Designing your Environment to Support your Fitness Journey

When you are at work you probably regularly tidy your desk or workspace, make sure your computer is plugged in, and regularly check your emails and maybe even categorise them. You probably do not realise it at the time, but all these little tasks you do through the day without thinking, you do to help yourself perform better and avoid potential obstacles. However, the question is, do you do that for your health, fitness, and wellbeing goals? 

Everyone says they want to eat well, train consistently or have healthy habits, but the truth is not everyone is able to follow through on it. Here are a few tips to help you to design your environment for success in your health and fitness journey.

Plan Ahead – The art of Preparation

The same way you might go to bed and stick your phone or laptop on charge throughout the night, you can ask yourself what do I need to prepare today, that will help me tomorrow? For example, if your aim is to drink more water, then try filling up a few bottles of water and storing them in the fridge, or even having one by your bedside table ready for when you wake up. Or maybe you want to go for a run, bike ride, or walk, plan your route, message a friend to come along and then you have already got something planned. If you are planning to train in the morning, even something as simple as preparing your gym outfit the night before in preparation for the session can go a long way to helping you be ready to smash it as soon as you wake up! By planning ahead and making the journey simpler, you make it much harder to make excuses.

What you see is what you get… Literally! – The art of Proximity

It is a proven fact that as a human when you see something or can easily reach something then you are more likely to grab it or at least WANT to grab it. If you want to drink more water throughout the day, keep your water bottle filled up and in reaching distance. If you want to eat more vegetables maybe move them all to the front of the fridge. The same can work for training. Maybe you are always making excuses about the gym being a long drive away. Invest in some dumbbells and have them in a visible space in your house. Or even go a step further and set up a little home gym. That way if you are serious about reaching your goals, you would have no excuses.

Remove potential triggers – The art of Self Control

On the flipside of the above point, you may also need to hide or get rid of a few potential triggers or bumps in the road that could derail your progress. For example, maybe you hide the sweets and snacks on the top shelf, rather than in an open box on the dinner table. Maybe you need to remove a few things from the shopping list on the fridge. Or maybe even remove a fast-food delivery app or number you have on “favourites” in your phone. By removing these potential triggers, you make it a little easier to improve your self-control, and eventually you break out of bad habits and form new positive ones. Do not see it as depriving yourself, just see it as putting yourself in a better position for reaching your goals.

Living a healthier lifestyle does not always require huge wholesale changes, but by making small changes daily, weekly, and monthly you start to build new habits, increase consistency, and make better choices. So, design your environment for success today, and watch as you hit your targets.