How to kickstart your fitness journey and stay committed to it

Put your hand up if one of your goals for this year is to get fitter and healthier. Perhaps your campaign has already started with a new gym membership and your fridge cleared of wine and cheese to make room for loads of lovely fresh vegetables. If so, that’s awesome!

Most of us start the year full of resolve to improve our fitness and to eat more healthily. After all the excesses of Christmas and New Year, it’s kind of a relief to be eating vegetables instead of chocolates and mince pies.

But then somewhere towards the end of January, the novelty of getting fit and healthy starts to wear off. In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s still winter so you naturally want to hibernate (and maybe comfort eat). You might start to find excuses not to go to the gym or out for your run. More social events start to appear in your diary, some involving wine and eating more than usual. Summer feels ages away so you tell yourself there’s plenty of time to get yourself back on the healthy bandwagon before it’s time to shed the winter clothes. Does this sound like a familiar pattern?

If so, you are not alone. Strava (the running and fitness app) have used previous years' data to pinpoint the 18th of January as the day that most people quit their New Year’s fitness resolutions.

Here are my top tips to kickstart your health and fitness journey and to help you stay committed to it for the whole of 2025 (and beyond).

Start with a clear plan– every Sunday, sit down and plan when you are going to do your week’s exercise sessions. If you have a ridiculously busy week, try to find some smaller chunks of time when you can squeeze some exercise in. You could get up half an hour earlier a couple of mornings or use your lunch break to squeeze a 20 minute workout in. If you can get up earlier, it honestly is a game-changer. You’ll not only have bagged your exercise session before breakfast but you’ll feel more energised and focused throughout the rest of the day. My alarm is set for 6am (and sometimes earlier) on weekdays. Do I always feel like getting out of bed when it’s still dark and cold? No, but I do it because my early morning routine is so important to how I feel for the rest of the day.

Accept that it will feel hard - but know that you can do hard things! The sense of achievement that you will get once you’ve done what you set out to do will make you feel proud of yourself and you’ll want to keep pushing yourself. Getting started is definitely the hardest bit but it will start to feel easier as you go on.

Make it as enjoyable as possible - don’t make the mistake of forcing yourself to do a type of exercise that you really don’t enjoy. You may need to try a few different things to find what you enjoy or could enjoy. Variety is key to preventing boredom so mix things up a bit rather than doing the same workout every time. It’s also worth thinking about what you want to get out of your exercise sessions beyond just the physical workout. Do you want it to be “me time” or something more social and interactive? Do you want someone to help you with accountability?

Start thinking about exercise in a more holistic way - shift your focus away from losing weight or changing your body shape. Instead, try thinking about all the other benefits of being fit and strong as you get older - improved bone density and balance, lower stress levels, better sleep and improved mood and cognitive function are just some of the enormous benefits of regular exercise.

Use visualisation and pep talks– develop a practice of visualising yourself doing whatever your planned exercise session is for that day. See yourself powering through it, motivated and full of energy. Then shift your focus to how you will feel afterwards. For days when you feel you just can’t bring yourself to do it, give yourself a pep talk! When talking to yourself, use the sort of language you’d use to encourage a child or close friend who was feeling lacking in motivation or fearful about doing something.

Have a plan B - I recommend having 2 to 3 types of exercise that you can do in any given week. That way if something comes up which means you can’t do what was in your plan, you can swap it for something else. Have at least one type of exercise activity you can do at home (such as an online workout), in case the weather or other logistics mean you can’t get out of the house.

Get support from a fitness professional– a good Personal Trainer or class fitness instructor will encourage you, help keep you on track and to push you harder than you will push yourself. With 1 to 1 training, you will get workouts tailored to your needs and goals plus accountability.

If 2025 is your year to get fit, strong and healthy, I’d love to support you on that journey. I offer 1 to 1 Personal Training and Wellness Coaching at my private studio in Northchurch and online. To find out more, drop me an email to emilyturnbullfitness@outlook.com.