New Year, New You and Why You Must Overcome Your Struggles
January is not only beginning of a new year, but for many, it is the impetus of lifestyle changes, commonly centering around health and fitness. It is very prevalent to have people come into gyms because of resolutions, whether for the new year or before the summer season, but so many of those people don’t stick to it! So many people fall out of the gym and stay out of shape and wait until the new year to come around to go back into the gym. It is such a vicious cycle!
Having been in the shoes of many who haven’t stuck to their fitness goals in the past, I offer advice for holding fast to the motivation behind resolutions and adopting a healthier lifestyle.
First and foremost, most people are too aggressive with their resolutions. They set their expectations too high from the start and when they fail to meet it then they’ll say, “Oh man, I failed.” Setting attainable goals — both short and long-term — is huge because a healthy lifestyle is more often a journey rather than a destination.
Sharing support and encouragement will lead to the ultimate change of a healthier lifestyle. Have a support system by working out together because you will always have someone to go work out with. Sometimes it is hard to do it by yourself, but when you have someone beside you and giving you encouragement, it pushes you more.
The biggest mistake people make is exercising, but not tying that mindset to their nutrition. You do something, like work out, for months but you don’t see the successes then how many of us are going to continue doing it day after day, week after week, month after month? No wonder people fall off course. But if you set up a program and you lose three or four pounds in a week and you see changes after a month, you are more willing to come back when life happens and you fall out of the habit. If you recognized the results you had, you’re more apt to come back down the road because you know what steps to take.
Whether people are seeking nutritional counseling, needing a personal trainer or just getting a few tips, needs assistance sometimes. In fact, hire a personal trainer to help if your workouts lost their luster and you are just going through the motions. Personal Trainers will work with you on your workouts a few days a week because you know that you would do the workout like you are supposed to because of them. I guarantee that you will go back into the routine and find your motivation again.
When it comes to improving nutrition as well as fitness, start small and make little changes — such as drinking water instead of sweet tea or soft drinks.Outside of epiphanies or near-death experiences, how many people decide to change their entire lifestyle overnight and have it stuck?” I personally have never had that light-switch type moment and I don’t know anybody else that resolves to eat right all the time and go to the gym. You are setting yourself up for failure if you do that, but if you start off saying you’ll go to the gym three times a week, get rid of the snack food in the house and drink more water, then those incremental changes add up.
In the past when I made my resolution, I was eating eggs, bacon and toast or a bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast. As I started understanding nutrition more, the meal evolved to a Special K cereal with a little sugar then to protein shakes and now I have egg whites and oatmeal every day. If you told me years ago that I had to go from my sugary cereal to egg whites, it wouldn’t have lasted any time because It is a process.
Having the support of friends and family is crucial. However, enlisting a friend as a workout partner or cajoling a spouse to eat right with you can have a positive or a negative effect. I will have clients come in, especially women, where one partner is super motivated and ready to go, but the other isn’t. If you pick a friend that you have to drag along just because you want someone to work out with them they are likely to demotivate you. It can be beneficial to have a workout partner or it can have the opposite effect and kill your motivation.
You’ve got to be honest with yourself and make the changes to attain your goals. Once you have done this, figure it out!
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