to not only get us through our workout but push ourselves to the limit. Without a strong mind, getting those burpees done, weights lifted and workouts ticked off can feel like a battle. After all, the mind can be your best friend or your biggest enemy.

Time and time again I’ve sat down with clients who have been focusing too much on the physical, so we change tack. This is always a success because when your mind is in the right place, your body will follow. Take a look at my quick steps to give your mindset a makeover.

1. Ditch the “all-or-nothing” mentality

Too often, we fall into a trap of either giving 110 per cent or no effort at all. This type of thinking is dangerous as it means when we’re not totally committed to a good routine we tend to throw any healthy habits completely out the window. Try to ditch this way of thinking and instead adopt a balanced approach that doesn’t make anything completely off bounds.

2. It’s a marathon, not a sprint

Don’t have an end date to your healthy routine. Think about eating well and working out consistently as a lifestyle change and let go of any diet mentality you might have. Dropping this type of thinking will mean change is likely to stick around in the long run.

3. Rethink rewards (and punishments)

Try to ditch the idea of food as a reward and exercise as punishment. This way of thinking will make you dread working out and, on the flip side, if you’re rewarding your good work with food too often it can unravel any progress you may have made. Rethink your rewards and redesign them so that they are unrelated to food; like treating yourself to a massage, pedicure or a new pair of runners.

4. Every one has their bad days

Never forget: a bad meal or a missed workout is just that. Don’t make it a big deal by wasting your time and punishing yourself. Remind yourself that tomorrow is a new day, so put your energy into tackling it head first rather than beating yourself up.

5. Reflect on how far you’ve come

Allocate the same amount of energy that you usually do to feeling dejected about what you haven’t achieved, to instead feel good about how far you’ve come. I am always reminding my clients not to forget to be kind to themselves, and never critique or say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to a friend.

Changing your mindset is not easy. We can’t just flick a switch and immediately have a positive mindset.

The reality is, there will always be days where we crave a Big Mac or watch an extra Netflix episode instead of going for a run, and this is absolutely OK. But if you can focus on taking the above steps into account and gradually make small changes, trust me, they’ll lead to big results.

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