Regular workouts can improve your health and physique to a large extent. However, seeing results is all about commitment and consistency. This can be difficult if you don’t prepare for the journey in a smart way. Let’s discuss some of the hard truths of getting fit below.

Fitness Is Forever

Whether you’re working out to burn fat or build muscle, don’t stop once you’ve reached your goal. You need to be consistent to maintain what you’ve accomplished. Keep in mind that muscle density can reduce by up to 6% in three weeks.

Exercise Doesn’t Burn As Many Calories As You Think

Don’t get into the habit of rewarding yourself with snacks just because you have worked out. If your goal is to lose weight, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Even if you spend two hours at the gym, a junk food binge could undo all your hard work. Eating like this regularly would make you feel unmotivated to exercise, as you won’t be seeing improvements in your fitness. A tip to help you eat healthy would be to throw out any junk food you have at home.

Your Body Will Ache

Working out is all about pushing yourself, so you’re going to get sweaty and exhausted. It’s common for newcomers to feel lightheaded as well. After a while, you’ll get used to it and learn to love the results that you see.

Working out can better your heart health and mood. Training your muscles in a way you haven’t done before will leave you sore, and it’s normal to experience a few aches and pains in the first few days.

Watch Your Diet

Do you want chiseled arms, abs and a toned belly? Make some changes to your diet as well. You’ll need to be in a calorie deficit, as well as do a combination of strength training and cardio.

Watching what you eat is especially important if you’re skinny. You have to be in a calorie surplus to gain muscle. If you’ve been eating like a pigeon your whole life, this can seem impossible. However, there are options like weight gain supplements for thin men and women. You could also think about taking calories in liquid form.

It Should Get Harder

How long have you been working out? You may have been hitting the gym consistently and seeing results in the early stages. However, maybe there haven’t been any improvements to your physique after a while. This is called a plateau. The key to avoiding this problem is increasing the intensity of your workouts. For example, think about using heavier weights, or adjusting the duration and type of workouts you’re doing.

Proper Sleep Is Needed

There is no way you’ll be able to achieve your fitness goals if you don’t get enough sleep. Being tired would also make it harder to resist eating unhealthy food. If you’re determined to build muscle, but don’t get enough sleep, you won’t be seeing great results. Sleep is needed for muscles to grow. Adequate rest is mandatory to help cure soreness as well.

Getting fit will not only improve your health, but build up your confidence. No one said working out was easy, but being focused and disciplined would make it much easier to tackle.