So, you must be filled with vigor and energy to lose those holiday pounds? Weighing yourself twice a day, staring unhappily at your image in the mirror and wondering how to get rid of those extra inches, buying new gym memberships, promising yourself to never touch another cookie and more..
But why do you think the Fitness Fever leaves us as quickly as it comes? By March, you are wondering why your gym bag is catching dust, why you are still longingly staring at your favorite skinny jeans and why life has caught on, moving your attention to more apparently important things.
If you are suffering from TFF (Transient Fitness Fever), most probably your New Year lifestyle and workout pickings are completely unsuitable for you. At least when it comes to workouts, people often make one of these 2 mistakes:
1. You select a workout which is extremely intense, makes your swear incessantly in your mind and you can’t climb stairs the next day. That’s great right? You see the pounds dropping and you feel like a champ! But wait, why can’t you get out of bed thinking about this workout in March or maybe even in Feb? You know the answer..
2. You suffered through these above-mentioned insane workouts a few too many times and decide enough is enough! I will pick something easier. Something I can actually stick to. You pick a nice and gentle workout. You feel like a queen (or a king), smiling broadly to everyone around you while you lift light weights or move your arms and legs gently. After 3 months you notice the scale is still staring at you with the same number as before and well, that’s the end of that!
So here is a bit of advice from someone who has suffered through enough years of TFF in her past life 🙂
Stop looking at the scale!! Yes, I said it. Don’t need it.. throw it, stuff it under the bed or keep it for weighing suitcases before international flights.
Instead, try to find a workout that you immensely enjoy. Something that makes you forget (at least for a portion of the workout session) that you are even working out. If you are not smiling one bit during this time, move on. This one is not for you. BUT at the same time, make sure there are at least parts of the workout where your internal swearing comes back or maybe it happens next morning when your arms, abs or glutes yell for mercy.
In other words, look for something that has exactly the right balance of the 2 bad options I mentioned before.
So if you haven’t found your calling yet, sample lots and lots of classes early in the year. Look for deals (of which there is now an unlimited supply) and go take a chance. And when you have found your TFF remedy, fitness won’t be a chore anymore and will last at least the whole year long..
Your friendly neighborhood fitness freak,
-Ajanta