HealthFOOD Friday
Lauryn Axelrod, HealthSPORT Nutrition Coach
#1 on most people’s New Year’s Resolutions list is to lose weight and get fit. Gym memberships often skyrocket after the first of the year, but how many people stick to their resolutions?
Here’s how you can improve your chances of making your New Year’s Resolutions last all year:
Make Reasonable Goals: Don’t set a goal that is too difficult to achieve or too generic. Instead of saying you will “get fit and healthy,” which is too generic, or run a marathon tomorrow or lose 10 pounds in 5 days, which are both impossible, make specific goals that are things you can commit to doing reasonably.
Enjoy It: To become consistent with something, you must enjoy it. Don’t see working out or changing your diet as a punishment or duty, but as a positive opportunity to achieve greater personal health and happiness. Pick a class, sport or activity you like to do — and foods that you like to eat. It is much easier to get that workout in, or eat healthily, when you take pleasure in doing so.
Go Step-by-Step: Don’t overload your plate (no pun intended). Don’t try to change everything all at once. The key to success is to make changes step-by-step. Add one more day at the gym, or change one thing about your diet. Once one or two smaller changes have become habitual you can start adding others. It’s like eating an elephant—one bite at a time.
Visualize Success: Spend some quiet time seeing yourself not only how you want to look, perform or act, but in the process of getting there. Visualize the steps you will have to take along with the actions you need to perform. See the obstacles you will need to overcome and plan for how you will get over, under, around or through them.
Get Support: It’s often hard to make changes alone. Get support by work with a Personal Trainer or Nutrition Coach to help you make achievable goals and concrete plans for attaining them.
Have a healthy New Year!