How to Stay Motivated as the Days Get Shorter
By Phil Mackenzie, @Leansquad
Fall is upon us, which means the days are getting shorter and colder. How do you stay motivated through this time? Here are some of my tips on how to stay UPBEAT, POSITIVE and READY to SMASH THE LEANNESS through the Fall and Winter months!
Goal Setting
Whether you are trying to get fit, saving up for that new car, or going back to school, it is LEAN-portant to take a minute to set some personal goals! Especially when the Winter season hits, it can become difficult to stay motivated sometimes. If we set goals, we are giving ourselves something to look forward to, something that will MOTIVATE us to keep going! When you are thinking about what you want to accomplish, make sure you set a variety of goals that are specific to different areas of your life: Fitness, family, career, self-love, whatever YOU want to achieve. REMEMBER Squadies, there is NEVER a “right” or “wrong” answer when goal-setting, however it is SO SO SO important that you break each goal down into “sub-goals” so you can use them as a check list to help you attain your BIG LEAN goal! I am SO DETERMINED to help each and every Squadie SMASH 2019 and beyond that I have outlined some of the steps to follow setting your 2019/2020 goals! Check out my goal setting process, let me know what you think, and let’s make the rest of 2019 the LEANEST YET and get ready for 2020!
Clean Out the Cupboard
A great way to stay motivated is by cleaning! Go through your kitchen, throw out any junk food, go through your bedroom, clean up, and organize your belongings in a new way! Sometimes some simple changes can create a whole different atmosphere, helping us to create new motivations! A cupboard filled with junk food not only will tempt us to have a ‘whoopise’ or two, which will leave you feeling not so lean, but it can also have a negative effect on your mind and motivation. Keeping both your kitchen and room clean have the same effect – a cluttered living area equals a cluttered mind! Cleaning up can be just what you need to help stay motivated!
Stay Hydrated!
Now it sounds so easy, but so many of us do not drink enough water – which means we are not giving our body the best chance to succeed! The best thing about hydrating is it takes no time at all! Drinking more water is so easy to implement, all you need to do is make sure you make a mental note and get that 2 to 4 litres of water every single day! Bring your own bottle to work and keep refilling it whenever it is low. Refill it and I promise, it will have a huge impact on your overall health; joint pain, your mental alertness, your metabolism, all these things tie in to hydration! Having a healthy metabolism and feeling healthy overall can help you stay motivated!
Wake Up Early & Workout!
HIIT cardio, or more specifically, fasted HIIT Cardio in the morning is so incredible and effective is because we’re doing high-intensity interval training which means we’re in the gym or at home for a very short period of time, working at max intensity for short durations and recovering for short durations. Now, the keys to this are that you really want to push it. You want to elevate that heart rate as much as you can, because the harder you’ve worked, the harder your body is going to work to recover afterward! That means you are going to be burning more calories after your workout is done! It helps reduce your stress levels. It also gives you a sense of accomplishment, which is great heading into your day! This is why I like completing my HIIT workout in the morning! Feeling GOOD every morning will help you stay motivated day after day!
If you’re ready to stay motivated or reignite your fire as the days get colder and shorter, check out this great Leansquad video to get started!
Leansquad – Must Try Healthy Habits
https://www.youtube.com/embed/OYF-zmCEU1g
