A few years ago I joined a gym for the first time and lost 12kgs in six months. Here’s how to get maximum value from your gym membership with these tips:
Show up:
Like Monday morning blues, back-to-the-gym blues are just as bad. A short break becomes longer and longer as excuses pile up. The solution: Ask your gym buddy/trainer/person at the desk to call and nag you if you haven’t shown up for three days. And, even if you can make it for just 20 minutes – go!
Pick a gym buddy:
No, not the chatty neighbor you signed up with. Instead, befriend a hardcore gym rat, more disciplined and fit than you, and you’ve got yourself a great motivational role model.
Make if fun:
Treat yourself to new sneakers, colorful gym-wear, the latest fitness app; get a good playlist, bag the treadmill with the TV attached…make it fun, till the endorphins kick in.
Plateau busters:
Stuck on the same routine of cardio and weights? Most gyms offer extras: Zumba and yoga classes, Lam oil massages, sauna rooms… Add on a session, at least once a week.
Diet trackers:
80% of weight loss is dieting. Start a diet diary into which you enter everything, from the random birthday cake offered at work to the midnight fridge raid. Believe me, knowing that your trainer/gym buddy is going to underline your excesses in red is a huge appetite killer!
Dodge the binge:
Does a workout leave you ravenous? No, you have not ‘earned’ a Snickers. Look out for a tender-coconut wallah near your gym or carry a low-cal snack.
Treat yourself: