Fitness 101: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Exercise
Are you ready to start walking down the path to fitness, but don’t know where to begin?
You are in the right place, because here you will learn how to start now.
This is your guide to exercise for weight loss and how to stay motivated and keep it interesting.
First, do your best to eat right for fitness. A healthy diet will provide more energy, help you get out of bed in the morning, and help you see results much quicker. If you are new to healthy eating, begin by eliminating fast food and junk foods and strive to consume only wholesome foods.
Be sure to include proteins like chicken breast, lean red meat, fish, and beans. Consume plenty of fresh and lightly cooked vegetables, limited amounts of fresh fruits, healthy fats like olive oil, and small portions of whole grains.
Walking for Weight Loss is one of the easiest ways to begin incorporating exercise into your daily or near daily routine. Most people can begin walking with the shoes they have on hand or invest in an affordable pair of athletic shoes.
To keep you on track, use a fitness app like Yes.Fit. Fitness apps have numerous benefits such as helping you track your progress so you see your hard work paying off. Fitness challenges help you improve your personal best and reward yourself with medals, tee shirts, or other trophies to reinforce your newfound healthy behavior.
And collecting the rewards and meeting other like-minded individuals in the online communities can help you stay motivated even when you don’t feel like exercising.
Pace yourself.
To begin walking for weight loss, it is imperative you go at your own pace and only for the amount of time you are comfortable with or can afford. If you overdo it, you may be discouraged to continue.
So, begin with a comfortable walk for 10 -20 minutes. During this time, enjoy the scenery and pay attention to your muscles to identify any aches or pains.
Stretch before and/or after your walk if you have time. Stretching can prepare your muscles or help you cool down. It can help you avoid injury as you improve your flexibility, and the more flexible you are, the less injury prone you are.
Plan your walks.
One reason why many people don’t stick with exercise is they assume they will fit it in when they can, or simply do it after work. Unfortunately, this can lead to running out of time or being overly tired from work, so exercise is bypassed. Instead, plan a walk before work, on your lunch break, or discipline yourself to stick with your after-work plan.
If you don’t work or work from home, schedule your daily commitments and then add your exercise time to your schedule. It is well known that those who write out a plan have more success reaching their goals.
Make exercise fun with a virtual race. Check out a fitness app like Yes.Fit for a variety of virtual races. While the name implies race, the race is for your personal best. You can walk, jog, run, bike, or swim a race and take your time doing it.
A good plan is to begin with a short race and complete it, then slowly take on longer races. The beauty of these is that you don’t have to complete them in one session, you can take your time. No matter how you do it, you will be rewarded for your efforts with improved fitness and rewards like coins or medals.
The Yes.Fit app has virtual races that appeal to the imagination whether you enjoy traveling, fantasy, or helping the planet. Races such as these help you stay motivated and can be a great way to reduce stress.
So get your walking shoes on and have fun!