Make activity stick

The more you do a physical activity, the more skills you’ll develop and the more confident you’ll feel—which will make you want to keep doing it. (Hello, habit loop!)

1. Weight and health goals might inspire you to start being active—but they likely won’t help you stay active over time. That’s why activity that’s reinforced is key for short- and long-term success.

2. The best way to reinforce activity—and boost the chance that you’ll stick with it—is by finding something you enjoy.

3. If you can’t find an activity you enjoy, try making the experience enjoyable. You’ll be more likely to do it again!

Make being active stick with one of these strategies.

1. Be realistic. Pick activities that you think you might actually do and enjoy. Hate to run? Training for a 5K probably isn’t your thing. (But yoga might be.)

2. Try “temptation bundling.” Dying to binge-watch the latest streaming series? Save it for the treadmill, so you’re pairing something you love with your new workout.

3. Make it truly doable. Don’t go overboard and push yourself so much that you won’t want to do the activity again in a day or two.

4. Challenge the expected. Want to build a stronger heart, but not a fan of running? Don’t. run. There are plenty of other heart-pumping activities to try out—spin class, swimming, playing tennis, jumping rope.

5. Find the fun. Okay, so maybe you don’t love the activity—but you can still enjoy the time you spend doing it. (For example, running with a friend.)

6. End on a high note. Even if parts of the activity were tough, ending it with something that feels good—stretching a cooldown walk—will create a lasting, positive impression. (So you’ll want to do it again!)

7. Start a journal. Write yourself a note after you’ve been active to reinforce how you felt—and why you want to do it again. Give future you tips to stay inspired!

8. Celebrate progress. Did you make it to yoga twice this week? Nice! Track that activity in the WW app and share it on Connect!