How to Stick to an Exercise Plan

Whether for health or cosmetic reasons, exercising is one of the best ways to take care of yourself. Determination and a solid schedule are required to make routine exercise a manageable part of your life.

Things You'll Need

• Access to exercise equipment at home or at a gym Exercise videos (if preferred) Calendar

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Instructions

Focus on Your Goal

• 1

  Understand why you want to lose weight. If you want to lose a few pounds for cosmetic reasons or to simply be more toned, follow a plan that will do just that. If you are trying to lose weight for health reasons, the motivation is different. Understand the importance of what you are doing. You are taking charge of your health to be around for your family and friends and to be able to live life to its fullest. You should be proud of yourself. Not everyone has the ability to exercise. Be thankful that you have a choice.

• 2

  Make reasonable goals. If you are already at a fairly healthy weight, but simply want to tone, make sure that your exercise plan can accomplish this. It would not make sense to do a full-body workout two hours a day, when only thirty minutes a day of toning exercises would suffice. If massive weight loss is the goal, consult a doctor before starting any exercise program. It is generally agreed upon that no more than 2 to 3 pounds a week of weight should be lost. More than this may be difficult to maintain. According to exercise physiologist Richard Weil, "[Quick weight loss] can lower metabolism because the body senses it is starving and make[s] it harder to lose weight. The decrease in metabolic rate is often due to loss in muscle (when you lose weight, approximately 25% of the loss comes from muscle), so lifting weights is a good idea." Additionally, repeated quick weight loss may also endanger your health, since it can continue to mess up your metabolism, continuing to make sustained weight loss difficult.

• 3

  Do internal work on yourself. Sometimes weight gain is a reaction to a stressful event. If you have gone through a painful divorce, for instance, and food has been a means of comfort, consider healthier ways of coping with stress. Good alternatives include talking with a friend, meditation, prayer or even physical activities such as gardening, walking or yoga. It may be wise to seek professional help when trying to deal with overeating, especially if it has been a lifelong habit or is associated with a deep-seated personal issue.

Develop a Suitable Plan

• 4

  Develop a plan that suits your schedule and personality. If you are a morning person, it may be easier to exercise in the morning. If you are a night person, after work or school may be the best time to work out. Whenever you exercise, plan your day around this new routine. Start early enough to get in 5 to 10 minutes of warm-up exercises and 30 to 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. If this is too much to begin, start with ten minutes of exercise. Doing a cardiovascular workout is important, since you are moving your whole body as you exercise, allowing your heart rate to increase and to stay elevated for an extended period. Such exercising is good for weight loss and toning, since it takes 20 minutes for the body to stop burning calories and start burning fat. As you burn fat, your body loses weight. Doing weight training allows your muscles to get larger, giving you a "toned" look.

• 5

  Increase the amount of time you exercise. This may happen naturally as your body gets used to working out. Just like any habit, once your body is accustomed to being stressed a particular way, you'll need to change your routine to maintain a good fitness level. If you have been going to the gym to work out, you may want to get on a new piece of equipment. Use the stair climber instead of the treadmill. You will be working another set of muscles, which will help your body gain strength in that area. If you have been doing exercises via an exercise tape or DVD, get a new one or use a different combination of exercises on the same video. Collage Video has a wide array of tapes and DVDs for various fitness levels and ages. Even if you have a condition, such as pregnancy or a bad back, they have videos available to help you achieve greater physical finess.

• 6

  Do other things that facilitate weight loss. Exercising diligently will only get you so far if you continue to eat unhealthy foods. Along with an exercise plan, develop a diet plan. Feel free to consult your doctor. This does not mean that you must start attending Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers meetings. If these programs work for you, great. But most nutritionists recommend lifestyle changes, rather than quick diet changes, for successful, sustained weight loss. For this to occur, know what unhealthy foods attract you and how you can buy healthier substitutes. If you are attracted to sweets, switch to reduced-fat candy such as Reese's Whips or no-fat candy such as Starbursts. If fried foods are your weakness, buy reduced-fat potato chips such as Baked Lays or reduced-salt potato chips such as those made by Poore Brother's. Eat everything in moderation. Even good food can become bad when eaten in excess.

• 7

  Just as important as eating the right foods is not skipping meals, especially breakfast. The National Weight Control Registry tracks 6,000 people in the United States who have successfully lost weight and kept it off. Besides getting lots of regular physical activity and a low-fat diet, participants also eat breakfast daily, according to James O. Hill, Ph.D., one of the program's co-founders. This allows the body to feel energized, and it jumpstarts your metabolism for the day. Including protein and fiber in your breakfast, such as an egg sandwich on whole-wheat toast, can help you feel full until lunch, in the opinion of dietitian Kathleen Zelman.

Create a Way to Track Your Progress

• 8

  Decide how to track your progress. One easy way is to place a weight goal at the top of the calendar. This may be repeated for each month until reaching your goal weight. If you use a digital calendar, such as those on a cell phone or Blackberry, type your goal weight into your calendar or to-do list at the start of each month. Scales can be used to track progress, but only if they are accurate and are used on occasion. They may be more of a hindrance than a help, if you focus on every single pound gained or lost on a daily basis. This type of tracking may lead to easy discouragement. Your weight may fluctuate periodically because of your monthly cycle (if you are a woman), lack of sleep or what you may be eating at the time. As your body adjusts to your healthier lifestyle, the pounds will come off, and you will see it in the mirror and in how your clothes fit.

• 9

  After tracking your progress and reaching mini-milestones, use a non-food way to treat yourself. Going out to a movie with friends, going on a small day trip, taking a walk to a new park or window shopping at a mall are all inexpensive ways to congratulate yourself for your hard work. When you have reached your final weight-loss goal, go all out and take a major trip, buy that new suit or dress you have been eyeing, or get into the bathing suit that never quite fit before. It's important to celebrate your success.

• 10

  For those needing extra motivation, start a weight loss plan with a friend. This way there is someone to discuss your frustrations with and someone ultimately celebrate to with.