How to Keep Your Fitness Resolutions
16 Steps to Stick with your Commitments
It’s that time of year — the time when we break out the wine and chocolate and put away our New Year’s resolutions.
Whether the resolution was a new exercise routine, a nutritional change, or some combination of the two, most people have already thrown in the towel, and even more are giving up as I write this article.
Lifestyle changes are incredibly difficult, no matter when you start them. Personally, I’ve always been of the opinion that New Year’s isn’t a good time for starting something new — instead, the changes I’ve made have stuck better when I start them as soon as I’ve finished thorough preparations and groundwork for them.
Yes, I spent time planning and preparing for my healthy lifestyle — you probably spent at least 10 hours researching your last car purchase, so your health deserves at least that much time.
Whether you spend months researching and experimenting before committing to a plan, like I did, or just several hours on Google, taking the following 15 steps to prepare for and carry out your plans will dramatically increase your ability to keep that commitment.
1. Get Buy-In from your Spouse, Partner, or Live-In Bestie BEFORE you start a new nutrition or exercise plan
This is one of those things that seems like common sense, but isn’t. Relationship conflicts due to lifestyle changes are not only common, but can be incredibly fraught and hurtful to everyone involved.
This is especially true if you’re making a change and your partner isn’t.
There are a couple of important things to keep in mind. First, you’re making this change because you want to better yourself — communicate this clearly and positively. It’s about you, and how you see yourself, and who you want to be, but it has no bearing on how you feel about your partner.
Second, share your goals, and the steps you think you need to take to reach them. This may affect your partner in big ways. You’ll be committing time you might otherwise spend with them to exercise, and if you’re changing your diet then it will also affect what foods you both buy and likely eat — unless you eat different foods for dinner.
Third, be sensitive to and address any concerns your partner expresses in a respectful and loving way. They may have feelings of being left out, less desirable, or judged, and while unwarranted (I hope) these feelings are both natural and common.
Check out these articles for more helpful tips:
2. Talk to Your Doctor
Before starting any new exercise or nutrition program, it’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor and get a complete physical including bloodwork.
Having a complete picture of your current health will help you avoid doing anything that might interfere with your long-term success.
3. Choose an Accountability Partner You Can’t Avoid
A good accountability partner is someone with whom you have a solid personal relationship based on honesty and mutual respect. This might be your significant other, although the higher levels of emotion there often mean they don’t make good accountability partners.
Few people are well-equipped to have their spouse call them out for failing their exercise and diet commitments.
A good friend is best — someone you can’t and don’t want to avoid, and someone you are comfortable accepting criticism from.
This person will need to agree to check in with you regularly and call you out as needed when you let yourself down. It can be especially helpful if you give them access to your exercise tracking and/or food logging data so they have real evidence to either praise or criticize you.
More about tracking below.
4. Find an Exercise Buddy or Join a Group
Research has long shown that working out with friends increases your changes of success. Whether this is one friend, a small group, or even new friends that you meet by joining an existing program, forming those social connections is key.
It’s like a combination carrot and stick effect. If you keep your commitment, you’re spending time with people whose company you enjoy, and you’re not struggling through something difficult alone. If you fail, your buddy or group will know, and they’ll probably ask you about it.
This duo of social reward and punishment is a huge driver of much of human behavior — might as well put it to work in your favor!
5. Hire a Trainer or Coach
Ever heard the phrase, “put your money where your mouth is”?
If you’re always talking about making a change, but never sure how to start, I encourage you to do just that.
Hiring a fitness professional can fast-track your progress and help you avoid all kinds of confusion and pitfalls along the way. Most trainers and coaches know a fair amount about living a healthy lifestyle as a hazard of the job — hard to teach others if you’re not living it yourself!
Put your money where your mouth is.
A good personal trainer or running coach will not only help you pack on muscle or prepare for your first half marathon, they’ll also provide you loads of encouragement, advice, and support. If you can’t find an accountability partner or exercise buddy, and you’re not much into groups, this is an investment that can be well worth the money.
