Why it's so much harder to maintain, rather than make, a fitness goal.

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A few weeks ago, I shared some lessons I had learned since I started investing in my health three months ago. My goal was to eat healthy and increase my fitness levels before my birthday.

But now my birthday has passed, I’ve ticked off those goals. The result? I’m losing motivation fast.

Suddenly I’m a lot slower to drag myself out of bed in the morning to exercise and my carrot sticks are steadily being replaced KitKat fingers.

According to Josh Pullman, Master Coach for the Australian Institute of Fitness, the reason why so many of us struggle with this stage is because we approach it with a ‘race to the finish’ mentality.

This is where we label a ‘start’ and an ‘end’ point to achieving our goal and while this makes it easier to track progress, when you finally reach the ‘end’ you’re more likely to slow down. Of course it doesn’t help that it takes a lot less time to lose progress as it does to earn it in the first place.

“Many people with fitness goals that have an ‘end’ actually set themselves up to fail from the start. Setting targets is great, but approaching it not as a race but as aiming to set a new ‘benchmark’ or habit is super important,” says Pullman. (Post continues after gallery.)

So after you’ve changed your mindset, how can you get your motivation back?

1. Remember why you started

The most important thing is to not give up. We all fall off the bandwagon sometimes, but you’ve got to pick yourself up and jump back on. The easiest way is to remember why you started in the first place.

Pullman recommends writing down briefly and honestly a sentence about how you felt about your self-image, health, fitness, social life and energy levels of the ‘old’ you, before you started. Stick it somewhere you’ll see it every day.

Our brain is wired to remember pleasure rather than pain (hello, giving birth…) so this will remind you of the realities of before and drive home why you started in the first place, motivating you to continue.

2. Assess your tactics

“Make sure the changes you’re making are giving you good bang for your buck – nothing reinforces positive change like feeling actual progress,” says Pullman.

A lack of motivation is a great time to double check that you’re doing the right thing to get the results you’re after.

Also remember that doing something – even it’s a walk or jog for 15 minutes – is always better than nothing. And if you’re really struggling make a few small changes at the time, rather than a complete overhaul. You’re much more likely to stick to it.

3. Keep it to yourself

Studies have shown that there are significantly lower success rates amongst people who announce their goal to other people, rather than those who keep it to themselves.

There are two sides to this: on one hand, informing friends and family of your intentions keeps you accountable, but psychologists argue that making our benchmark creates a 'premature sense of completeness' which takes away our motivation for doing something before it's had a chance to become a habit. But ultimately just do what works best for you.

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4. It's about progress not perfection

A quest for perfection is a fast way to develop an unhealthy relationship with exercise. Taking a break or having an off day is absolutely fine as long as you don't do it so often that becomes the habit instead of the positive one. Remember the bigger picture - any progress is positive. Don't let one slip up act as an excuse to give up entirely.

How do you stay motivated?