Your First Run And Your New Program

So with all that in mind, what can you do to start running if your plan is to stick with it? The first tip is to change the way you approach your first run. A lot of people approach their first run thinking they’re going to burn a ton of calories so that they can quickly see some results. But I want you to put that thought right out of your mind and completely change your approach.

If you start running fast, with the wrong form, and when you’re this tired, you’re just going to hate it. You’ll feel sick, your shins and knees will hurt when your feet hit the pavement and you’ll sweat a bucket. So instead, your aim with your first run is to go slow and just enjoy. Your first goal is to learn to run, not to lose any weight.

So the first few times you do it, you’ll go really gentle and if that means running with a 13 minute/mile pace… so be it! Focus on letting your feet land softly and just taking in the environment around you. You can keep it short too – try two miles. And at the same time, give yourself plenty of rest in between sessions. For the first two months, running once a week is going to be more than sufficient.

Worried that you’re not ‘doing anything? Think again! You’re still changing the way your body works and believe it or not, you’re still going to burn a ton of calories. Run slowly for 30 minutes and you can expect to burn 400 at least. That’s permission to eat dessert (and then some) with no negative consequences calorie-wise (which isn’t the right attitude, just a demonstration). What you’re also going to do, is to find ways to improve your energy levels
and to start prioritizing your health.

Remember: energy is a finite quantity and it’s something you need to cultivate if you want to get into shape.

So you’re going to start looking at eating just that little bit healthier (getting more nutrients in your diet will make a massive difference – try a smoothie), sleeping a little bit more (just make it a priority to go to bed on time) and avoiding stress where possible. And look, if your job is leaving you with absolutely no energy and it is filling you with stress, then you should look at getting another job.

What could possibly be more important than your health? At the end of the day, it’s just not a sacrifice that’s worth making. So if you can’t make it work – then this is what you need to change.

Correct Goal Setting

Something else to change if you’ve been able to identify with any of this is the way you set goals. Too many of us make the goal about weight loss. Too many people say they want to ‘lose 10lbs in 2 months for example. But this is the wrong approach to goal setting. Why? Because when you make this the goal, you make a goal that is much too detached from your day-to-day reality. When the goal is two months away, it’s easy to skip a day of running and tell yourself you’ll make up for it later.

Plus, it makes it all too easy to fail your goal for reasons that genuinely aren’t your fault and then get very disheartened. And on top of all that, this comes back to what we said earlier – improving your health is more important than just losing weight. If you’re only focusing on weight loss, then you’re missing the point of training.
So instead, you should make weight loss your vision. Your vision is what you picture for yourself and what’s going to motivate you.

It doesn’t have to be something you can put into words – it can be an abstract idea. You might just picture yourself looking and feeling healthier than ever. Being confident. Spending time in the sun with your top off. Having incredible six-pack abs.

Becoming an Instagram sensation…

Those emotions will help you to push through when you can’t face training anymore, so you need to really conceptualize your goal and learn to bring it to mind as needed. But then you’re going to think about the steps you need to take to make that vision a reality. In our case, to begin with, at least, the first step is to run once a week.
So that is your goal.

That is all you’re going to focus on. And in your mind, you’re going to link that idea of running with the vision you’ve created for yourself. Run every week, get the body you want. The reason this works is that it is a goal that is entirely within your control and it is a goal that you can’t ‘miss’ one week and still accomplish. There are no smaller steps. That said, when you do miss it (by accident), you can just pick it up again next week with no harm done.