Are you new to your health and fitness journey? Congratulations on taking the first step and visiting Gym Free Fitness! Below, I’ve given you a couple of simple steps to get your journey started out right and make this change permanent.

1. Clear out the junk food from your house

If it’s not in the house, you won’t be tempted. You don’t have to change every meal to a healthy one full of kale and grilled chicken, but you should clear out all the extra stocked up cookies, chips, ice cream etc. Instead, stock up on healthy snacks like fruit and veggies.

2. Write down your goal

Goals are necessary. You need to know where you’re going in order to reach your destination. Check out this article on how to set goals.

3. Set a reasonable fitness plan

A lot of people are really enthusiastic when they first start their fitness journey. So enthusiastic that they get burnt out within the first week. You can’t go from zero to sixty when it comes to working out. Instead, try adding in a 30 minute walk a couple of times a week, or waking up early three times a week for a quick workout. Once that has become cemented into your routine, add more.

Here are some beginner workouts that don’t require any equipment:

4. Get some support

Join the Gym Free Fitness Facebook and SparkPeople groups. Study after study has shown that getting support helps you reach your goals.

Words of advice from Gym Free Fitness

Forget fad diets, detoxes, and cleanses

They don’t work. End of story. Instead, concentrate on learning about proper nutrition. SparkPeople even has meal suggestions that make it easy to eat right.

Don’t let one piece of pizza ruin your entire day

The other day a friend of mine posted on Facebook how she had messed up her diet a few days in by having a piece of pizza and that she would start fresh tomorrow. First off… I congratulated her on her will power and having ONLY one piece of pizza, because when I go off the wagon, it’s definitely not one piece. 😉 Then, I reminded her that she didn’t have to wait until tomorrow to get back on the wagon, she could do it that same day.

A lot of times people will let one little bump turn into a mountain. By saying that you can start again tomorrow, you’re giving yourself permission to continue off path for the rest of the day. Don’t do that! That’s a slippery slope you don’t want to go down.

Finally, don’t beat yourself up over one slice of pizza. Accept that you want to do better, and do better in the future. No big deal.

Words of wisdom from others

“Results do not happen overnight.” – Janet

“Don’t exercise to lose weight, exercise to feel good.” – Landree

“Don’t follow fad foods or diets.. Eat local and seasonal.. Find exercise you enjoy and make it a hobby.” – Dana

“You can’t out exercise a poor diet and long term weight loss is really about small long term changes.” – Stephanie

“Don’t stress about exercise. Look for simple ways to change your habits (like parking further away).” – Kevin

“Choose exercises that feed the mind/body/soul, not just ones that feed the need for vanity.” – Michelle

Featured image: “START” by Steven Depolo is licensed under CC BY 2.0