5 Tips When Getting Back to Exercise. Progress not perfection – Peter Ledwidge
Ease Your Way Back to Exercise
When you start a new exercise routine or want to make some changes in your life to a healthier, happier you aim for progress not progression. You can’t wake up one morning and go from one extreme to another. Add in one little thing a day that is going to bring you to your goal.
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Ignore the hype marketing
We are all caught up in today’s society of fast, instant and immediate results. We are bamboozled my marketing and success stories. But many of these are not long term or sustained. The true test would be to go back and see these people in 12 months and see where they are at.
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Let the good outweigh the bad
Change is not an overnight miracle. Nor is it a complete overhaul. It is not about taking things out but adding things in. Add in more exercise or better eating options. Maybe start with changing your snacks e.g. fruit and nuts instead or chocolate, sweets, chips or cake. Maybe start with drinking more water during the day instead of sugary drinks.
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Aim for progress not perfection.
The pursuit of perfection causes too much stress; we focus too much on what we can’t have rather than the positives. If you add in more positive steps they will start to push the bad things out and before you know it you will be on your way to a healthier, happier you. Let go of perfection.
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Don’t be too hard on yourself
If you slip up from time to time don’t use that as an excuse to give up. Use it as motivation to keep going. The most successful people in the world achieved success because they were willing to fail over and over until they got it right. Each time you slip up you will realise the huge changes you have made. A return to old ways only highlights how detrimental they were and how much progress you have made. So keep going.
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Now is the best time to start
Whether the change you seek is related to diet, fitness, career, finances, education or a specific skill set, the important thing is to just allow yourself to begin. You don’t have to know where everything is leading. You don’t have to change everything overnight. But you do have to start. Stop waiting until tomorrow, until summer, until you have the time, until you have the money. Otherwise you will always be waiting.
Good luck with your journey, make small goals often. The longest journey starts with a single step.
If you would like help on your journey Peter, our Pilates instructor, is a qualified Personal Trainer and available for one on one sessions. So if you would like to talk more to Peter about this in more detail don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Peter Ledwidge
POGO Pilates instructor
