How can we increase our odds of success when it comes to these popular fitness resolutions?
Article updated: 3/30/2010 8:50:48 AM
You’ve made your New Year’s fitness resolution—now what do you do? According to a recent study by the University of Washington, only 1 in 5 Americans reaches his or her New Year’s “better health and wellness” goal. The goals so often spoken of over hot cheese hor d’oeuvres and champagne cocktails on New Year’s Eve usually involve losing unwanted pounds. How can we increase our odds of success when it comes to these popular fitness resolutions?
1. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Start with realistic expectations based on your fitness level and schedule. Small changes at first can result in big changes later. Walking is always a smart choice for those who are sedentary. Gradually add duration and intensity. If you want to take your fitness level up a notch, add a different workout into your schedule. If you run, take a yoga class or vice-versa. Cross training your muscles not only “tricks” them into working harder, but you can avoid plateaus and the possibility of overuse injuries.
2. Build power in numbers. Accountability is a great way to stay on task. Whether it be with a trainer or a friend or family member, it is important to set a workout time. My clients are more apt to show up if they have a buddy guilting them into a trip to the gym.
3. Make it a “high priority” item. Just like any other appointment you have entered in your book or hand-held, don’t blow this one off! It is the most important appointment of the day.
4. Clean up your act. 70 percent of the results that you see on the scale or in your clothing will come from your everyday diet. Choose one day per week that you can eat “cleanly.” Give the guys in lab coats a day off and refrain from processed or pre-packaged foods that have a shelf life designed for a nuclear fallout bunker. Consume foods that are free of hormones, chemicals and preservatives. Eat things that grow from the ground or off a tree. One day of clean eating may just lead to many more.
5. It should be hard! Working out should be do-able, but difficult. This is why we call it “working” out and not “chilling” out. Set target heart rate goals when doing cardiovascular exercises and be sure to fatigue your muscles when strength training.
6. Don’t quit because you think you failed again. If you miss a workout or you got into the fried foods, do not give up. Brush yourself off, chalk it up as a small slip and get back on track. Tomorrow is a new day. And a new year. And possibly a new rear!
Article first appeared in SBQ Issue #12, January/February | 2010