When looking for a personal trainer or coach, I recommend sitting down and putting your goals in writing first. Then think about what types of encouragement and motivation have worked for you before.
It’s important to be really honest with yourself here — if you can’t handle harsh criticism, you need to find a coach with a highly positive and supportive attitude. On the other hand, if hearing the brutal truth about your health and fitness drives you to improve, look for someone with a more direct, blunt approach to feedback.
Once you know what you want and what kind of coaching you’re interested in, do some searching online and pick 3–5 likely candidates. Send them emails outlining what you’re looking for and asking them about their experience and whether they think they’d be a good fit for you.
Set up initial training sessions with those you get the best impression of, but don’t commit to anything long term until you’ve spent some time with them in person.
6. When You’re Ready, Commit to a Training Program
Whether you’re hiring a coach or joining a group, I do recommend trying a few things out on a one-off basis before making any big commitments. Experimentation is good, and can help you avoid spending time and money one something that’s not for you.
But once you know what you want to do, commit!
Choose a long-term training program, preferably one designed or led by an expert. Enroll in and attend regular classes, join a trainer-led workout group, or sign up for a running or other at-home fitness program that outlines exactly what you need to do each day over at least 8–12 weeks. Sign up for coaching for a 3 month term.
Putting yourself on the hook for the time and money cost of a 2–3 month program makes it harder to quit after the first few sessions — you’ve already paid for the next several weeks, after all!
It takes an average of 66 days to form a habit.
There’s a psychological reason for that 3 month commitment as well. Contrary to the popular myth, it actually takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit and can take much longer. Give yourself more time to incorporate your new routine into your existing ones, and you’ll be more likely to succeed.
Once your program is complete, I suggest reevaluating your goals and needs. If the current program is something you enjoyed and, more importantly, trust is working, commit to an even longer term like 6 months or a year.
If you feel like this may not have been a good fit, try something else for 3 months instead.
However, be aware that jumping from one training program to another will hold back your progress, and there is no such thing as a “perfect” fitness routine for you.
Find something you enjoy and then trust the process!
7. Make a List of Exercise Opportunities
I’m a big fan of writing things down. When you put something in writing, even if you never show it to anyone else, you make it a little more real in your own mind.
If you have a busy schedule or lots of conflicts that have sabotaged your exercise or nutritional goals in the past, this step is for you. Here are some items from my own list to get you started:
- Kiddo’s soccer practice (I can run laps or workout on the sidelines)
- Lunch breaks (I run most of my weekly miles during this break, and eat at my desk while I work)
- Mornings when I went to bed early the night before (I generally do best with around 7–7.5 hours of sleep, but I still struggle with wanting to sleep in)
- Nights when I can sleep in the next day (try to exercise at least a few hours before you plan to go to bed, or you may have trouble falling asleep)
- Evenings when my wife is taking the kiddo to practice (I can waste the whole time playing video games, or I can get up and do calisthenics first)
Hopefully that gives you the idea. Most people have a lot of time in their schedule that could be better spent exercising. In fact, the typical American adult spends nearly 4 hours a day watching TV! Imagine re-purposing even 30 daily minutes of that time for fitness.
Heck, it’s pretty easy to workout while watching TV these days.
You can also take this idea a step farther, and make a list of things that come second to exercising. This means that you’ll only do those things after you’ve completed your exercise for the day. TV watching can be an easy add to that list, but you might add other rewards like eating a cookie as well.
If you’re super committed, you can even put chores on that list, but make sure you have buy-in first. Don’t complain to me if your S.O. is mad that you hit the weights instead of the vacuum cleaner.
8. Schedule Your Fitness and Don’t Double-Book
Once you have buy-in from the important people in your life, some kind of accountability partner, workout group, or coach in place, a program you’re excited about picked out and committed to — it’s time to put your fitness schedule in writing.
Put your planned sessions into your calendar and share them with you S.O., partner, buddy, and/or coach. Then, defend those sessions!
That means not letting lower priority activities interfere, not making excuses for missing them, and finding time to make-up any sessions that you do miss for a truly legitimate reason.
