It’s 2020! A new year!
But, how to make sure that the New Year’s resolutions you make this year you’ll be sticking to them in a few weeks time?
We all make resolutions, to get fitter, lose weight and get healthier!
It’s the time when we all think about starting a fitness regime and decide that we should join a gym or go out and buy a fancy new piece of cardio equipment to help to burn off the fat.
So you sign up to a 12 month gym membership or maybe re-sign your old membership (the one you signed up for last year and never really got full use out of).
The problem with resolutions is they are typically really hard to stick to. Either you make them too hard and you get disheartened or you don’t even get started in the first place.
So, let’s look at some ideas about how to stick to those New Year health and fitness resolutions.
Make realistic goals
When you set out any goal in life you should ensure that it is a S.M.A.R.T goal: I talk more about these in 7 steps to get the ideal body shape.
If you create goals that are quite lofty and ones you’ll struggle to get to, then you might be setting yourself up for failure. Lots of people give up on their New Year resolutions by the end of the month, so sticking to goals you can win is crucial.
If you’re trying to eat better then include a cheat meal every 5 to 7 days: don’t just try to eliminate your favourite meal from your life. Include it as a cheat meal and enjoy every minute of it, but maintain it as a treat.
If you’re wanting to lose weight then losing a few stones this year is achievable, but it is going to take a lot more motivation and commitment than you ever dreamed was possible. You can make it, but it is not going to be easy and this is one of the key reasons why people hire local personal trainers.
Smaller goals help too. Set out a yearly New Year goal, but also concentrate on what your goal will be for the first quarter of this year and what you want to achieve this month.
Slow, steady work towards your overall goal is key.
Set out a solid plan to achieve your goals
It’s super easy to say “Right! That’s it. This year is going to be my year. I’m going to lose weight!”, but it’s much harder to actually stick to the plan for more than a couple of weeks.
Before setting out your goal, it’s sensible to do some research on health and fitness and put together a plan about how you’re going to achieve it. Just like when you write a meal plan for the food you will eat, this plan includes the overall goal and how you’re going to get there.
Each step should be written out: acting like marker posts for what you want to achieve along the way. You should also make a plan about how you will combat any temptations that may push you off your path of achieving your main goal. This will help you recognize changes earlier and prevent you giving up all together like lots of people do.
Think about the exercises you love and those that you hate. The ones that you hate will probably have a positive impact on whatever your fitness goal is this year. You should add it (them) to the times when you do the exercises you love (as long as it works with training the different parts of the body).
If you’re eating lots of foods that aren’t good for you then don’t cut them all out at once. Make it a short-term plan to reduce the amount of those types of food that you eat and slowly remove them from your diet over the coming weeks and months.
Shocking your body by starting a new fitness regime AND cutting out all of the foods you love might have a double negative impact, causing you to slip back into your old ways and give up on your New Year’s resolutions.
Get a fitness buddy
I’ve mentioned this before in how to make progress and it’s really important. Having a workout buddy or accountability partner is going to help you immensely.
If you do things together, like counting your calories, sharing recipes and tracking each other’s progress — as well as being workout partners in the gym — then you will both make progress much faster and find things more enjoyable.
You’ll also be able to encourage one another when motivation dips at those important stages.
Make things public
Lots of people find it beneficial to share their New Year’s resolutions with family and friends, and others find it super helpful to share these on social media.
This encourages you to keep yourself accountable and actually reach your goals.
Measure your progress
If you don’t know how well (or how bad) you are doing how will you know if you’re making progress?
That’s one key reason why we use My PT Hub with our personal training clients at the gym. It helps us keep track of the progress an individual is making: whether that’s the food they eat, the weight they’re lifting, what they weigh, or their weekly measurements.
All of which are designed to encourage them to keep going and know that they’re making progress.
One key part of someone giving up with their health and fitness resolutions is not seeing any or much progress.
You will want to measure your own progress and the factors that are important to you. Is it to walk at least 10,000 steps every day? To ensure you eat 5 portions of green veggies? Or drinking at least 2 litres of water?
Whatever the different steps you’re taking to keep you on the path of reaching your goals, you should document them so that you know when you’ve improved.
Know that things will take time
Losing weight isn’t a quick fix. It takes time to unravel years of eating the wrong foods, not getting enough exercise and falling into bad habits.
Maybe you don’t like the way working out makes you feel. Maybe you’re scared of the thought of going to the gym. Whatever it is, know that it is probably going to take more time than you have anticipated.
You’re not a professional in the health and fitness industry and everybody is different.
You’ll see temporary setbacks, so it’s important to dust yourself when you fall off the path and get right back on again. Don’t give up just because of a few bad mistakes.
Set yourself deadlines and stick to your plan, and if you’re unsure of what you should be doing even after doing lots of research online then why not seek out the help of a team of local fitness professionals? Click here to contact us.
Hire a personal fitness coach
This is where having your own personal coach really comes into its own.
When you’re working with someone else you’re not only letting yourself down, you’re letting them down too if you don’t make the effort.
Not only that but you benefit from their experience, which prevents you from wasting time making the same mistakes over again because the coach already knows the best way to help you achieve your goals.
Or even worse: you get hurt with a fitness routine that doesn’t match your body, which puts you out of commission for several weeks – then you lose all motivation to working to that goal.
If you want to make positive changes to your health, fitness and well-being then you need help from the local fitness experts.
At Masters Fitness we specialise in coaching, health and wellness and unlike most other health clubs we don’t have a joining or membership fee. You only pay for what you use and our expert team is dedicated to helping you achieve your goals.
Our private health studio at Brockhall Village hosts six personal trainers all with a wealth of knowledge and experience to share, offering one-to-one sessions, small group training and diet advice along with coaching sessions.
So if you want to make positive changes to your health and wellness, then have a look at this page.
