How to Get Fit Quicker Before the First Date
Unless you already identify as a gym rat, there’s a strong likelihood that your physical appearance isn’t all that you know it could be. Of course, while there’s certainly nothing wrong with feeling safe in your own skin, we all know that when you’re about to go out on a first date, you want to look your best! Fortunately, even if you’ve been avoiding the gym for ages, it’s still possible to get that “in shape” look before you finally meet up. Want to know how? Keep reading!
Why You May Need to Get Fit Fast
There are many different reasons why people decide they want to get “in shape.” For some, their motivation may be simply for personal health. After all, people who are healthy tend to live longer, which is definitely a valid reason for committing to a new workout routine! Others might simply not like the way that they look. These types of people are quite common and often have specific weight-loss goals in mind, such as losing 25 lbs. While both of these mindsets are quite common, they both focus on long-term success. Although similar, there is another motivation when it comes to getting fit: impressing your date!
When you first log on to a tender date site, it’s easy to find someone to chat with. Usually, the website’s algorithms help its users to match easily, whether via search filters or additional chatting features. Conversation ensues, and you try to navigate the conversation in a manner that’s favorable to you. If all goes well, you’ll be able to plan your first date together. Unfortunately, this is often when people realize that they aren’t as “in shape” as their profile picture might suggest. Don’t worry: this is completely normal! Unless your online photos are drastically different from your real-life appearance, getting back to your previous level of physical fitness shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. With a positive outlook in mind, let’s go over what you’ll need to do in the days ahead!
Preliminary Considerations
Although a favorable boost in physical appearance is your primary goal, this shouldn’t be your long-term goal. Instead, you should be aiming for a sustainable level of physical fitness, and the only way to accomplish this is by making some simple lifestyle changes. Fortunately, this process is quite easy to implement & takes only three steps!
Incorporate Sports into Your Daily Routine
Sports may not be your “thing,” but they do provide a fun way to exercise daily without feeling the burden of needing to work out. There are many different sports for you to choose from, so feel free to try a few different ones until you find a sport that you genuinely enjoy. If you don’t love the first one, keep going until you find one that you do enjoy. This part is key: if you aren’t actually enjoying the sport of your choice, then it will be easy to put off playing until the next day. These days can quickly add up & ruin any progress you’ve made in the meantime.
Choose Your Accountability Partner to Stay on Track
Procrastination is the biggest enemy of progress. That’s why finding an accountability partner should be on the top of your “to-do” list! This person must be someone with whom you can be open about your goals, progress, and failures along your fitness journey. They can’t do the work for you; only you can do that. However, they will be there to hold you accountable, making sure that you’re sticking with your game plan and avoiding any distractions along the way.
Exercise class Set a Realistic Goal to Avoid Frustration
It’s important to have dreams, but it’s also important to have realistic expectations. That doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to turn your fitness dreams into a reality. It simply means that you shouldn’t expect to gain six-pack abs overnight. Take your current level of physical fitness into account and set a goal based on this starting point. By setting realistic goals, you’ll not only be able to achieve these goals but surpass them as well!
Practical Recommendations
At this point, you’ve already started to make some positive changes to your daily lifestyle. However, there’s still a lot more than you’re capable of accomplishing! For long-lasting results and an overall increase in your health, you’ll need to find a workout program that works for you. Of course, exercise must be paired with healthy eating habits if you want to truly maximize your potential. Here are some easy-to-implement ideas that can help you look better before your first date.
Managing Your Diet
- Try intermittent fasting - Fasting isn’t a new idea: it’s been around for centuries! Simply put, the idea is to minimize your calorie intake by avoiding consuming food for a predetermined time period. Not only will doing this help elevate your metabolism temporarily, but it can also help you lose weight over time.
- Stay hydrated - Although you can certainly “lose weight” fast by avoiding drinking liquids, this won’t result in long-term weight loss. You’ll simply be losing your water weight (and subsequently getting dehydrated). Unfortunately, being dehydrated tends to result in eating more, which increases your calorie intake. Without the proper hydration, your body will struggle to burn these calories and break down fat, which will ultimately lead to weight gain. No good!
- Minimize alcohol consumption - Beyond increasing your likelihood of having a hangout (which is sure to put a damper on your daily workout routine), alcoholic drinks are generally laden with empty calories. Cut back on your drinking to reduce the number of unnecessary calories you’re putting into your body.
Making the Most Out of Your Training Regimen
- Consider high-intensity interval training - Also known as HIIT, this type of training involves performing intense workouts for short periods of time. While traditional cardio burns calories effectively, it does so at a slower rate than HIIT. Switching to a HIIT-based workout regime will allow you to shorten your workouts, giving you more time to tend to other things after.
- Try superset workouts - Superset workouts (like HIIT) can help you cut your workout time in half! However, we’d only recommend these once you’ve reached a good level of physical fitness because superset workouts don’t have resting periods! Instead, you’ll be completing one set of exercises and then transitioning over to another exercise, jumping back & forth until all sets of both exercises have been completed.
- Combine training with your hobbies - At the end of the day, your workout routine must provide you with some sense of happiness or self-fulfillment. Without these things, it becomes very easy to procrastinate until you’ve lost all the progress you’ve made. While journal logs or fitness testing apps can help you track your progress (giving you the motivation to continue), you should also make sure the workout process goes as smoothly as possible. Consider multitasking when possible! Some common activities you can do while exercising include listening to music, watching TV, or meditation.
Conclusion
As you’ve probably realized, there are limitations to what can be accomplished in a short period of time. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t tone your muscles for your next date simply by making a few lifestyle tweaks! Once these tweaks become routine, you’ll be on the road to being a healthier, more in-shape you. Much like investing (when it comes to working out), the best time to start was yesterday. The 2nd best time to start is today!
Related Pages
- Dating a Fitness Instructor — you are guaranteed to date someone who lives a healthy lifestyle.
- How to Improve Your Attractiveness With Sports
- Fitness Goals for Couples
- Fitness dates — the perfect way for people to spend time with their romantic partners and keep in shape.
- Training Support — personal trainers and coaches can help guide your training
- Get a job as a personal trainer
- Fitness Training Methods
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