TV show you want to see is on when you’re supposed to work out? Work out in front of the TV if you can, or DVR that stuff. What are you doing paying for cable anyway, cut the cord already and just stream everything on-demand!
Find time to make-up any workout sessions that you do miss for a truly legitimate reason.
Sick kid? Obviously take care of their needs, but once the kiddo is setup and resting, you can workout from home.
S.O. needs some quality time? Don’t be a jerk! But do find an appropriate and loving time to (gently) remind them of your buy-in conversation and that you will need to find time to make-up your workout.
9. Prep When You’re Motivated to Succeed When You’re Not
When you know you have a workout coming up at a time when you’re often unmotivated — early morning, after work, late at night — prepare as much as possible in advance of that motivational drop so that it’s easy to get out the door with minimal effort.
Pack ahead of time and leave your workout stuff where you literally can’t miss it.
If you workout in the morning, you can sleep in your exercise clothes. They’re just going to get sweaty anyway.
If you workout at or after work, but have a dress code, consider wearing your workout clothes under your regular clothes to save time (and encourage yourself to do the workout so you can be more comfortable afterward).
Don’t want to wear your workout stuff in advance? Pack it ahead of time and leave it where you literally can’t miss it — hang it on the door handle, or leave it on the floor blocking the door.
Always prep water bottles and snacks in advance and, again, leave them where you can’t fail to find them. Tuck them into your backpack or work tote, toss them in with your workout clothes, or set them in front of the door.
That’s one more excuse eliminated!
10. Make Your Workouts Rewarding with Podcasts, Audiobooks, or Music
In this step, we make working out not just rewarding, but maybe even good for the brain!
Now, picking out the perfect workout playlist is an art unto itself — so much so that scientists and researchers are getting in on the action.
But I’m suggesting take this a step beyond even that.
To add a real dose of motivation to your workouts, choose a favorite podcast, your perfect mix, or an engaging audiobook and make a rule that you can only listen to it while working out.
That’s right, if you want to know what happens next or hear your favorite song, you have to actually earn it.
How’s that for motivation?
11. Plan a Long Term Reward for Success
We’ve focused mostly on short-term and interpersonal factors so far, but staying motivated long term often requires something more.
To really amp up your drive, plan rewards for yourself that you must achieve your goals in order to enjoy.
You can cheat, but failure donuts never taste as good as success donuts.
These can be monthly or medium-term rewards, like going for donuts or another favorite dessert, buying yourself something nice (new shoes or workout clothes are always handy), or going to the movies.
Or you can plan something bigger and longer-term — a vacation, beach trip, or major purchase like home workout equipment.
These rewards work best if you require yourself to get permission from your S.O., friend, accountability partner, workout buddy, or trainer before enjoying them — and the external validation means they’ll feel better too!
You can, of course, cheat. But in the end, you’re only cheating yourself, and failure donuts never taste as good as success donuts.
12. Sign Up for a Fitness Event, Competition, or Race
The fitness competition craze is hot right now, from Crossfit Games to Obstacle Course Racing, 5k’s to Marathons, and more — no matter what your interest or age, you have many options to engage in friendly competition.
These serve a triple function, too.
First, they give you a deadline to work under. Deadlines have proven benefits for performance, up to a point — just don’t get too stressed or overwhelmed if everything isn’t going perfectly. It never does, not for top athletes, and not for the rest of us either.
Ideally, focus on making your first event a fun reward and celebration of your commitment. Sign up with a group, or invite friends and family to attend and cheer you on. Especially your first time at such an event, make your goal just to show up and get through it with a smile on your face.
If you have fun, the effects on your future fitness success will be magnified.
After the event, take a few weeks to bask in the glory — then sign up for your next one!
13. Plan Breaks and Cheat Days to Avoid Burnout
All this talk of motivation is exhausting!
It’s important, no matter how things are going, to plan ahead for mental and physical breaks from your new routine to avoid burnout.
For beginning athletes, this probably means between 2 and 4 rest days a week depending on your level of fitness when you start. Over time, aim to work it down to just 2, or even 1 if you’ve got big goals, but any increase in weekly exercise will have massive health benefits.
