The Psychology Of Cardio Training In Your Weight Loss Program

In our preceding post, we looked at the theory for maximizing fat loss during cardio training. But all knowledge about how the training should be done does not help, if we don’t get going and maintain exercising for weeks, months, or even better – integrating and making it part of our lifestyle from now on, making all fat loss diets unnecessary from then on. So we have to dive into a bit of psychology to overcome the initial resistance to such training, which is so common in all newbies in the field of physical exercising.

Reduce your appetite – reduce your weight

The first matter to evaluate is ourselves. To enter into and stick to a training program, what we need more than anything else is motivation. Without enough motivation, just good will, it won’t take long and we are back on the couch in front of the TV with a box of potatoe chips at arm length. So the question is: is losing a few kilogram of our fat sufficient as motivator or do we need something in addition to overcome laziness and to leave the comfort zone behind?

For some it may, for some not. So there is nothing wrong to increase our chances by finding the sport, which is most suitable for us. In addition, we should right from the start aim at more than just losing a few kg. Ideally, we are getting on the road to implement regular physical exercising into our lifestyle, making easy fat loss diets a thing of the past.

First thing for us is to decide, if we are more a “solo or a team exerciser”. Suitable for the first species are walking, hiking, running, swimming, whereas soccer or any other ball game are classical team sports . A hybrid would be cycling or golf, where you can chose to practice it alone or with others. A wrong choice, when starting, is not such a big deal as one can easily correct it at any time later. Don’t force yourselve to stick with your original choice, if you are unhappy, as it only will get you frustrated, so that you may give up physical activity completely and put all your hopes back into easy fat loss diets.

From my own experience, if you happen not to be a complete loner, you will benefit and enjoy training more in a group. A group puts some pressure on its members to practice, which is specially needed on days, where you lack enthusiasm. When on our own, we will quickly convince ourselves that it might be ok today to skip the training session – some rain drops or dark clouds, a light headache, can be a welcome excuse. It is very easy to become tempted to make the easy fat loss training a bit too easy.

Reduce your appetite – reduce your weight

In order to make a cardio practice a life long habit, most people who succeed – I call myself lucky to be one of those since four decades! – will have adopted two elements, which they consider important for their lifes:

>>> They want to feel good about themselves and how they look

>>> They understand that cardio exercises are beneficial for their health and that they gain life quality, which they don’t want to miss anymore

There is a good chance that you will reach that stage after a few weeks or months too, if you expand your thinking beyond supporting your easy fat loss program by cardio exercising only for quicker fat loss reasons. If you can truly relate to one or both of the above listed elements, chances are you will meet your family doctor much more in the supermarket than in his/her practice for years and decades to come.

In order to maximize our fuel burning capacity at rest, our resting metabolism, we will have a closer look at training those muscles, which are only little or not used during cardio exercising. So we will talk about weight training in our next post “Get The Engine Running At High Revs While Sleeping”.