Dave Letele: Overindulge in the holidays? Don’t beat yourself up about it!

Motivation man Dave Letele (aka the Brown Buttabean) says don't beat yourself up if you overindulged over the holidays. Photo / NZME

OPINION

Fallen off the fitness wagon?

I not only fell off the wagon but the wagon turned, reversed and ran me over again.

If you’re like me, you have relaxed over the holidays, maybe enjoyed extra treats, maybe didn’t exercise as much — if at all — and now with the holidays coming to an end, you’re starting to think about restarting your exercise regime and getting fit.

You might be now regretting the holidays and beating yourself up. That inner critic inside your head is becoming louder and louder. But I’m here to help and here are some tips for getting you back on the fitness wagon.

Firstly, STOP beating yourself up.

You need to be your own biggest fan, NOT your own biggest critic. Tell yourself. You got this. Remember it’s not what you’ve done between Christmas and New Year’s that matters. It’s what you do between New Year’s Day and next Christmas that counts.

I didn’t get to be 210kg by eating bad for 2-3 weeks. I was eating bad every single day, drinking fizzy, no water no exercise.

1. Jump back on the wagon and just start again. Every day you leave it, you will feel worse and the wagon will get further away and harder to catch up with.

2. Set a couple of big goals that you’d like to achieve in the year, and smaller goals that you can achieve on the way. Remember it doesn’t always have to be what the scale says or the way your clothes fit.

It’s about feeling better about yourself.

3. Stay consistent. Consistency is about understanding no one’s perfect. You will fall off, and you will have bad days. Everyone falls off. Remember step 1. Jump back on.

David Letele says you have to go past your negative barriers. Photo / NZME

4. Be careful who you surround yourself with, and that includes people you are following online. Only surround/follow people who pick you up when you’re down and are on the same journey as you.

You don’t need to feel worse about yourself. Follow me @buttabean_motivation for motivation

5. No excuses. Stop letting excuses stop you. It’s too cold. It’s too hot. It’s too early. It’s too late. To overcome all excuses you need to have a strong WHY. With a strong WHY you can overcome anything. After reading this write down a list of five things that mean a lot to you. From that list choose the one thing that means the most to you. It should be hard. Write that one thing down on a big piece of paper and put it in your house, car, at work etc.

So when life gets tough, and you just don’t think you can get back up again ... stare at it and understand why you MUST get and up and keep going.

It won’t always stop you from falling off the wagon, BUT it should always get you back on the wagon. If it doesn’t it’s not your why, and you need to revisit your list.

I hope this helps everyone reading this and if you are after online meal plans and workouts go to www.bbm.fit