After 6 months of steady exercise, the habit should be strong enough that you can afford to take a full week off without breaking it. In fact, you might notice yourself actually missing those workouts.
Crazy, I know!
But don’t stop there — give yourself a day off from healthy eating to indulge in your guilty pleasures.
It’s important, no matter how things are going, to plan ahead for mental and physical breaks from your new routine to avoid burnout.
I suggest a nutritional cheat day once a week when you’re just starting out, but try taking it down to once or twice a month when you feel ready.
Not only will these less frequent cheat days improve your health, they’ll be more enjoyable for their scarcity!
14. Measure Daily, Succeed Daily
Whether your goals involve just exercise, just nutrition, or (best of all) both, tracking your efforts and progress along the way is wildly important!
Measure everything — it’s simple in this day and age, but not always easy. Pick a running app or workout app, download a calorie counter if you’re working on controlling your weight, and spend a few minutes each day being brutally honest with yourself about what you’ve done right and wrong.
Facing up to your successes and failures in a way that is impartial lets you make clear decisions about what needs to change, and what is already going well.
That said, don’t judge yourself when you’re logging meals and exercise.
Tomorrow is always another change to get things right, and with enough practice you can succeed!
The point is to see what’s going on in your life that might be holding you back, and the very act of trying to change and better yourself — no matter if you succeeded or failed today — is worthy of praise and respect.
Many people aren’t brave enough to even try.
So if one day doesn’t go as planned, make a note of what went wrong, what you can do to fix it, and then: let it go.
Tomorrow is always another change to get things right, and with enough practice you can succeed!
14. Keep a Weekly Photo Journal of Yourself
Changes in body composition are often incredibly gradual, and can be difficult to detect in the short term, especially through our own biased and judgmental eyes.
You don’t have to share this with anyone, unless you want to, but I strongly encourage you to take full body pictures of yourself once a week over the course of your workout program.
But don’t compare them until it’s been at least 3 months — it often takes that long for differences to become visible, even as healthy changes may be taking place under the surface.
Eventually, you’ll have an amazing record of the effects of your new routine.
Along with these photos, I suggest taking time daily or weekly to jot some notes down about how you feel about your training and how you think it’s going. You can keep these all in a physical journal if you’re crafty, or store them on your computer or phone.
Keeping a record of your thoughts like this can help you find and challenge negative thought patterns, and also provides a record of how your attitude toward fitness changes over time.
Obviously, if you’re like me, you can just post all of this to Instagram.
15. Get Social (Media)
While you should never feel pressured to share anything you’re uncomfortable with online, I do encourage you to consider using social media as a source of additional inspiration, encouragement, and community.
Instagram is especially helpful for this kind of engagement, but Facebook Groups can also be wonderful for asking questions and connecting with nearby people.
I suggest carefully curating your feed to suit your needs and preferences.
Maybe your follows are aspirational: elite athletes, top performers, high energy entertainers and motivators. These people can be fun to follow when they stay positive and encourage you to chase your goals and dream big.
Or maybe you follow people you find inspirational: everyday folks on the same fitness journey you’re taking, even if some of them might be further ahead than you.
People like this are great, because it’s easy to identify with them and they often post helpful advice and tips for getting past obstacles.
Whoever you follow, take some time now and then to engage with them online. Like and comment on posts, and don’t be afraid to ask questions, share experiences, and even give encouragement of your own.
Remember to stay away from negativity though!
Your goal on social media is not to feel embarrassed or ashamed, but to build up yourself and others, and forge positive connections — if that’s not happening, don’t hesitate to shut it down!
16. Still Worried You’ll Fail? Brainstorm Solutions to Your Concerns
Anxiety and fear-of-failure are totally normal! But don’t let them stop you from trying in the first place.
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Instead, sit down and make a list of the things you think will get in your way. Then, spend some time brainstorming solutions to those obstacles. If you’re feeling stuck, ask someone you trust for help.
If you want, feel free to comment any concerns this list hasn’t covered below, and I’ll do my best to give you a helping hand with any resources or ideas I can think of.
Thanks for reading!
