Fitness Journey

For some of you, the word “fitness” makes you cringe. There are also those who practically live at their local gym. Then you have those who want to get into fitness starting the new year right! I was those three types of people at one point in my life. Now I stay at the gym 5-6 days a week. It took me years to get the motivation I have now to stay at the gym that many days a week. So let me tell you how I made it happen.

Motivation

There is no way that I can be the way I am right now without having motivation. You have to want it more than anything. For years I went through a depression and had no need to go to the gym. My body felt so tired and most days I was lazy. There were days when I went to the gym, but I always didn’t give my all. I just didn’t have any motivation. So the question is “How did I get motivated to go to the gym 5-6 days a week”. Well long story short, someone has told me that no one would ever date me because I am a single mom of two. Nothing made me madder that it helped me release all my anger at the gym. I began to lift weights and it seemed that it worked even better. After a month or two, that WILL power helped create the habit of the normal routine. I wanted to show that person that I am still dateable and still desirable. Nowadays it doesn’t seem right when I miss a day at the gym.

Either way having motivation is the only way to keep this momentum and stay on track on your fitness journey. For some of us, they want fitness included in their livelihood for the sole purpose of having a great body. Then so be it! My advice to you is that pick that one fitness model on Instagram and do everything you can to work for that body. Sometimes having an ideal role model helps.

Plan your goals

How do you achieve fitness without goals? Yah Can’t! Some people say you just have to show up and work out and most people are right. However if you just show up and do the minimum work out, the process takes much longer, and won’t see any difference in your body. Soon you may not even have the will to hit the gym because it seems worthless. So before that fails, make sure to set yourself some goals. whether it’s losing a couple of pounds every week or being able to hit more weights, just push yourself harder than the day before. Plan what you want to achieve every week so that you know you are on track. \

Also having such high hopes can ruin your fitness journey. We all can’t look like Jlo or Chris Hemsworth in a month or two. That just isn’t possible unless you get plastic surgery or take an illegal substance. Instead, take small steps. After all, It’s not like we can all just go to the gym and bench press 350lbs. If you make unrealistic goals, within weeks, you will just feel like a failure and end your fitness journey. Instead of making one big goal, divide them into smaller goals. That way it is achievable.

Making time

We all have lives outside of fitness goals. We all have a job that we all need to report back to. Some of us have a kid or two to take care of. Whatever the reason may be, You can still make time for fitness if you want it bad enough. I myself am a single mom and have to work around two children while they are home from school. So how do I accomplish this? I schedule my gym time early in the morning. Fitness has been part of my life now since mid-2020 and I refuse to make an excuse as to why I can not work out. Even if I have plans in the morning I make sure to still get the time I need at the gym.

Some people rather work out after work. Hey, if it works for you that’s great! Just make sure that your exhaustion from work will not interfere with your gym time. Sometimes for those who work out after work, it’s best to bring your gym back and everything you need in your vehicle. That way you wouldn’t have to go home and get ready or see your bed. After a long day of work, it’s hard to not sit on a couch or lay on your comfy bed.

Eating Healthy

Eating healthy can be the worst part of fitness. Technically you don’t have to change your diet if you are only wanting to work on fitness. It isn’t necessary to put those things together at once. I also don’t advise you to do both at the same time. However, long term, it’s best that we all should healthy. I went to the gym two months straight and I struggled some days. I did not know what I was doing wrong. There were days when I feel like dying at the gym while I was doing cardio or even feel so bloated and can’t do another rep. That’s because I ate horribly the day before or wasn’t eating things that were better for my body. What you consume plays a big role in how you will feel or work out at the gym. This doesn’t mean you would have to start eating like a rabbit and eat nothing but grass and fruit. This just means stop eating McDonald’s and Taco Bell. Not only you feel better at the gym, but You will also feel much better throughout the day. Sometimes, I can go without caffeine and not feel drowsy. When you put fitness and eating healthy together you will see your body change faster than you can think. SO think again before you consume anything.

Create multiple playlist

It’s nothing more annoying than going to the gym and having to go through my phone to change songs or find songs to keep me motivated. To me it’s distracting and I just want to keep working out without stopping. That is why I have about eight different playlists to pick from. Like I said previously I hit the gym about 5-6 days a week and listening to the same songs every day can seem like a broken record sometimes. I also have different types of music. I can go from listening to Kevin Gates one morning to listening to Linkin Park the next day. FYI, always keep a headphone on you or you may be listening to someone breathing hard or grunting at the gym.

Keep a gym bag ready

Now, when I say to keep a gym bag, doesn’t require you to go out of your way to go out and buy ankle weights or bar pads or even have a waist trainer. You aren’t there yet sweetheart. Make sure to take your time to allow your body to adjust. However, the reason why it’s great to keep a gym bag ready is that it’s better to be prepared than not to be prepared. Some people do have body odor and it’s always best to have spray and towel to refresh your body after a workout. I also like to keep my pre work out and a shaker bottle just in case I forget it at home. My gym time will be such a drag without pre work out. Having one thing in one place can make things easier when you have a busy life as I do.

The right way to exercise

Nothing scares me more than someone using the machine incorrectly at the gym and hurting themself simply because they wanted to impress some girl or guy at the gym. There was this one time this guy was doing chest presses with much more weight than he could handle. He ended up dropping on himself, almost breaking his ribs. Luckily, I and another guy came to his rescue to pick up the bar off his chest. “Man I didn’t realize It was that much weight; I used to lift more than this” was his response. I knew he wasn’t a regular since I have never seen the man at the gym, but yeah, he seemed more than embarrassed.

I learned most of my work out routine through fitness bloggers and YouTube videos. I also had a couple of friends who are fitness trainers that explained to me what I needed to work on. The right way to exercise was one of the most common questions I asked. The worst thing you can ever do in the gym is to hurt yourself by working out too hard. Of course, there are fitness trainers that you can hire to teach you the right ways and I always recommend it since everyone’s body works differently. If you can afford it, great! Use it to the max. Someone like me, who is a single mom of two and only working with one income, can be a little bit challenging. So do your research. Also learning how to use the machine is very important. You don’t want to end up on Tik Tok videos or Snapchat stories as the guy who failed at the gym. Anything can be found on the internet if you look hard enough