When You Just Don't Feel Like Working Out

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Make it to the gym more often.

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Some days, you just won’t feel like working out. Maybe you haven’t been able to get as much sleep as you need or you've been having some stress at work or in your personal life. No matter the reason, sometimes you just aren’t in the mood for moving and sweating. Whenever this happens to you, try these strategies for working up the desire to hit the gym:

Remind Yourself of Your Goals - Start thinking about why you started exercising in the first place and what the end results will be. Do you want to lose a certain amount of weight? Get more toned? Have more energy? A quick reminder of why exercise is important to you can be just the motivation that you need to eek out another set of reps.

Plan on Reducing Your Workout – If you feel that you won’t have the energy to do your complete routine, tell yourself that you will just do half of the work out. If you usually jog four miles, plan on just doing two. If you are weight-training that day, focus on just doing the compound exercises while leaving out the isolation exercises. Once you get going, you might discover that you actually have the energy to do your full workout.

Don’t Go Next Time - Give yourself permission to skip the next work out but not this one. If the next work out rolls around and you still don’t feel like going, you actually might be doing yourself some good by skipping it. Feeling consistently turned off by exercise is usually a sign of overtraining, and giving your body more time to rest can actually help you reach your fitness goals faster.

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The trickiest part of any exercise plan is motivation. You can know all of the exercises and the proper techniques, but if you aren't inspired enough to get to the gym, it won’t do you much good. Figure out what motivates you most, and make sure that you use that motivation to hold yourself accountable for regular physical activity. I'm not opposed to an occasional self-bribe either. It goes something like this, "If I workout at least 4 times this week, I'm going to treat myself to a spa pedicure next Friday after work." Just make sure that your rewards are not food-based, and you'll be good to go.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Exercise More at the Office

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Don’t let your cubicle interrupt your fit lifestyle.

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Your body is designed to be exercised, but physical activity can be tough to come by when you work at an office and spend most of your day parked in front of a computer. That’s why all office dwellers should do what they can to get in more physical activity, even while they are at work.

Rethink Your Commute – If you are fortunate enough to live just a few miles from where you work, you might consider riding your bike to work. True, this might mean that you have to wake up a bit earlier, but the extra exercise you get in every week will be profound.

Take Frequent Breaks – I know it’s easy to get caught up in what you're doing, but it's vital that you take breaks regularly. It won’t just help you produce higher quality work, it will also give you they opportunity to get in some physical activity. By taking a quick stroll around your office building during your breaks, you increase the amount of physical activity you get during the day and get your heart pumping enough to make you feel refreshed. These quick strolls can be an effective stress fighter too.

Replace Your Chair with An Exercise Ball - You’ll probably have to check with management to see if this is OK, but more and more companies are allowing, and even encouraging their employees to sit on exercise balls instead of chairs. Sitting on a ball encourages good posture, and actually activates some muscles in a way that regular chairs don’t because you have to constantly stabilize yourself. It might feel tricky at first, but after a little while it will feel just as natural as sitting on a chair.

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A fit lifestyle is all about small changes. Even choosing to get a little physical activity during your break instead of hanging out in the office kitchen or at your desk can be a huge leap in the right direction. If you concentrate on making tiny changes in how you do things, it will eventually add up to a slimmer waistline and a healthier you.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Learn to Just Chill

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Learning to relax can be a big step towards weight loss.

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If you seem to have a more difficult time losing weight than your friends, it might not be your genetics. It might actually be your stress level. When you feel frazzled, your body releases cortisol, a nasty hormone that encourages your body to store fat and eats away at muscle. Here are few tips that will hopefully make you feel more Zen, making it a bit easier to lose those last few pounds:

Make Your Diet Easy to Follow - You should plan a diet that strikes a healthy balance between foods that are good for you and foods you love. If you focus too heavily on stuff that’s bland but healthy, you will feel deprived, stressed and irritable. On the other hand, if you indulge too often, all that sugar and saturated fat will inevitably expand your waistline. So if you find yourself craving food too often or get frustrated with your food choices, it’s time to rethink things.

Carve Out Time for Yourself – Aim to have at least an hour of every day where you do nothing but something you truly enjoy. Disconnect the phone and read a nice book, do a crossword puzzle, play a musical instrument or whatever else it is you enjoy most. “Me time” will help you unwind and put everything into perspective.

Recognize Your Stressors and Avoid Them - This one might sound obvious, but a lot of people choose to confront stressful situations and people, even when there is no reason to. If the evening news makes your back tense, turn it off. If a coworker is overly critical of you, try and limit your contact with him. Fewer stress points means less stress.

Get Moving – Study after study has shown that regular exercise works wonders on reducing stress and the effects of depression.

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Love Your Body! The more insecure and self-conscious we feel, the more stressed we become, and the more cortisol your body releases. Given this, a poor self-image is not just emotionally hurtful but physically unhealthy too. The better you feel about yourself, the healthier you become. Visit CafePhysique.com to learn more about LoveYour Body Month and how we’re choosing to celebrate it.

Don't Doubt Yoga

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Do MORE yoga. There are many different aspects to the general term “yoga,” but what most of us think of when we hear the term is Hatha yoga.

According to the Yoga Journal, Hatha yoga refers to a set of physical exercises (known as asanas or postures), and sequences of asanas, designed to align your skin, muscles, and bones. The postures are also designed to open the many channels of the body–especially the main channel, the spine–so that energy can flow freely.

All you need to get started is a yoga mat. Most gyms and yoga studios have mats that you can borrow, but if you become a "regular," it's best to bring your own mat.

Remember: Do not eat for at least 2 hours before your class. All of the twisting, turning and posing can make you feel quite unpleasant on a full stomach.

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Increasing Flexibility – yoga has positions that act upon the various joints of the body including those joints that are never really on the ‘radar screen’ let alone exercised.

Increasing lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons – likewise, the well-researched yoga positions exercise the different tendons and ligaments of the body.

Complete Detoxification – By gently stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the various organs, yoga ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body.

Excellent toning of the muscles – Muscles that have become flaccid or weak are stimulated repeatedly to shed excess flab.

Source: Healthandyoga.com

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Despite the popularity of yoga, I’ve always been a skeptic. I never completely felt comfortable with the concept because I thought it involved the practice of non-Christian religions, however, I now know that its principles do not have to be tied to any particular religion. We can all practice yoga in good conscience – no matter our beliefs.

Aside from spirituality concerns, I was a yoga-cynic because when I go to the gym, I WANT TO SWEAT. I don’t feel like sitting in a room doing a bunch of stretching and moving while chanting to new age music. If I’m just going to sit around, I’d rather do it at home while watching Dr. McDreamy in my pajamas.

Unfortunately, my regular scheduled kickboxing class was canceled last Tuesday, so I slid into the yoga room thinking that “something is better than nothing.” HA! Was I in for a shock! I was dripping sweat 20 minutes into the class, and by the end, I was licking the edge of my empty water bottle for remnants.

Man, yoga is hard!!! It was a great workout. Now, I have to eat all of my words and go get some cute yoga outfits before tomorrow’s class.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.