How to Stay Motivated on Your Fitness Journey

Staying motivated on your fitness journey can be a challenge, especially when you hit plateaus or encounter setbacks. However, with the right mindset and strategies, you can stay on track and achieve your fitness goals. Here are some tips to help you stay motivated on your fitness journey:

Set Realistic Goals

Setting goals is an essential part of any fitness journey, but it's important to set realistic and achievable goals. Whether you're looking to lose weight, build muscle, or simply feel better in your own skin, make sure your goals are specific, measurable, and achievable within a reasonable timeframe.

Find Your Why

Motivation comes from within, so it's essential to find your why. Ask yourself why you want to achieve your fitness goals and what benefits you'll gain from it. Maybe you want to feel more confident, improve your health, or set an example for your children. Whatever your reason, keep it in mind and use it as motivation when you need it.

Create a Plan

Creating a plan is essential for staying on track and achieving your goals. Whether you work with a personal trainer or design your own plan, make sure it's specific, realistic, and includes both exercise and nutrition. Having a plan in place can help you stay focused and motivated on your journey.

Mix Up Your Routine

Doing the same exercises and routines day after day can get boring and demotivating. Mix up your routine by trying new exercises, adding variety to your workouts, or switching up your training environment. This can help keep your workouts fresh and exciting, and prevent boredom and burnout.

Find Support

Having a support system can be a game-changer when it comes to staying motivated. Whether it's a workout buddy, a personal trainer, or an online community, find people who can support and encourage you on your journey. They can provide accountability, motivation, and help you push through tough times.

Track Your Progress

Tracking your progress can be a powerful motivator. Keep track of your workouts, measurements, and achievements, and celebrate your progress along the way. Seeing how far you've come can help you stay motivated and inspired to keep going.

Remember the Benefits

Staying motivated can be challenging, but it's important to remember the benefits of your fitness journey. Whether it's improved health, more energy, or a better quality of life, the benefits are worth the effort. Keep these benefits in mind when you're feeling demotivated, and remember why you started.

In conclusion, staying motivated on your fitness journey can be challenging, but it's not impossible. By setting realistic goals, finding your why, creating a plan, mixing up your routine, finding support, tracking your progress, and remembering the benefits, you can stay motivated and achieve your fitness goals. So, if you're feeling stuck or demotivated, remember that you're not alone, and use these tips to help you stay on track and achieve your best self.

As a personal trainer, I believe in the power of motivation and support. That's why I offer personalised fitness coaching and training programs designed to help you stay on track and achieve your goals. Whether you're looking to lose weight, gain strength, or simply feel better in your own skin, I'm here to guide and support you every step of the way. Contact me today to learn more about my services and how I can help you on your fitness journey.

Unlocking Your Full Potential: The Benefits of Using a Personal Trainer

In today’s fast-paced world, achieving and maintaining optimal health and fitness can be a challenging endeavour. Many individuals find it difficult to stay motivated, set realistic goals, and design effective workout routines on their own. This is where a personal trainer can be a game-changer. So, what are the benefits of using a personal trainer to help you reach your health and fitness goals?

1.Personalized Workouts:
One of the most significant advantages of having a personal trainer is the ability to tailor your workouts to your specific needs and goals. Personal trainers consider your fitness level, preferences, and any physical limitations to create a customized plan that ensures you get the most out of your workouts.

2. Motivation and Accountability:
Staying motivated is often the most challenging part of any fitness journey. Personal trainers provide consistent motivation and hold you accountable for your progress. Knowing that someone is going to turn up to your home or local park in Southwest London can be a powerful incentive to stick to your exercise routine.

3. Expert Guidance:
Our trainers are experts in the field of fitness and nutrition. They have the knowledge and experience to teach you proper exercise techniques, ensuring you get the most benefit from your workouts while minimizing the risk of injury. Their expertise can be invaluable, especially for beginners.

4. Goal Setting and Monitoring:
Setting realistic and achievable fitness goals is essential for progress. We help you define clear goals and track your progress along the way. We make necessary adjustments to your plan to ensure you stay on the right track.

5. Variety and Creativity:
We keep fitness sessions fun by bringing variety and creativity to your workouts. We introduce new exercises, equipment, and workout routines to keep your fitness journey exciting and prevent plateaus. This variety helps you avoid getting stuck in a fitness rut.

