When it comes to body image, a lot of us don’t like how we look. When it comes to working out, too many are discouraged if they don’t see immediate results. For example, you may have started a walking program and after just a few days you aren’t seeing immediate physical results. The lack of immediate gratification can be pretty discouraging.
It’s important to realize that you are not alone in how you look. What I am saying is that even people who you look at and see thin and svelte may have as poor a body image of themselves as you do. This levels the playing field more than you think.
Commitment & Patience
Understanding that your body image may be positive or negative is important to setting positive goals for yourself. Any workout program you choose is going to take patience and commitment to achieve your goals. If you plan to get fitter by walking more often, then you can and will achieve your goals – it will simply take time to get there.
The idea is that you have settle yourself into a workout program that requires regular workouts and monitoring your achievements on a weekly, monthly and bi-monthly schedule. Don’t just focus on how you look, focus on how you feel – one of the first things I noticed in my first month of working out was that my energy levels were significantly higher on a daily basis.
Your results will be measured by how often you work out and at the levels you maintain your consistency with. You are better off focusing on your consistency and performance than you are trying to do hellishly hard power workouts that leave you dripping in sweat and exhausted. When it comes to a good fitness program, a little goes a long way. If you work out consistently for 30 minutes a day 3 to 4 days a week, you will notice change.
Build a More Positive You
Your figure may never be the slender, boyish size 2 and it may be more likely to be curvy and lush – that’s fine. There is no barometer outside of your own personal satisfaction and health that should be used to judge your physical fitness. Within two months of my workout program, I’d dropped four dress sizes though the scale told me I’d lost no significant pounds.
Losing pounds is not as vital as inches. Because working out regularly will turn fat into muscle and muscle weighs significantly more. Rethink the body image you are trying to achieve and set positive goals for yourself – you may discover that your fitness program will be more successful in the long run and you will be happier – and if you are not happy with your level of fitness – isn’t that a goal worth striving for?