Fit for Fall?

September has become very similar to January in the health, wellness and fitness spaces in that many folks are getting back into the swing of their routines after the Summer slowdown. How about you? Looking to get back into your fitness routine?

If you need a little guidance, consider these questions:

1) Is your calendar settled yet? That is, have kids, jobs or other activities settled into what they’re likely to look like for the Fall? If things are still scrambled, don’t make any big sweeping changes. That said, are you able to be in control? Do you have your school and work start times and end times for example, as well as a schedule for other activities? If so, this means you are in control and you can start to plug in your health and wellness supporting activities.

Next up:

2) What do you want? That is, what is the specific health, wellness or fitness goal? Not sure about the ONE thing you want to focus on? A great question here is “what one habit or change will most positively impact the other areas as well”?

3) What does your goal actually look like? If you said '“I want to be more fit”, what does ‘more fit’ look like. How will you know you have achieved being ‘more fit’? If you can’t answer that just yet, spend a bit more time here to ensure this is well defined.

4) THIS IS THE STEP PEOPLE MISS MOST OFTEN! Before you start trying to action your goal, have you looked deeply at what things actually look like right now? Maybe you are thinking about joining an early morning walking group, but you are also doing school drop off for your grandkids. Or maybe you want to do a 10K race, but you have a large project pending at work which will require overtime for the next few months. This might not be the time to aim for that 10K race. Or maybe you’re in a season of life where sleep is elusive (new baby? menopause?) and you’re exhausted which is likely not the time to try to join something such as a high intensity spin class program.

Being realistic with what things currently look like is key to finding the right fit for you. And remember, whatever moment you’re in right now, this too shall pass. It won’t be like this forever.

5) Finally, what is the gap between what you want and where you are? What are the steps to get to that goal? To get started, choose the easiest step to help you begin to build some momentum. Then, set a date for when the next step will enter your schedule.

As always, I am cheering you on to make your health, wellness and fitness a top priority!

Deanna