6. Time Efficiency:
Our trainers design efficient workout plans that maximise your results in the least amount of time. This can be a game-changer for individuals with busy schedules who struggle to find time for fitness. We offer both 30 minute and 50minute fitness sessions, training sessions can take place in person in South West London or online.

7. Nutritional Guidance:
A well-rounded fitness plan isn’t complete without proper nutrition. At Zara Smalley fitness we offer guidance on healthy eating habits, helping you make better food choices to complement your workout routine.

8. Emotional Support:
Your personal trainer is not just there to help you physically; they also provide emotional support and encouragement. They understand that your fitness journey can be mentally challenging, and they are there to help you overcome obstacles and stay focused.

9. Long-Term Health Benefits:
Regular exercise under the guidance of a personal trainer can have a profound impact on your long-term health. It can reduce the risk of chronic diseases, improve mental well-being, and enhance your overall quality of life.


The benefits of using a personal trainer extend far beyond the physical aspects of fitness. They provide motivation, expertise, and a personalized approach that can help you achieve your health and fitness goals faster and more effectively. If you’re looking to unlock your full potential and transform your fitness journey, contact us today for a FREE fitness consultation.

Eating for fat loss

Sweating up a storm with cardio, lifting heavy in the weights section, 5+ times a week. NEWSFLASH: While this is critical to your ultimate success, it’s not enough for you to lose the fat you want.

To reach your fat loss goal, you must also follow a fat loss meal plan. Why? Even if you workout hard for an hour every day, that still leaves more than 23 hours for you to wreck all your hard work in the gym with just one slip up: a beer or a vino with your friends after work, a cheeky 4pm chocolate bar. Diet is a huge part of the fat-loss equation.

The macro split for fat loss, as with any particular goal, varies greatly and there are many different protocols that people will champion. However there is one dominant theme that runs through most protocols, the reduction of carbohydrates in the diet.

There are two basic reasons for this:

1.    Carbohydrates are converted into glucose by the body, spike insulin and are stored as glycogen. The body has a small capacity for storing glycogen so once these stores are full this excess glucose is stored as triglycerides in adipose tissue = increase in body fat.

2.    The ingestion of carbohydrates inhibits the oxidation of fats at rest and during exercise.

The macro split used in nutritics for fat loss, is 20% carbs (1g per Kg of body weight (BW)) 40% Protein (2.2g per Kg of BW) 40% Fat (1g per Kg of BW).

This split is therefore low carb but high protein/fat. The high percentage of protein is important as not only do most people lack an adequate intake of protein in the diet but also because it is the nutrient, which helps the body repair, grow and function in many different ways. Although protein is mildly insulinogenic it has a very minimal effect on our insulin levels and therefore does not promote fat storage. Instead when it is ingested it is broken down into amino acids, these amino acids either enter the liver where they are synthesised back into protein or they enter the muscle. If the latter occurs the amino acids are synthesised into protein for use, either for grow or repair. A diet high in protein will promote recovery, maintenance of lean mass, which will in turn sustain or drive up metabolism and muscle growth. All these elements help an individual when training for fat loss.

The split is also high in fat. Although fat has got a lot of negative press in the past we now know that it isn’t a macro to be afraid of and is in fact incredibly important for optimal health and fat loss. Fat is slow digesting with means it keeps you fuller for longer improving satiety levels. This is useful when working towards the goal of fat loss as staying fuller for longer will discourage you from over eating and help you reach the appropriate calorie intake to burn body fat. Fat, like protein, is essential to support different functions in the body, it is vital for synthesising hormones, maintaining cell membrane health and giving the body slow releasing energy.

It is important however that you understand the importance of getting your fats from good sources and not from processed foods. As the body can recognise natural fats and then use them appropriately, processed fats aren’t natural and therefore the body doesn’t respond to them in a natural way, which leads to cholesterol issues, fat storage and many other potential health risks.

Stay on track easily with your macronutrient split using the myfitnesspal app.

Good luck!

Burn & shred 2017!

Burn & shred this January with this quick workout, no equipment required, so no excuses - get it done!

Round 1:  30 seconds each exercises 

Rest 30 seconds

Round 2: 45 seconds each exercise

Rest 1 minute

Round 3: 1 minutes each exercise

Exercises:

1. High Knees
2. Calf Raises
3. Single Leg Hip Thrusts
4. Squat Jumps
5. Jumping Lunges
6. Jump In
7. Burpies
8. Press Ups

Have fun :-)