January 1st is just around the corner and with that comes the millions of people making New Year’s Resolutions. The #1 Resolution every year is weight loss and sticking to a fitness routine. We splurge Thanksgiving to Christmas and then spend New Year’s to Halloween trying to make healthier choices. Scratch that, most New Year’s Resolutions last less than two weeks and on average, three days. One of the reasons most of us don’t stick to resolutions is we either don’t set a reasonable goal or we don’t have a plan of action to accomplish that goal.
If you can maintain your fitness resolution for 30 days, it will become a habit and part of your everyday routine. Those first two weeks though are tough, super tough. Writing your fitness goals down and looking at them daily during those first two weeks is vital to making them successful.When you write down your goal with action items to achieve it, you will be far more likely to complete them. Here are a few tips on Making and Keeping Fitness Resolutions so you can make your New Year’s Resolution work this year.
Making and Keeping Fitness Resolutions
1. Write down what your overall goal for the year is. Having it tied to an event is much more attainable than to a number on the scale. For example, run a 5k every month or do 14,000 burpees in 2014. In order to do either of these, it takes training. While you are training, you will lose weight, tone up your muscles, and start to eat healthier as you don’t want to sabotage all the hard work your body is doing by putting crap food into it. It is a cycle that starts small, but has big impacts.
2. Make a plan on how to achieve your goals. If your goal is to do a 5k every month and you have yet to get off the couch, download a great program like Couch to 5k and get started. By starting out in an organized program and installing apps like MapMyRun or MyFitnessPal, you have a new-found community of other people working towards the same goal – that first 5k. When you have a community supporting you, it is easier to stay on the correct path as our natural competitiveness comes out and we want to go further and faster and not fall behind. If you want to hit 14,000 burpees in a year, that is roughly 38 a day. You will need to start with just one. Learn the mechanics; yell at the top of your lungs “I Hate Burpees” after each one. You might be surprised by the amount of aggression you get out and watch your stress level go down too.
3. Have rewards set out for hitting benchmarks. After you celebrate that first 5k, have a cold beer or splurge on a new pair of running shoes. When you can do 10 Burpees in a row and not want to die, it is time for a mani/pedi because you have earned it!
This is the year to make and achieve your Fitness Resolutions. Remember to write them down, make an actionable plan of attack, and reward yourself as you accomplish them. If you fall off the wagon one week just brush yourself off, forgive yourself, and get back on it. You can do this. This is your year. You only get one body, might as well be one you want to live in the rest of your life.
More Fitness Tips
10 Simple Changes to Help You Lose Weight
Indoor Exercises for When the Weather is Bad
6 Steps to Getting Back on Track with Fitness and Exercise
10 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget without Compromising on Flavor
Avoid Weight Gain During the Holidays by Making Healthy Food Choices
Kristi Trimmer is currently running half marathons across the U.S. and blogging about her journey. At the beginning of 2012 she couldn’t run across the parking lot and in 2013 she ran 10 half marathons. Follow her journey on DragonflyRunning.com as she shares her running adventures and helps to motivate others to make positive life changes that include eating healthy and having fitness be a part of the lives and not a dirty little word.
Kristen says
Love these ideas! My goal over the next year and a half is to lose a tremendous amount of weight (@ 100 lbs). I’ll pin these! Visiting from #SITS!