 'To your health' all year long
Many people abandon their New Year’s resolutions around March. One article stated that as many as 95 percent of resolutions, many of which deal with fitness and weight loss, have been dropped by April.
Has this happened to you? If so, what was your original motivation? Over time, you will accumulate a lot of reasons not to stick to your plan.
Take a few minutes and remember all of the good reasons why you wanted to make healthy changes. Just remembering these points can get your motivation up and running again. Make written lists and put them in conspicuous places such as the fridge or cupboard - places you might end up out of temptation.
Are you frustrated with a perceived lack of progress? Perhaps you set your goals too high? Did you plan to lose ten pounds per month or more? Did you try to go from couch potato to working out five days a week overnight? When you set unrealistic goals, you are setting yourself up for failure. When it comes to fitness, always keep the long-term goal in mind.
Although wearing a smaller pants size is nice, if you consider that a side benefit, and not the goal itself, you are more likely to succeed.
Healthy living is a life-long commitment. If you want to lose weight, a one-half to one pound per week average is very successful. Remember that average means that some weeks you may lose two pounds and some weeks you may not lose anything or have a slight gain. However, over a year, a half-pound weekly average will net you an overall loss of 26 pounds.
If you are new to exercise, or haven’t exercised in a long time, start slow. Incorporate additional movement into most days of the week for as long as you feel comfortable. In the beginning this may be 20 minutes or perhaps less per day. The sense of accomplishment you receive from meeting a modest goal will help you to stay motivated.
To stay consistent, get a partner. Since many of those that made resolutions are already back to their bad habits, it shouldn’t be difficult to find someone in the same situation that you are in. Accountability can provide a huge amount of motivation to stay on task.
I have a workout partner that I’ve worked with for at least four years. Although we are dedicated gym attendees we both admit that neither of us would be as dedicated without the support of the other. A partner keeps you company and makes the time go by faster. There will always be those days when one of you is dragging. That’s when a partner can help you to go those extra few minutes, or walk that extra block.
A healthy body is always a good goal and worth the investment, no matter what time of year it is.
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