Resolution Tips
It’s the same thing every year – on January 2nd (or soon after) gyms and fitness programs are beyond packed as everyone starts the new year on their “new you”, whether they are starting fresh on new health and fitness goals or ramping up old programs due to the bacchanalian damage done in November and December. BUT what we also see every year in the fitness industry is a drastic and almost abrupt decline in attendance come mid- February. It’s so classic you can easily predict who will be successful in their new year resolutions. Don’t become this statistic, here are a few tips to help you carry on and get past that particularly sticky part when trying to implement new healthy habits.
– Set a SMART goal to identify exactly what your resolution is. Refer to my three articles on Goal Setting. You need a specific game plan to keep you on task. Ensure you’ve accounted for the what, where, when, why and especially HOW. Include a definite time frame, month, or date of when you want to achieve your goal.
– Get a benchmark measurement or setting before you begin. This is so you know exactly how far you have to go to reach your goal AND more importantly, you can rate your progress of success.
– Set mini goals along your timeline. Pick specific dates to re-measure or re-test so you can compare to your benchmark and ensure that you are on the right track. If you find that you are NOT on track, you may need to re-adjust the final goal to be more realistic OR you may find that you are on your way to achieving your goal sooner (yay for you!).
– Stick with it. Remember, it takes about 8 weeks of steady commitment for a habit to become part of your lifestyle, until that point, this new habit may feel more of a chore. Also know that if you are beginning a new exercise program there are many things that occur before you visibly notice changes in your body. After about 6 weeks you should note that you feel and are physically stronger. Until that time exercising may not give you the extra energy boost science says it will – you may actually feel more tired and eat more. The key is to mentally overcome that brief stage. This is the Mid- February point where resolutionists have lost their enthusiasm. By 6-8 weeks you should notice your clothes fitting loser (but perhaps not much change on the scale – remember- scale weight really means nothing). Soon after YOU will visibly see changes in your body; then your friends will notice and comment and THEN your hubby may notice too. So if you can keep going through the first 4 -6 weeks you will soon be seeing results.
– Take baby steps. When starting something new, try not to implement too many changes all at once. If you make too many resolutions at one time, chances are you’ll end up unsuccessful at most if not all of them. Once you have one resolution well under way, then consider incorporating a new one.
– Extra tips if weight loss is your goal. Be realistic, please don’t set a goal to lose 20 pounds in 1 month- you will not be successful, it’s unhealthy AND fast weight loss will not last. You need to burn or cut out 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat. Ideally aiming to lose 1-2 pounds a week is healthy and will guarantee that weight is FAT loss, not water or muscle loss and it will stay off. Successful fat loss requires a three-prong approach – cardio, weights or resistance training and healthy nutrition (that’s another article for another time).
