Finding Your Passion in Exercising

     I know a college gymnast who does a lot of exercising each day to keep her body physically fit and in shape so she is able to meet the demands of skills that are required for a college gymnast.

Trust me, this is not always easy. There are days when I know she doesn't even want to get out of bed because of feeling exhausted and sore but the desire for the sport is what ultimately drives her to motivate herself to regularly exercise.

Not only do I know that by keeping physically active are you going to get stronger as a gymnast but I also know that you are helping your body get healthier.

As a personal trainer I've been involved in gymnastics as well. Here are some things that help me stay motivated to exercise.

When it comes to exercising, find something that you enjoy doing. Whether its running, swimming, playing tennis, or working out at the gym. Make sure you have fun, otherwise your most likely not going to continue to pursue it in the future.

Gymnastics has also taught me to be very disciplined throughout my life. Exercising is not the only demand that is required to be a great gymnast or a personal trainer. My eating habits are important as well as setting personal goals for myself are all important factors.

When trying to eat healthy take baby steps. You don't necessarily have to change your whole way of eating or cut out junk food from your diet completely. Choose whole wheat bread instead of white for your sandwiches.

Have a piece of a chocolate bar instead of a whole chocolate bar or instead of having milk chocolate have dark chocolate. Dark chocolate helps to boost energy levels, so if you are feeling a bit tired one day eat a piece of dark chocolate before you start to exercise.

Eat smaller portions but more frequently throughout the day. This is especially important when your exercising and you don't feel hungry as often because its easier for your stomach to digest and your metabolism gets a lot faster.

Also, its important to know that breakfast is your most important meal of the day. Eating a good breakfast is what fuels you to have the energy to do what you need to do throughout the day.

Try not to eat past 8pm. Most people skip breakfast because they eat a huge dinner late at night and then in the morning they aren't hungry. Its better to have a huge breakfast and a larger lunch and then when it comes to dinner eat a smaller but still well balanced meal at night.

You should have three meals a day. Then in between exercising its good to have snacks.

Here are some healthy snacks that are good after a workout.

A glass of chocolate milk and a banana
Peanut butter and jam sandwich with a glass of orange juice or a banana
Yogurt with crushed granola
Grapefruit
Fruit smoothie with yogurt and orange juice

These are only a few snacks that are really good to eat after an active workout. There are many more combination's.

The final and important factor you should consider when making exercising a priority in your life is setting personal goals for yourself.

Its never easy to change your daily routine especially when you've been used to what you've been doing for a very long time. This helps to just take baby steps.

Don't try to exercise like crazy and then starve yourself by not eating. It only makes you crave food more. Make both your diet and workout practical and possible for you to do so you feel like you have accomplished something.

Make a check list of what you are going to be doing each day. The active you stay the better. Also, by making a check this allows you to be focusing on the present rather then having your mind worry about the future or the past.

It tends to overload the brain and gets people stressed out causing then to act negatively. Try to stay positive.

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